Khalil Gibran Quotes

The highest virtue here may be least in another world.

All work is empty save when there is love.

For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless?

Even while the Earth sleeps we travel.

For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.

Wailing and lamentation befit those who stand before the throne of life and depart without leaving in its hands a drop of the sweat of their brows or the blood of their hearts.

That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined. Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones?

Know, therefore, that from the greater silence I shall return... Forget not that I shall come back to you... A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.

The sea that calls all things unto her cals me, and I must embark.

My proof convinces the ignorant, and the wise man's proof convinces me. But he whose reasoning falls between wisdom and ignorance, I neither can convince him, nor can he convince me.

A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me.

But you who walk facing the sun, what images drawn on the earth can hold you?

There's no place like New York to engage so many wonderful people who care about black people.

Love has the power that dispels death; charm that conquers the enemy.

For this I bless you most. You give much and know not that you give at all.

The voice of life in me cannot reach the ear of life in you; but let us talk that we may not feel lonely.

Now let us play hide and seek. Should you hide in my heart it would not be difficult to find you. But should you hide behind your own shell, then it would be useless for anyone to seek you.

The truly good is he who is one with all those who are deemed bad.

Trickery succeeds sometimes, but it always commits suicide.

Your saying 'I do not understand you' is praise beyond my worth, and an insult you do not deserve.

It was in my heart to help a little because I was helped much.

At ebb tide I wrote a line upon the sand, and gave it all my heart and all my soul. At flood tide I returned to read what I had inscribed and found my ignorance upon the shore.

Real beauty lies in the spiritual accord that is called love which can exist between a man and a woman.

The wolves prey upon the lambs in the darkness of the night, but the blood stains remain upon the stones in the valley until the dawn comes, and the sun reveals the crime to all.

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

When you have grasped a problem clearly, face it with resolution, for that is the way of the strong.

I would tell you more of Him, but how shall I? When love becomes vast love becomes wordless. And when memory is overladen it seeks the silent deep.

If it's a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

Should you really open your eyes and see, you would behold your image in all images. And should you open your ears and listen, you would hear your own voice in all voices.

You are your own forerunner, and the towers you have builded are but the foundation of your giant-self. And that self too shall be a foundation.

You cannot lay remorse upon the innocent nor lift it from the heart of the guilty. Unbidden shall it call in the night, that men may wake and gaze upon themselves.

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.

Perhaps a man may commit suicide in self-defense.

I want every image to be the beginning of an unseen image.

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.

Men would bless you or curse you; The curse, a protest against failure, The blessing, a hymn of the hunter Who comes back from the hills With provision for his mate.

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

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Braving obstacles and hardships is nobler than retreat to tranquility. The butterfly that hovers around the lamp until it dies is more admirable than the mole that lives in a dark tunnel.

Life is weaker than Death and Death is weaker than Truth.

Let ignorance reproduce itself until it is weary of its own offspring.

As one's gifts increase, his friends decrease.

You cannot laugh and be unkind at the same time

Inspiration is in seeing a part of the whole with the part of the whole in you.

Sorrow is too great to exist in small hearts.

Rob a neighbour with a smile.

Be like a flower and turn your face to the sun.