Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran (90 page)

Such narcotics are distilled from many sources but the chief is the Oriental philosophy of submission to Destiny (the act of God).

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PACIFISM

Beware of the leader who says, “Love of existence obliges us to deprive the people of their rights!” I say unto you but this: protecting others' rights is the noblest and most beautiful human act; if my existence requires that I kill others, then death is more honourable to me, and if I cannot find someone to kill me for the protection of my honour, I will not hesitate to take my life by my own hands for the sake of Eternity before Eternity comes.

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PAIN

Pain is an unseen and powerful hand that breaks the skin of the stone in order to extract the pulp.

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PAST AND FUTURE

I tell you that the children of yesteryears are walking in the funeral of the era that they created for themselves. They are pulling a rotted rope that might break soon and cause them to drop into a forgotten abyss. I say that they are living in homes with weak foundations; as the storm blows—and it is about to blow—their homes will fall upon their heads and thus become their tombs. I say that all their thoughts, their sayings, their quarrels, their compositions, their books and all their work are nothing but chains dragging them because they are too weak to pull the load.

But the children of tomorrow are the ones called by life, and they follow it with steady steps and heads high, they are the dawn of new frontiers, no smoke will veil their eyes and no jingle of chains will drown out their voices. They are few in number, but the difference is as between a grain of wheat and a stack of hay. No one knows them but they know each other. They are like the summits, which can see and hear each other—not like caves, which cannot hear or see. They are the seed dropped by the hand of God in the field, breaking through its pod and waving its sapling leaves before the face of the sun. It shall grow into a mighty tree, its root in the heart of the earth and its branches high in the sky.

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PATRIOT

Are you a politician who says to himself: “I will use my country for my own benefit”? If so, you are naught but a parasite living on the flesh of others. Or are you a devoted patriot, who whispers into the ear of his inner self: “I love to serve my country as a faithful servant.” If so, you are an oasis in the desert, ready to quench the thirst of the wayfarer.

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PATRIOTISM

What is this duty that separates the lovers, and causes the women to become widows, and the children to become orphans? What is this patriotism which provokes wars and destroys kingdoms through trifles? And what cause can be more than trifling when compared to but one life? What is this duty which invites poor villagers, who are looked upon as nothing by the strong and by the sons of the inherited nobility, to die for the glory of their oppressors? If duty destroys peace among nations, and patriotism disturbs the tranquility of man's life, then let us say, “Peace be with duty and patriotism.”

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I have a yearning for my beautiful country, and I love its people because of their misery. But if my people rose, stimulated by plunder and motivated by what they call “patriotic spirit” to murder, and invaded my neighbour's country, then upon the committing of any human atrocity I would hate my people and my country.

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PEACE

Will peace be on earth while the sons of misery are slaving in the fields to feed the strong and fill the stomachs of the tyrants? Will ever peace come and save them from the clutches of destitution?

What is peace? Is it in the eyes of those infants, nursing upon the dry breasts of their hungry mothers in cold huts? Or is it in the wretched hovels of the hungry who sleep upon hard beds and crave for one bite of the food which the priests and monks feed to their fat pigs?

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PERPETUITY

I am saddened by the one who gazes upon the mountains and plains upon which the sun throws its rays, and who listens to the breeze singing the song of the thin branches, and who inhales the fragrance of the flowers and the jasmine, and then says within himself, “No … what I see and hear will pass away, and what I know and feel will vanish.” This humble soul who sees and contemplates reverently the joys and sorrows about him, and then denies the perpetuity of their existence, must himself vanish like vapour in the air and disappear, for he is seeking darkness and placing his back to truth. Verily, he is a living soul denying
his
very existence, for he denies
other
of God's existing things.

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PERPLEXITY

Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.

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PERSECUTION

Persecution cannot harm him who stands by Truth. Did not Socrates fall proudly a victim in body? Was not Paul stoned for the sake of the Truth? It is our inner self that hurts us when we disobey and kills us when we betray.

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PHILOSOPHY

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

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PILGRIMAGE

For every seed that autumn drops into the heart of the earth, there exists a different manner of splitting the shell from the pulp; then are created the leaves and then the flowers, and then the fruit. But regardless of the fashion in which this takes place, those plants must undertake one sole pilgrimage, and their great mission is to stand before the face of the sun.

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POET

Poet, you are the life of this life, and you have
Triumphed over the ages despite their severity.

Poet, you will one day rule the hearts, and
Therefore, your kingdom has no ending.

Poet, examine your crown of thorns; you will
Find concealed in it a budding wreath of laurel.
   
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Are you a poet full of noise and empty sounds? If so, you are like one of those mountebanks that make us laugh when they are weeping, and make us weep, when they laugh.

Or are you one of those gifted souls in whose hands God has placed a viola to soothe the spirit with heavenly music, and bring his fellow men close to Life and the Beauty of Life? If so, you are a torch to light us on our way, a sweet longing in our hearts, and a revelation of the divine in our dreams.

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Poets are unhappy people, for, no matter how high their spirits reach, they will still be enclosed in an envelope of tears.

