GIBRAN, KAHLIL - FROM HIS WRITINGS

(1883 – 1931)

• Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh, and the greatness which does not bow before children.

• There are among the people murderers who have never committed murder, thieves who have never stolen, and liars who have spoken nothing but the truth.

• This is the history of man: birth, marriage and death; and birth, marriage and death; and birth, marriage and death. But then a madman with strange ideas appears before the people and tells of a different world whose more cultured beings see more in their dreams than birth, marriage and death.

• I discovered the secret of the sea in meditation upon the dewdrop.

• As one’s gifts increase, his friends decrease.

• Where can I find a man governed by reason instead of habits and urges.

• I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.

• Keep me from the man who says “I am a candle to light people on their way”. But to the one who seeks to make his way through the light of the people, bring me nearer.

• It is slavery to live in the mind unless it has become part of the body.

• Some souls are like sponges. You cannot squeeze anything out of them except what they have sucked from you.

• Brief were my days among you, and briefer still the words I have spoken. But should my voice fade in your ears, and my love vanish in your memory, then I will come again, and with a richer heart and lips more yielding to the spirit will I speak. Yes, I shall return with the tide, and though death may hide me and the greater silence enfold me, yet again will I seek your understanding…Know, therefore, that from the greater silence I shall return…Forget not that I shall come back to you…A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and form for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me. (Source: The Prophet)

• The first kiss is the beginning of that magic vibration that carries the lovers from the world of weights and measures into the world of dreams and revelations. It is the union of two fragrant flowers; and the mingling of their fragrance toward the creation of a third soul.

• As the first glance from the eyes of the beloved is like a seed sown in the human heart, and the first kiss of her lips like a flower upon the branch of the Tree of Life, so the union of two lovers in marriage is like the first fruit of the first flower of that seed. (The Voice Of The Master)

• Life is an island, rocks are its desires, trees its dreams, flowers its loneliness, and it is in the middle of an ocean of solitude and seclusion. Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents. Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness and far away in its compassion and hidden in its secrets and miseries.---Your inner soul is surrounded with solitude and seclusion. Were it not for this solitude and this seclusion you would not be you and I would not be I. If it were not for that solitude and seclusion, I would, if I heard your voice, think myself to be speaking; yet, if I saw your face, I would imagine that I were looking into a mirror. (Mirrors of the Soul)

• Love is something that gathers strength with patience, grows despite obstacles, warms in winter, flourishes in spring, casts a breeze in summer, and bears fruit in autumn. (Tears and Laughter)

• My soul is my friend who consoles me in misery and distress of life. He who does not befriend his soul is an enemy of humanity, and he who does not find human guidance within himself will perish desperately. (ibid)

• Satan said to the priest “Do you not realize that you will starve to death if I were to die? What would you then do tomorrow? What vocation would you pursue if my name disappeared? For decades you have been roaming these villages and warning the people against falling into my hands. They have bought your advice with their poor denars and with the products of their land. What would they buy from you tomorrow, if they discovered that their wicked enemy no longer existed? Your occupation would die with me, for the people would be safe from sin. As a clergyman, do you not realize that Satan’s existence alone has created his enemy, the church?”

(Between Night and Morn)

• It is our inner self that hurts us when we disobey and kills us when we betray.

(Secrets of The Heart)

· A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle. (Words of The Master)

· The appearance of things changes according to the emotions, and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.

(Broken Wings)

· Is it really God that created Man, or is it the opposite? Imagination is the only creator, its nearest and clearest manifestation is Art; yes, art is life, life is art; all else is trite and empty in comparison. (Kahlil Gibran: A Biography)

· It is impossible for the mirror of the soul to reflect in the imagination anything which does not stand before it. It is impossible for the calm lake to show in its depth the figure of any mountain or the picture of any tree or cloud that does not exist close by the lake. It is impossible for the light to throw upon the earth a shadow of an object that has no being. Nothing can be seen, heard, or otherwise sensed unless it has actual being. (Secrets of The Heart)

· I abstain from the people who consider insolence – bravery; and tenderness - cowardice. And I abstain from those who consider chatter – wisdom; and silence - ignorance. (Mirrors of The Soul)

· Conscience is a just but weak judge. Weakness leaves it powerless to execute its judgment.

· The Reality of Life is Life itself, whose beginning is not in the womb, and whose ending is not in the grave. For the years that pass are naught but a moment in eternal life; and the world of matter and all in it is but a dream compared to the awakening which we call the terror of Death.

(Words of The Master)

· A child in the womb, no sooner born than returned to the earth - such is the fate of man, the fate of nations and of the sun, the moon, and the stars.

· He who does not see the angels and devils in the beauty and malice of life will be far removed from knowledge, and his spirit will be empty of affection.

(Broken Wings)

· In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. He conceals the other half out of fear of the people's wrath.

· I once heard a learned man say, "Every evil has its remedy, except folly. To reprimand an obstinate fool or to preach to a dolt is like writing upon the water. Christ healed the blind, the halt, the palsied, and the leprous. But the fool He could not cure." (Words of The Master)

· Friendship with the ignorant is as foolish as arguing with a drunkard.

