Khalil Gibran Quotes & Sayings

The sun teaches to all things that grow their longing for the light.
But it is night that raises them to the stars. — Khalil Gibran

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

We fear death, yet we long for slumber and beautiful dreams. — Khalil Gibran

And only the sure of foot can give a hand to him who stumbles. — Khalil Gibran

We shall never understand one another until we reduce the language to seven words. — Khalil Gibran

He who requires urging to do a noble act will never accomplish it. — Khalil Gibran

He was gentle, like a man mindful of his own strength. In my dreams I beheld the kings of the earth standing in awe in His presence. — Khalil Gibran

Inspiration will always sing; inspiration will never explain. — Khalil Gibran

For truth and the spirit will abide with the morrow. — Khalil Gibran

Hallow the body as a temple to comeliness and sanctify the heart as a sacrifice to love; love recompenses the adorers. — Khalil Gibran

When you are sorrowful, look again. — Khalil Gibran

Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge. — Khalil Gibran

We who love Him beheld Him with these our eyes which He made to see; and we touched Him with these our hands which He taught to reach forth. — Khalil Gibran

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. — Khalil Gibran

From a sensitive woman's heart springs the happiness of mankind, and from the kindness of her noble spirit comes mankind's affection. — Khalil Gibran

Sorrow is too great to exist in small hearts. — Khalil Gibran

What of the old serpent who cannot shed his skin, and calls all others naked and shameless? — Khalil Gibran

Many are the fools who say that Jesus stood in His own path and opposed Himself; that He knew not His own mind, and in the absence of that knowledge confounded Himself. — Khalil Gibran

You, the strong, have I loved, though the marks of your iron hoofs are yet upon my flesh. — Khalil Gibran

The first thought of God was an angel. The first word of God was a man — Khalil Gibran

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

Take then this Book, look into it, and show me when Jesus was not forgiving. Read this diving tragedy and tell me where He speaks without mercy and compassion. You visit not the sick and the imprisoned; nor do you feed the hungry or give refuge to the stranger or comfort to the mourner. — Khalil Gibran

The subtlest beauties in our life are unseen and unheard. — Khalil Gibran

I learnt silence from the talkative — Khalil Gibran

Zeal is a volcano, the peak of which the grass of indecisiveness does not grow. — Khalil Gibran

Poverty hides itself in thought before it surrenders to purses. — Khalil Gibran

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. — Khalil Gibran

Our pain carves out a larger space for love to fill. — Khalil Gibran

Life is weaker than Death and Death is weaker than Truth. — Khalil Gibran

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

Nature reaches out to us with welcoming arms, and bids us enjoy her beauty; but we dread her silence and rush into the crowded cities, there to huddle like sheep fleeing from a ferocious wolf. — Khalil Gibran

That deed which in our guilt we today call weakness, will appear tomorrow as an essential link in the complete chain of Man. — Khalil Gibran

Rob a neighbour with a smile. — Khalil Gibran

Cover me with soft earth, and let each handful be mixed With seeds ofjasmine, lilies, and myrtle; and when they Grow above me and thrive on my body's element they will Breathe the fragrance of my heart into space. — Khalil Gibran

Life is but a sleep disturbed by dreaming, prompted by the will; the saddened soul with sadness hides it's secrets, and the gay, with thrill. — Khalil Gibran

Love is a sacred mystery.
To those who love, it remains forever wordless;
But to those who do not love, it may be but a heartless jest. — Khalil Gibran

The best of man is he who blushes when you praise him and remains silent when you defame him. — Khalil Gibran

My Lebanon is a flock of birds fluttering in the early morning as shepherds lead their sheep into the meadow & rising in the evening as farmers return from their fields and vineyards.You have your Lebanon and its people. I have my Lebanon and its people. — Khalil Gibran

Harlots shall be made pure by their own tears. But you publicans shall be held down by the chains of your own judgement. — Khalil Gibran

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

And before my Soul took me to task I was hard of hearing; I heard only tumult and uproar. But now I am all ears listening to the silence and its choirs singing the hymns of time, intoning the praises of the firmament, revealing the secrets of the invisible. — Khalil Gibran

Whoever would be a teacher of men let him begin by teaching himself before teaching others; and let him teach by example before teaching by word. For he who teaches himself and rectifies his own ways is more deserving of respect and reverence than he who would teach others and rectify their ways. — Khalil Gibran

Disagreement may be the shortest cut between two minds. — Khalil Gibran

Many are the places of worship, but few indeed are those who worship in Spirit and in truth. — Khalil Gibran

Tears have cleansed my eyes, and errors have taught me the language of the hearts. — Khalil Gibran

In truth we gaze but do not see, and hearken but do not hear; we eat and drink but do not taste. And there lies the difference between Jesus of Nazareth and ourselves. His senses were all continually made new, and the world to Him was always a new world. — Khalil Gibran

Marriage is the union of two divinities that a third might be born on earth. It is the union of two souls in a strong love for the abolishment of separateness. It is that higher unity which fuses the separate unities within the two spirits. It is the golden ring in a chain whose beginning is a glance, and whose ending is Eternity. It is the pure rain that falls from an unblemished sky to fructify and bless the fields of divine Nature. — Khalil Gibran

