I sat with the stars on the hill of life

And looked at the world below.

I ran with the winds where winds begin

And followed them where they blow.

 

I lay by the sea on the beaten rock

And rode on the farthest wave,

I watched by a child on its night of birth

And followed it to its grave.

 

And love in the still of the star-flecked night,

When earth was all strewn with gold,

Has lifted my heart like the chords of  song

Oft sung in the world of old.

 

And though I have not understood all this,

Made up a laugh and a wail,

I think that the God of the world knows all,

And someday will tell the tale.

 

 

 

Max Ehrmann

"The Desiderata of Happiness"