In a world that often challenges our best intentions, certain words resonate deeply, guiding us toward a path of integrity and resilience. The piece widely known as the “Do It Anyway” poem is one such powerful example. While often associated with Mother Teresa due to its presence on the wall of her children’s home in Calcutta, its original source is the “Paradoxical Commandments” written by Dr. Kent M. Keith. Regardless of attribution, the profound wisdom encapsulated in this poem anyway offers a timeless perspective on living a life grounded in kindness, honesty, and perseverance, even when faced with indifference or opposition. It encourages us to look inward for validation rather than relying on external responses.
The beauty of the “Do It Anyway” poem lies in its direct confrontation of life’s inherent paradoxes. It presents common, often frustrating human experiences – unreasonableness, suspicion, jealousy – and counters them not with cynicism, but with a resolute call to act from a place of inner truth and goodness. This simple structure, presenting a challenge followed by the command to “do it anyway,” makes the message immediately accessible and impactful. Understanding these lines in poetry is key to grasping its powerful message.
Here is the adapted version of the poem:
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
forgive them anyway.
If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
succeed anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable;
be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, there may be jealousy;
be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
At its heart, the “Do It Anyway” poem serves as a poetic narrative offering guidance through the complexities of human interaction and personal striving. Each couplet highlights a common obstacle or negative reaction one might encounter when striving to live a virtuous life. The genius lies in the response: the simple, unwavering imperative to “do it anyway.” This isn’t a naive call to ignore reality, but a profound recognition that our actions are, in a fundamental sense, for ourselves and our own integrity, not merely a transaction for external reward or approval.
The Enduring Wisdom of the 'Do It Anyway' Poem
Consider the first lines: “People are often unreasonable… forgive them anyway.” This immediately sets the tone, acknowledging human imperfection and proposing radical forgiveness as a response. It moves beyond transactional relationships, suggesting that our capacity for forgiveness is an internal choice, independent of whether someone “deserves” it. Similarly, the poem addresses the pain of having good deeds or years of effort overlooked or destroyed, urging persistence. Unlike many traditional love poems, this work focuses on the ethical and spiritual dimensions of everyday life rather than romantic or personal affection.
The repetition of “anyway” acts as an insistent, almost defiant affirmation of one’s inner purpose. It’s a mantra for resilience, reminding us that the value of our actions is intrinsic, not derived from how others perceive or respond to them. The poem suggests that external outcomes—false friends from success, jealousy from happiness, forgotten good deeds—are distractions from the real measure of a life well-lived.
Ultimately, the poem culminates in its most pivotal lines: “You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.” This provides the spiritual bedrock for the preceding commands. It reframes all the challenges and external negativity as irrelevant when viewed from a higher perspective. Your integrity, your kindness, your perseverance – these are offerings made on a deeper level, accountable to a source beyond human judgment. This perspective liberates the individual to act virtuously without being constrained by fear of criticism, failure, or lack of recognition. The “Do It Anyway” poem thus becomes a powerful call to align one’s external actions with internal values and a higher purpose, finding fulfillment in the act itself, regardless of the world’s response.