All things in this vast universe exist in you, with you, and for you. — Khalil Gibran

Be like the flower, turn your faces to the sun. — Khalil Gibran

I have passed the mountain peak and my soul is soaring in the firmament of Complete and unbounded freedom; I am in comfort, I am in peace. — Khalil Gibran

And God said, Love your enemy, & I obeyed Him & loved myself. — Khalil Gibran

Behold, I have reached the peak of the mountain and my spirit has taken flight in the heavens of freedom and liberation. I have gone far, far away, O children of my mother; the hills beyond the mists are now hidden from my view, the last traces of the valleys have been flooded by the ocean of serenity, and the paths and trails have been erased by the hand of oblivion. The roar of ocean waves has faded. I no longer hear anything but the anthem of eternity, which harmonizes with the spirit. — Khalil Gibran

Spring is beautiful everywhere, but it is more than beautiful in Lebanon. Spring is the spirit of an unknown God speeding through the world, which, as it reaches Lebanon, pauses, because now it is as at home with the souls of the Prophets and Kings hovering over the land, chanting with the brooks of Judea, the eternal Psalms of Solomon, renewing with the Cedars of Lebanon memories of an ancient glory. — Khalil Gibran

You are a flower crushed beneath the feet of the animal that is concealed in a human being. Take comfort, in that you are the flower crushed and not the foot that has crushed it. — Khalil Gibran

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping,
For only the hand of God can contain your hearts. — Khalil Gibran

If I could take your troubles
I would toss them into the sea,
But all these things I'm finding
Are impossible for me.
I cannot build a mountain
Or catch a rainbow fair,
But let me be what I know best,
A friend that is always there. — Khalil Gibran

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

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

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. — Khalil Gibran

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. — Khalil Gibran

Friendship with the ignorant is as foolish as arguing with a drunkard. — Khalil Gibran

Hate is a dead thing. Who of you would be a tomb? — Khalil Gibran

Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east. — Khalil Gibran

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 selves that hurt us when we disobey it, and it kills us when we betray it. — Khalil Gibran

Unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger. — Khalil Gibran

Conscience is a just but weak judge. Weakness leaves it powerless to execute its judgment. — Khalil Gibran

No man can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. — Khalil Gibran

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. — Khalil Gibran

The teacher gives not of his wisdom, but rather of his faith and lovingness. — Khalil Gibran

There are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. — Khalil Gibran

You have your ideology and I have mine. — Khalil Gibran

Everyone has experienced that truth: that love, like a running brook, is disregarded, taken for granted; but when the brook freezes over, then people begin to remember how it was when it ran, and they want it to run again. — Khalil Gibran

In truth you owe naught to any man. You owe to all men. — Khalil Gibran

In a dream I saw Jesus and My God Pan sitting together in the heart of the forest. They laughed at each other's speech, with the brook that ran near them, and the laughter of Jesus was the merrier. And they conversed long. — Khalil Gibran

If the grandfather of the grandfather of Jesus had known what was hidden within him, he would have stood humble and awe-struck before his soul. — Khalil Gibran

Lovers embrace that which is between them rather than each other. — Khalil Gibran

If you would behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life. For life and death are one, even as the river and sea are one. — Khalil Gibran

In the depth of my soul there is a wordless song. — Khalil Gibran

Do not be merciful, but be just, for mercy is bestowed upon the guilty criminal, while Justice is all that the innocent man requires. — Khalil Gibran

All can hear, but only the sensitive can understand ... — Khalil Gibran

Strange that we all defend our wrongs with more vigor than we do our rights. — Khalil Gibran

I discovered the secret of the sea in meditation upon a dewdrop. — Khalil Gibran

He is short-sighted who looks only on the path he treads and the wall on which he leans. — Khalil Gibran

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape. — Khalil Gibran

Which of you would be silent - when all else sings together in unison? — Khalil Gibran

I had a second birth when my soul and my body loved one another and were married. — Khalil Gibran

Listen to the women when she looks at you, not when she talks to you. — Khalil Gibran

My yearning is my cup, my burning thirst is my drink, and my solitude is my intoxication; I do not and shall not quench my thirst. But in this burning that is never extinguished is a joy that never wanes. — Khalil Gibran

I am a poet who composes what life proses, and who proses what life composes. — Khalil Gibran

Nor shall derision prove powerful against those who listen to humanity or those who follow in the footsteps of divinity, for they shall live forever. Forever. — Khalil Gibran

What difference is there between us, save a restless dream that follows my soul but fears to come near you? — Khalil Gibran

A root is a flower that disdains fame. — Khalil Gibran

Pity it is we drowse too soon
Pity it is we fall asleep
Ere our song encompass the height
Ere our hand inherit the deep — Khalil Gibran

Be patient, for it is from doubt that knowledge is born. — Khalil Gibran

Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite; if the second, then you are an oasis in the desert. — Khalil Gibran

I sit between my brother the mountain and my sister the sea. We three are one in loneliness, and the love that binds us together is deep and strong and strange. — Khalil Gibran

The silence of the envious is too noisy. — Khalil Gibran

If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work. — Khalil Gibran

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

You progress not through what has been done, but reaching towards what has yet to be done. — Khalil Gibran