Max Ehrmann was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. He graduated from De Pauw University and did graduate work in law and philosophy at Harvard University. He married Bertha Pratt King.

Max Ehrmann wrote Desiderata in 1927. In 1956, the rector of St. Paul's Church in Baltimore, Maryland, used the poem in a collection of mimeographed inspirational material for his congregation. Someone who subsequently printed it asserted that it was found in Old St. Paul's Church, dated 1692. The year 1692 was the founding date of the church and has nothing to do with the poem.

Max Ehrmann's writings reflect his search for spiritual contentment, often turning to nature as in I Go My Way, Life, Summer, and Winter.