Khalil Gibran Quotes

Life without Liberty is like a body without spirit. Liberty without thought is like a disturbed spirit.

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.

Yea, death and prison we mete out To small offenders of the laws, While honor, wealth, and full respect On greater pirates we bestow. To steal a flower we call mean. To rob a field is chivalry; Who kills the body he must die, Who kills the spirit he goes free.

You may give them your love, but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.

There is a desire deep within the soul which drives man from the seen to the unseen, to philosophy and to the divine.

What difference is there between us, save a restless dream that follows my soul but fears to come near you?

I purified my lips with sacred fire that I might speak of love, but when I opened my mouth to speak, I found myself mute.

He who repeats what he does not understand is no better than an ass that is loaded with books.

Who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed? See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

A thief is a man in need. A liar is a man in fear.

Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.

The mute grain turns to love songs when swallowed by the nightingale.

The true wealth of a nation lies not in it's gold or silver but in it's learning, wisdom and in the uprightness of its sons.

Your confidence in the people, and your doubt about them, are closely related to your self-confidence and your self-doubt.

And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless? But if in you thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons, And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.

...unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.

History does not repeat itself except in the minds of those who do not know history.

For the sight of the angry weather saddens my soul and the sight of the town, sitting like a bereaved mother beneath layers of ice, oppresses my heart.

We fear death, yet we long for slumber and beautiful dreams.

A man can be free without being great, but no man can be great without being free.

Then a lawyer said, But what of our laws, master? And he answered: 'You delight in laying down laws. Yet you delight more in breaking them.

Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.

For the breath of life is in the sunlight and the hand of life is in the wind.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism. And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes he smiles upon the earth.

And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

The eye of a human being is a microscope, which makes the world seem bigger than it really is.

Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.

Only those return to Eternity Who on earth seek out Eternity.

If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself. Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself. For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast. Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, 'Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance.' For to the fruit giving is a need as receiving is a need to the root.

A God who is good knows no segregation amongst words or names. And were a God to deny his blessing to those who pursue a different path to eternity, there would be no human who should offer worship.

When we turn to one another for counsel we reduce the number of our enemies.

The creator gives no heed to the critic unless he becomes a barren inventor.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' Say not, ' I have found the path of the soul.' Say rather, 'I have met the soul walking upon my path.' For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret.

Love that does not renew itself every day becomes a habit and in turn a slavery.

You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts; And when you can no longer dwell in the solitude of your heart you live in your lips, and sound is a diversion and a pastime. And in much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.

He who does not prefer exile to slavery is not free by any measure of freedom, truth and duty.

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful. And though you seek in garments the freedom of privacy, you may find in them a harness and a chain. Would that you could meet the sun and the wind with more of your body and less of your raiment.

The most wonderful thing, Mary, is that you and I are always walking together, hand in hand, in a strangely beautiful world, unknown to other people. We both stretch one hand to receive from Life - and Life is generous indeed.

If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't, they never were.

To know the pain of too much tenderness

When you have solved all the mysteries of life you long for death, for it is but another mystery of life.