Comments on: Mother Teresa’s Poem “ANYWAY”

By: Marinela

Marinela — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:09:20 +0000

such a great poem

By: Melinda Lee

Melinda Lee — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:20:55 +0000

LOVED IT

By: Melinda Lee

Melinda Lee — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:20:02 +0000

the poem is lovely. it is for a homework assignment at my school. it kinda represents my school, dcis. or denver center for international studies. i love mother teresa. does she have any other poems?

By: Marina

Marina — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:02:13 +0000

Actually, Mr. Keith DID write the words attributed here to Mother Teresa. The website quoted above even details the connection btw Mother Teresa using those words on the wall of the Children’s Home and that Mr. Keith was surprised and honored to know she had thought so highly of his words….but he did indeed write them himself. He then started writing about his concepts again later in life. Which led people to mistakenly believe that he had taken the words which were Mother Teresa’s and written them as his own after the fact. Just FYI. Beautiful words to live by, no matter who wrote them.

By: Kayla

Kayla — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 21:21:21 +0000

The original poem or writing I should say was by Mother Teresa and can be found on the last page of “Mother Teresa; A Simple life.” Kent Keith took the writing and formatted it into a poem. Beautiful both ways.
http://www.kentmkeith.com/mother_teresa.html

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:57:15 +0000

That is beautiful. I struggle with these things all the time, I want to be good to everyone but not everyone wants to be good to each other, I want to help people but people wonder what’s in it for you, for me doing something positive makes me feel better and that’s what’s in it for me but most people don’t think that’s enough of a reason to be kind and help people. I have been hurt a lot and I have had to remember to keep my guard up because not everyone has altruistic motives like I do. It is hard to make a living at being kind but I’m not kind because I want to make a living out if it, I’m kind because I think we all should be kind to one another but in this world that sometimes is a tough thing to hold on to and not get depressed when you realize how many people are so dead in their core that they can’t find the…whatever it is, to just try to be respectful and courteous to one another. This does make me feel better, and I will print this poem so I don’t forget that there are people who understand and feel the same way.

Thank you for posting this!!!

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 31 May 2008 02:26:22 +0000

First of all, this is not a poem at all but a section out of booklet written in 1968 by Dr. Kent Keith. The booklet is titled “The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council” and the section is entitled “The Paradoxical Commandments”. In 1997, Keith Kent heard his creation being shared at a Rotary Club meeting and being attributed to Mother Teresa. Since then Dr. Kent has written a great book detailing the origins of these commandments coming out of his own personal experience. The book is called Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments–Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World, published in 2001 by G.P Putnam’s sons.

By: laura winters

laura winters — Fri, 04 May 2007 18:36:51 +0000

I kept this poem on my dresser. It gave me the strength during the roughest time of my life. It reminds us good people to stay the way we are, and not to let the not so good people bring us down. Mother Teresa is a true blessing

By: Wanda Mundy

Wanda Mundy — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:24:21 +0000

This poem – Anyway – was not written by Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama or Nelson Mandella – all of whom have been credited with the writing of this poem. It was written by a young Harvard student in the late 1940’s, when he was a contributor to the campus newspaper. This fact was researched by Reader’s Digest – and the copy of the campus newspaper can still be accessed. At last report, the (now) old gentleman resides in Hawaii – where he’s seen his poem travel all around the world at least once a generation since he graduated. He would have been quite content to be its anonymous author, had a REAL Journalist – one who actually checks facts and sources – not come along.

WC Mundy

By: Joy

Joy — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:27:39 +0000

The song “Anyway” by Martina McBride from her new album Waking Up Laughing uses ideas from this poem by Mother Teresa. Great song – inspiring poem.