WIST

I said to Life, I would hear Death speak. And Life raised her voice a little higher and said, You hear him now.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
(Attributed)

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

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Mirrors of the Soul (1965)

Should we all confess our sins to one another, we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

Many a doctrine is like a window pane. We see truth through it but it divides us from truth.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

Hate is a dead thing. Who of you would be a tomb?

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

I have learned silence from the talkative; tolerance from the intolerant and kindness from the unkind. I should not be ungrateful to those teachers.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

When you see a man led to prison say in your heart, “Mayhap he is escaping from a narrower prison.”
And when you see a man drunken say in your heart, “Mayhap he sought escape from something still more unbeautiful.”

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Sand and Foam (1926)

Some who are too scrupulous to steal your possession nevertheless see no wrong in tampering with your thoughts.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran, “Sayings” [tr. Ferris (1962)]

The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest and then becomes a host, and then a master.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Houses” (1923)

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Love” (1923)

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:
Llet 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.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Marriage” (1923)

You were born together, and together you will be forevermore. …
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Marriage” (1923)

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Pain” (1923)

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Prayer” (1923)

Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.’

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Self-Knowledge” (1923)

Work is love made visible.

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) Lebanese-American poet, writer, painter [Gibran Khalil Gibran]
The Prophet, “On Work” (1923)
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