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POETRY

Poetry, my dear friends, is a sacred incarnation of a smile. Poetry is a sigh that dries the tears. Poetry is a spirit who dwells in the soul, whose nourishment is the heart, whose wine is affection. Poetry that comes not in this form is a false messiah.

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If the spirits of Homer, Virgil, Al-Maary, and Milton had known that poetry would become a lapdog of the rich, they would have forsaken a world in which this could occur.

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POOR

Not all the poor are scorned;

The wealth of the world is in a loaf of bread and a cloak.

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POPULAR KNOWLEDGE

Present knowledge of the people

Is a fog above the field;

When the sun mounts the horizon

To its rays the mist will yield.

   
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POSITION

Greatness is not in exalted position;

Greatness is for he who refuses position.

   
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POSSESSIVENESS

Limited love asks for possession of the beloved, but the unlimited asks only for itself.

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POVERTY

My fellow poor, Poverty sets off the nobility of the spirit, while wealth discloses its evil. Sorrow softens the feelings, and Joy heals the wounded heart. Were Sorrow and Poverty abolished, the spirit of man would be like an empty tablet, with naught inscribed save the signs of selfishness and greed.

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My poor friend, if you only knew that the Poverty which causes you so much wretchedness is the very thing that reveals the knowledge of Justice and the understanding of Life, you would be contented with your lot.

I say knowledge of Justice: for the rich man is too busy amassing wealth to seek this knowledge.

And I say understanding of Life: for the strong man is too eager in his pursuit of power and glory to keep to the straight path of truth.

Rejoice then, my poor friend, for you are the mouth of Justice and the book of Life. Be content, for you are the source of virtue in those who rule over you and the pillar of integrity of those who guide you.

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PRAISE

My soul preached to me and said, “Do not be delighted because of praise, and do not be distressed because of blame.”

Ere my soul counseled me, I doubted the worth of my work.

Now I realize that the trees blossom in Spring and bear fruit in Summer without seeking praise; and they drop their leaves in Autumn and become naked in Winter without fearing blame.

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PRAYER

Prayer is the song of the heart. It reaches the ear of God even if it is mingled with the cry and the tumult of a thousand men.

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PREACHING

How painful is the preaching of the fortunate to the heart of the miserable! And how severe is the strong when he stands as advisor among the weak!

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PRIEST

The priest is a traitor who uses the Gospel as a threat to ransom your money … a hypocrite wearing a cross and using it as a sword to cut your veins … a wolf disguised in lambskin … a glutton who respects the tables more than the altars … a gold hungry creature who follows the Dinar to the farthest land … a cheat pilfering from widows and orphans. He is a queer being, with an eagle's beak, a tiger's clutches, a hyena's teeth and a viper's clothes. Take the Book away from him and tear his raiment off and pluck his beard and do whatever you wish unto him; then place in his hand one Dinar, and he will forgive you smilingly.

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When a villager doubts the holiness of the priest, he will be told, “Listen only to his teaching and disregard his shortcomings and misdeeds.”

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PROGRESS

Progress is not merely improving the past; it is moving forward toward the future.

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PROPHET

The Prophet arrives

Veiled in the cloak of future thought,

‘Mid people hid in ancient garb,

Who could not see the gift he brought.

He is a stranger to this life,

Stranger to those who praise or blame,

For he upholds the Torch of Truth,

Although devoured by the flame.

   
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R

REASON

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 counsellor. Reason is light in darkness, as anger is darkness amidst light. Be wise—let Reason, not Impulse, be your guide.

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REBELLION

Life without Rebellion is like seasons without Spring. And Rebellion without Right is like Spring in an arid desert…. Life, Rebellion, and Right are three-in-one who cannot be changed or separated.

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Did God give us the breath of life to place it under death's feet? Did He give us liberty to make it a shadow for slavery? He who extinguishes his spirit's fire with his own hands is an infidel in the eyes of Heaven, for Heaven set the fire that burns in our spirits. He who does not rebel against oppression is doing himself injustice.

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REGRET

Be not like him who sits by his fireside and watches the fire go out, then blows vainly upon the dead ashes. Do not give up hope or yield to despair because of that which is past, for to bewail the irretrievable is the worst of human frailties.

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RELIGION

If we were to do away with the various religions, we would find ourselves united and enjoying one great faith and religion, abounding in brotherhood.

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Religion is a well-tilled field,

Planted and watered by desire

Of one who longed for Paradise,

Or one who dreaded Hell and Fire.

Aye, were it but for reckoning

At Resurrection, they had not

Worshipped God, nor did repent,

Except to gain a better lot—

As though religion were a phase

Of commerce in their daily trade;

Should they neglect it they would lose—

Or persevering would be paid.

   
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Religion to man is like a field,

For it is planted with hope and

Tended by the shivering ignorant,

Fearing the fire of hell; or it is

Sowed by the strong in wealth of

Empty gold who look upon religion

As a kind of barter, ever seeking

Profit in earthly reward. But

Their hearts are lost despite

Their throbbing, and the product

Of their spiritual farming is but

The unwanted weed of the valley.