Gestalt prayer

The "Gestalt prayer" is a 56-word statement by psychotherapist Fritz Perls that is generally taken as a classic expression of the kind of individualism associated with the American culture of the 1960s.

The key idea of the statement is the focus on living in response to one's own needs. It also expresses the idea that, by fulfilling their own needs, people can help others do the same, i.e. when they "find each other, it's beautiful."

Text of "prayer"

 * I do my thing and you do your thing.
 * I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
 * And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
 * You are you, and I am I,
 * And if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
 * If not, it can't be helped.

(Fritz Perls, 1969)