Written by Brecht in the early 1930s, this poem was featured (and beautifully read) recently on Radio 4’s ‘Poetry Please’, which is hosted by Roger McGough. I think it is a really powerful message, even for MBAs.
Its title is:
In Praise of Learning
Study from bottom up,
for you who will take the leadership,
it is not too late!
Study the ABC; it is not enough.
but study it!
Do not become discouraged, begin! You must know everything!
You must prepare to take command,now!
Study, man in exile!
Study. man in the prison!
Study, wife in your kitchen!
Study, old-age pensioner!
You must prepare to take command now!
Locate yourself a school, homeless folk!
Go search some knowledge, you who freeze!
You who starve, reach for a book: it will be a weapon.
You must prepare to take command now.
Don’t be afraid to question, comrades!
Never believe on faith.
see for yourself!
What you yourself don’t learn
you don’t know.
Question the reckoning
you yourself must pay it
Set down your finger on each small item. asking:
where do you get this?
You must prepare to take command now!
Chris Dalton's Personal Development Blog 
This is one part of his two didactic poems – one is “in praise of learning” and the other is “in praise of doubt”. Learning to doubt everything that you have taken for granted and question your perception is one of the hardest tasks…
For similar reasons I also like the poem ‘The Calf-Path’ by Sam Walter Foss (available in lots of places on the ‘net).
I am kind of amazed right now to discover a communists poem during my MBA studies 😉
But honestly, stunned is the better expression to have an englishman make me discover our own poets…
Anyways its a poem that really gets you thinking and challenges your mind.
I guess learning and doubt go hand in hand. And those are two of the most interesting things in life!
There is just one detail that deranges me about the english translation. The main motive of ‘Du musst die Führung übernehmen!’ is much more assertive than ‘you must prepare to take command now!’
I mean in German it really makes you wanna get going right away! You have to take command!
But aside from that detail it’s the perfect lines for these times… For me it means that we have to think for ourselves and check what we are told for ourselves so that we can really assess what is true and what is not. The problem is that it gets increasingly hard to actually do that.
Funny how people living ages ago still can explain our lives today…
It seems the shark still has it’s teeth…
[…] Bertolt Brecht poem […]
Sorry, this is not a song meant for people with MBAs! Learning is here meant to inspire those who would create a world beyond the exploitation of business.