Khalil Gibran → Χαλίλ Τζιμπράν, Χαλίλ Γκιμπράν, Καλίλ Τζιμπράν, Καλίλ Γκιμπράν

[spiros]

Do not the spirits who dwell in the ether envy man his pain?

[spiros]

On my way to the Holy City I met another pilgrim and I asked him, "Is this indeed the way to the Holy City?"
And he said, "Follow me, and you will reach the Holy City in a day and a night."
And I followed him. And we walked many days and many nights, yet we did not reach the Holy City.
And what was to my surprise he became angry with me because he had misled me.

[spiros]

Make me, oh God, the prey of the lion, ere You make the rabbit my prey.

[spiros]

One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.

[spiros]

My house says to me, "Do not leave me, for here dwells your past."
And the road says to me, "Come and follow me, for I am your future."
And I say to both my house and the road, "I have no past, nor have I a future. If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; and if I go there is a staying in my going. Only love and death will change all things."

[spiros]

How can I lose faith in the justice of life, when the dreams of those who sleep upon feathers are not more beautiful than the dreams of those who sleep upon the earth? Strange, the desire for certain pleasures is a part of my pain.

[spiros]

Seven times have I despised my soul:
The first time when I saw her being meek that she might attain height.
The second time when I saw her limping before the crippled.
The third time when she was given to choose between the hard and the easy, and she chose the easy.
The fourth time when she committed a wrong, and comforted herself that others also commit wrong.
The fifth time when she forbore for weakness, and attributed her patience to strength.
The sixth time when she despised the ugliness of a face, and knew not that it was one of her own masks.
And the seventh time when she sang a song of praise, and deemed it a virtue.

[spiros]

I AM IGNORANT of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance and therein lies my honor and my reward.

[spiros]

There is a space between man's imagination and man's attainment that may only be traversed by his longing.

[spiros]

Paradise is there, behind that door, in the next room; but I have lost the key.
Perhaps I have only mislaid it.

[spiros]

You are blind and I am deaf and dumb, so let us touch hands and understand.

[spiros]

The significance of man is not in what he attains, but rather in what he longs to attain.

[spiros]

Some of us are like ink and some like paper.
And if it were not for the blackness of some of us, some of us would be dumb;
And if it were not for the whiteness of some of us, some of us would be blind.

[spiros]

Give me an ear and I will give you a voice.

[spiros]

Kahlil Gibran On Children 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. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Χαλίλ Γκιμπράν Για τα παιδιά (από το βιβλίο Ο προφήτης) Τα παιδιά σου δεν είναι παιδιά σου Είναι οι γιοι και οι κόρες της λαχτάρας της Ζωής για τη Ζωή. Δημιουργούνται διαμέσου εσένα, αλλά όχι από σένα Κι αν και βρίσκονται μαζί σου, δε σου ανήκουν. Μπορείς να τους δώσεις την αγάπη σου, αλλά όχι τις σκέψεις σου Αφού ιδέες έχουν δικές τους. Μπορείς να δίνεις μια στέγη στο σώμα τους, αλλά όχι και στις ψυχές τους Αφού οι ψυχές τους κατοικούν στο σπίτι του αύριο που εσύ δεν πρόκειται να επισκεφτείς ούτε και στα όνειρά σου. Μπορείς να προσπαθήσεις να τους μοιάσεις αλλά μη γυρέψεις να τα κάνεις σαν εσένα Αφού η ζωή δεν πάει προς τα πίσω ούτε ακολουθεί στο δρόμο του το χτες Είσαι το τόξο από το οποίο τα παιδιά σου ωσάν ζωντανά βέλη ξεκινάνε για να πάνε μπροστά. Ο Τοξότης βλέπει στόχο στη γραμμή του Απείρου και σε λυγίζει με τη δύναμή Του ώστε οι σαΐτες Του να φύγουν γοργά και να φτάσουν μακριά. Δεχτείτε το λύγισμά σας στα χέρια Του με χαρά. γιατί αυτός, όπως αγαπά τη σαΐτα που εκτοξεύεται αγαπά και τόξο που είναι σταθερό.