Desiderata Author:Max Ehrmann, Emil Antonucci (Illustrator) Desiderata is a philosophical prose poem widely circulated during the 1960s and 1970s and (falsely) attributed to an inscription in St. Paul's Cathedral in Baltimore, Maryland, dating from 1692. Actually written by Indiana poet Max Ehrmann and copyrighted in 1927, Desiderata loses none of its importance when its origins are laid bare, remain... more »ing an important personal statement on how we choose to live our lives.« less