This is a book I return to whenever I need grounding on certain things. Yes, the bible, especially Proverbs, is a go-to as well, but this particular time we are talking about The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.
The Prophet is a story about Almustafa, who has been living in exile for twelve years. He has been waiting for a sheep to take him back home. Now the ship is here, and he is sad about his departure, and so are the people of Orphalese, where he was living.
Because he was such a wise person who always kept to himself, the Opharese people asked him for words of wisdom on various topics before he left them for good. They asked him about love, marriage, children, freedom, time, good and evil, law, pleasure and many more.
I have done a full review of the book in the Citizen newspaper. You can read it here and let me know your thoughts.
Let’s get to the whole point of this post. I want to share a few of my favourite quotes from this short yet impactful book that everyone should read at least once in their lives. I will not be explaining my feelings or reflections on these quotes. I want you to reflect on them yourself, without being influenced by thoughts.
- And when you work with love, you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another and to gOD. Work is love made visible. And if you can not work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
- It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; and to the openhanded, the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving. You give little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
- Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
- Let there be space in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.
- When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you, yield to him. Love gives naught but itself, and it takes naught but from itself. For love is sufficient unto love.
- It is not a garment I cast off this day, but a skin that I tear with my own hands. Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst. The Sea that calls all things unto her calls me, and I must embark.
- God rests in reasons. God moves in passion.
- Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. And you could keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy; and you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
- And in the sweetness of friendship, let there be their laughter and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.
- The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And it knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.
I have not shared my reflections on these quotes, but just these being my favourites, should tell you something about my beliefs on these things. I have a set of beliefs that resonates with some and doesn’t with others, which is okay. It is OK to have different thoughts and to see the world differently. It is because of these differences that we need each other.
Which of these quotes spoke to you? Let me know in the comments below, and I would love to talk about some of these.
Talk soon,
In the meantime, you can also read these posts from my blog.
Two nights in Ruaha National Park.
Dream Count by Chimamanda Adichie quotes.
Always,
Jane 🙂