(Words of The Master)

· Man is happy only in

His aspiration to the heights;

When he attains his goal, he cools

And longs for other distant flights.

Happiness on earth is but a fleet

Passing ghost, which man craves

At any cost in gold or time. And

When the phantom becomes the

Reality, man soon wearies of it. (The Procession))

· I use hate as a weapon to defend myself; had I been strong, I would never have needed that kind of weapon. (Mirrors of The Soul)

· In the house of Ignorance there is no mirror in which to view your soul.

(Secrets of The Heart)

· Surely you have prayed enough to last you to the end of your days, and henceforth you shall not enter a church as a worshipper; for the Jesus you love so dearly is not found in churches. Many are the places of worship, but few indeed are those who worship in Spirit and in truth.

(Kahlil Gibran: A Biography)

· The gifts which derive from justice are greater than those that spring from charity. (Words of The Master)

· From a sensitive woman's heart springs the happiness of mankind, and from the kindness of her noble spirit comes mankind's affection.

(Spirits Rebellious)

· Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life. We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life. (Spirits Rebellious)

· Reason and learning are like body and soul. Without the body, the soul is nothing but empty wind. Without the soul, the body is but a senseless frame.

Reason without learning is like the untilled soil, or like the human body that lacks nourishment. (Words of The Master)

· Marriage is the union of two divinities that a third might be born on earth. It is the union of two souls in a strong love for the abolishment of separateness. It is that higher unity which fuses the separate unities within the two spirits. It is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glance, and whose ending is Eternity. It is the pure rain that falls from an unblemished sky to fructify and bless the fields of divine Nature. (Words of The Master)

· Do not be merciful, but be just, for mercy is bestowed upon the guilty criminal, while justice is all that an innocent man requires.

(Spirits Rebellious)

· What profit is there in imitating Nature when she is so open and so accessible to all who see and hear? The business of art is rather to understand Nature and to reveal her meanings to those unable to understand. It is to convey the soul of a tree rather than to produce a fruitful likeness of the tree. It is to reveal the conscience of the sea, not to portray so many foaming waves or so much blue water. The mission of art is to bring out the unfamiliar from the most familiar. (Kahlil Gibran: A Biography)

· When you tell your trouble to your neighbor you present him with a part of your heart. If he possesses a great soul, he thanks you; if he possesses a small one, he belittles you. (Mirrors of The Soul)

· All things in this creation exist within you, and all things in you exist in creation; there is no border between you and the closest things, and there is no distance between you and the farthest things, and all things, from the lowest to the loftiest, from the smallest to the greatest, are within you as equal things. In one atom are found all the elements of the earth; in one motion of the mind are found the motions of all the laws of existence; in one drop of water are found the secrets of all the endless oceans; in one aspect of you are found all the aspects of existence. (Secrets of The Heart)

· When Reason speaks to you, hearken to what she says, and you shall be saved. Make good use of her utterances, and you shall be as one armed. For the Lord has given you no better guide than Reason, no stronger arm than Reason. When Reason speaks to your inmost self, you are proof against Desire. For Reason is a prudent minister, a loyal guide, and a wise counselor. Reason is light in darkness, as anger is darkness amidst light. Be wise - let Reason, not Impulse, be your guide (Words of The Master)

· Know your own true worth, and you shall not perish. Reason is your light and your beacon of Truth. Reason is the source of Life. God has given you Knowledge, so that by its light you may not only worship him, but also see yourself in your weakness and strength. (Words of The Master)

· Great truth that transcends Nature does not pass from one being to another by way of human speech. Truth chooses Silence to convey her meaning to loving souls. (Words of The Master)

· Perfection is not for the pure of soul;

There may be virtue in sin. (Mirrors of The Soul)

· They tell me: If you see a slave sleeping, do not wake him lest he be dreaming of freedom. I tell them: If you see a slave sleeping, wake him and explain to him freedom. (Mirrors of The Soul)

· The sorrowful spirit finds relaxation in solitude. It abhors people, as a wounded deer deserts the herd and lives in a cave until it is healed or dead. (Broken Wings)

· The spirit in every being is made manifest in the eyes, the countenance, and in all bodily movements and gestures. Our appearance, our words, our actions are never greater than ourselves. For the soul is our house; our eyes its windows; and our words its messengers. (Words of The Master)

· Whoever would be a teacher of men let him begin by teaching himself before teaching others; and let him teach by example before teaching by word. For he who teaches himself and rectifies his own ways is more deserving of respect and reverence than he who would teach others and rectify their ways.

(Kahlil Gibran: A Biography)

· Perhaps we are nearer to Him each time we try to divide Him and find Him indivisible. Yet do I say that art, through drawing a line between the beautiful and the ugly, is the nearest way to God. Pure meditation is another way. But it leads to silence and to self-confinement. Silence is truer and more expressive than speech; and the hour shall come when we shall be silent. But why muzzle our tongues before that hour has struck? There is your friend Lao Tze; he became silent, but when? After he gave to the world the gist of his faith in words. (Kahlil Gibran: A Biography)

· Wisdom is not in words;

Wisdom is meaning within words. (Mirrors of The Soul)

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