Authors
Kahlil Gibran
1883 – 1931
Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American poet, philosopher, and artist best known for his book The Prophet, a collection of poetic essays about love, work, and the meaning of life. He moved to the United States as a child and became a bridge between Middle Eastern and Western ideas through his writing and paintings. His book has been translated into dozens of languages, and he's often ranked as the third best-selling poet in history, behind only Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.
Quotes
“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”
“Work is love made visible.”
“Your children are not your children.”
“You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts.”
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness”
“Love possesses not nor would it be possessed”
“Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.”
“The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”
“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.”
“For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”
“And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
“You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts”
“Much of your pain is self-chosen.”
“For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.”
“Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.”
“Your daily life is your temple and your religion.”
“If you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles.”
“Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.”
“If you do not understand your friend under all conditions you will never understand him.”
“If it were not for guests all houses would be graves.”
“You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”
“You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”
“Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.”
“When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.””
“And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.”
“Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.”
“To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving; To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstacy; To return home at eventide with gratitude; And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.”
“You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.”
“But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.”
“Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”
“Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.”
“Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.”
“And stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”
“Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. And he is your board and your fireside. For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.”
“And let your best be for your friend. If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.”
“For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? Seek him always with hours to live. For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.”
“And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”