The Poem: Anyway in square and 8×10 sizes

Mother Teresa hung a sign on the the wall of Shishu Bhavan, her children’s home in Calcutta. This is what the sign said:

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered,
LOVE THEM ANYWAY
If you do good, people will accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
If you are successful,
you win false friends and true enemies,
SUCCEED ANYWAY
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,
DO GOOD ANYWAY
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,
BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY
What you spent years building may be
destroyed overnight,
BUILD ANYWAY
People really need help
but may attack you if you help them,
HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY
Give the world the best you have
And you’ll get kicked in the teeth,
GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.

This poem is based on The Ten Paradoxical Commandments, written by 19 year old Harvard student Kent Keith in 1968.

This listing is for an instant download — You will receive one 8×10 inch image and one square image that you can save to your computer and print on your own printer or at your local print shop.

By request, I’m also including the version of the poem that is often wrongly attributed to Mother Teresa herself. She didn’t write it, but some people prefer the version without the getting kicked in the teeth part. The ending on this version is:

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 your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

A link to your download will be emailed to you once payment is processed (usually in only a few minutes).

Please get in touch if you have any questions.

This image is also available as a printed 8×10 or 16×20 poster in the Catholic All Year poster shop!

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The designs sold at Catholic All Year are for personal use only. You are welcome to print them as many times as you like for your home or as gifts. Please purchase this Extended License for School/Parish Use if you want to print unlimited copies of ONE Catholic All Year Shop listing to distribute to the members of ONE school or parish. Or this Extended License for Family/Group/Class Use if you want to print fewer than 50 copies of ONE Catholic All Year Shop listing to distribute to ONE religious ed group, prayer group, mom’s group, book club, retreat, conference, class, or extended family.