Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese philosophical essayist, novelist, poet and artist. He is best known for his book The Prophet -- a collection of essays in prose as well as poetry, exploring the meaning of life and the condition of man. Illustrated with the author's own drawings, it was first published in 1923 and has never been out of print.
As an artist, Gibran created hundreds of drawings and paintings and as an author he wrote in both English and Arabic. In the world of Arabic literature, Kahlil is considered a rebel for not complying with “the old ways”.
Gibran died at the age of 48 in New York City. Next to his grave stands this quote: “A word I want to see written on my grave: I am alive like you, and I am standing beside you. Close your eyes and look around, you will see me in front of you”.
Gibran was a hopeless romantic, he strongly believed in the power of generosity and in taking the best out of every experience, good or bad. Here are 26 Kahlil Gibran quotes to teach you about the deep meaning of love.
You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.
If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.
Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.
Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.
We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side.
No human relation gives one possession in another—every two souls are absolutely different. In friendship or in love, the two side by side raise hands together to find what one cannot reach alone.
It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone... but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
To belittle, you have to be little.
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
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.
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.
Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.
You may forget with whom you laughed, but you will never forget with whom you wept.
To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
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.
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
They deem me mad because I will not sell my days for gold; and I deem them mad because they think my days have a price.
Trust in dreams, for in them is the hidden gate to eternity.
When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.
Two men holding certificates
