The 100 best phrases of Khalil Gibran

Kahlil Gibran was a renowned Lebanese poet, painter and philosopher, who earned the title of 'the prophet of the east' thanks to his book 'The Prophet'.

His works are mostly based on the poetry and art of the Arabic culture, which he also wanted to transmit and nurture internationally when he lived in the United States.

In this article you will find a list of the best phrases of Khalil Gibran; samples of his thought and his way of conceiving the world.

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The most inspiring Khalil Gibran quotes

To remember his legacy, we bring in this article a compilation with the best phrases of Khalil Gibran, a thinker who conquered the West with his poetry.

1. Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

In friendship, respect and responsibility are paramount.

2. In the sweetness of friendship there is laughter and sharing of pleasures. In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and rejoices.

Friendship is beautiful, don't take it away from your life.

3. Because life and death are one, just as the river and the sea are one too.

Life is accompanied by death, that is a duo that cannot be separated.

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4. No matter how long the storm is, the sun always shines through the clouds again.

There is no problem that cannot be overcome.

5. Men who do not forgive women for their small flaws will never enjoy their great virtues.

Forgiveness is essential in a relationship.

6. If you love someone, set them free because if they come back they were always yours. And if it doesn't, it never was.

Who truly loves you, never leaves your side.

7. From suffering the strongest souls have emerged. The strongest characters are forged from scars.

You also learn from difficult situations.

8. Only the seed that breaks its shell is capable of daring the adventure of life.

Never stop taking risks, life is a constant adventure.

9. Men do not want the blessing on their lips nor the truth in their hearts, because the first is the product of tears and the second is the daughter of blood.

There are things in life that hurt a lot.

10. Selfishness, my friend, breeds blind quarrels, and quarrels breed wars.

Don't let selfishness take over your life.

11. Dawn cannot be reached except by the path of night.

To achieve success you have to go through failure.

12. You can forget the one with whom you have laughed, but not the one with whom you have cried.

True friends meet in times of difficulty.

13. If you reveal your secrets to the wind, don't blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.

Do not divulge your secrets or your plans, because you will not have control over them.

14. You give little when you give your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you really give.

Material things are not important, but your presence is.

15. The nightingale refuses to nest in the cage, lest slavery be the fate of his offspring.

You have to be free, put aside everything that binds you.

16. There are those who give with joy and that joy is their reward.

It's nice to give and get nothing in return.

17. Faith is an oasis in the heart, which will never be reached by the caravan of thought.

True faith gives good results.

18. The silence of the envious is full of noises.

Stay away from the envious, they don't deserve to be by your side.

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19. Take me away from the wisdom that does not cry, the philosophy that does not laugh and the greatness that does not bow to children.

Sometimes things that seem good are actually not.

20. Caring and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolve.

Show your affections since it is not weakness, but confidence in yourself.

21. Love has never known its own intensity until the hour of parting.

When you lose the one you love, it is the moment when you are certain of the great love you felt.

22. There must be something strangely sacred about salt: it's in our tears and in the sea.

There are things so sacred that it is difficult to understand.

23. From the talker I have learned to keep quiet; from the intolerant, to being indulgent, and from the malevolent, to treating others with kindness. And curious as it may seem, I don't feel any gratitude towards those teachers.

Each person has something to teach.

24. Protect me from the wisdom that does not cry, from the philosophy that does not laugh, and from the greatness that does not bow down to children.

We must cry, laugh and love.

25. Where can I find a man governed by reason and not by habits and desires?

It is easier to be dominated by bad habits than by reason.

26. Hell is not in remorse, it is in the empty heart.

Having no feelings is worse than having regrets.

27. When you get to the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should feel.

Wisdom and feelings go in the same direction.

28. Your pain is the breaking of the shell that envelops your understanding.

Pain is a sensation that brings many teachings.

29. You must not forget that the earth delights in feeling your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Get out and enjoy nature.

30. If you cannot work with love but only with reluctance, it is better that you abandon your work and sit at the door of the temple to receive alms from those who work with joy.

Everything that is done, must be done with joy.

31. I knew a second birth, when my soul and my body fell in love and married.

Try to get your body and mind going in the same direction.

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32. Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to cry, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.

Never let your knowledge make you see that you are superior to others.

33. We are all prisoners, but some of us are in cells with windows, and some of us are not.

There are things that bind us, some that motivate us to go out and others that keep us locked up.

34. There is a shimmering spring in every winter of the heart, and a smiling dawn hides behind the veil of every night.

After a sad moment comes happiness. It is important to say what you feel.

35. All the poor are not despised.

The worst poverty is that of the soul.

36. And there are those who have little but give everything. The latter believe in life and in the generosity of life, which is why their chests are never empty.

Those who give little are the happiest people in the world.

37. The same well that gives birth to your laughter has been filled countless times with your tears.

Tears and laughter are part of you.

38. Tears are fire that purifies love, making them clear and beautiful for an eternity.

Crying for love is something worthwhile.

39. It is good to give when asked; but it is better to give without being asked, as good understanders.

He always gives without them having to come and ask for it.

40. Material things kill man without suffering, love revives him with life-giving pain.

Bad times are great learning.

41. He trusts dreams, since in them the door to eternity is hidden.

He haunts your dreams, don't stop.

42. Sorrow and poverty purify the heart of man, though our feeble minds see nothing of value in the universe except comfort and happiness.

Poverty is not something to be ashamed of.

43. He who forgives you a sin that you have not committed, he forgives himself his own crime.

The one who forgives others, he knows how to forgive himself without complexes.

44. A poet is one who makes you feel, after having read his poem, that his best verses have not yet been composed.

A simple poetry can convey endless things.

45. He who does not wear his morality but as if it were his best clothing, he would be better off naked.

Integrity is sometimes a mirage.

46. Show me your mother's face and I'll tell you who you are.

You are the reflection of what you learned at home.

47. Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.

Yesterday is just a memory, tomorrow is just a dream.

48. And do not think of directing the paths of love; it is love who, if it finds you worthy, will direct your paths.

Love is not controlled, it is felt.

49. He who wishes to become a teacher of man, he must begin by teaching himself before teaching others; and he must first teach by example before he does it verbally.

Before understanding others, start with yourself.

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50. Beauty is eternity looking at itself in a mirror.

Beauty is everywhere.

51. And in my madness I found the freedom and security that comes from not being understood, because those who understand us enslave something of us.

Having friends is a great big commitment.

52. Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.

Curiosity leads us to discover new things.

53. Your life is determined not by what life brings to you, but by the attitude you bring to life. It's not what happens to you, but the way your mind looks at what happens.

Life is based on the way you see things.

54. When you are happy, look into the depths of your hearts and you will find that the same thing that gives you joy today was what filled you with sadness yesterday.

The sadness of today will be transformed into the joy of tomorrow.

55. Love only gives of itself and receives nothing but itself. Love does not possess, and does not want to be possessed. Because love is sufficient unto love.

He who has love, gives love and receives the same

56. The exaggeration is the truth that has lost its temper.

Aggrandizement is a flaw that many people have.

57. When you are sad, look again and you will discover that you are crying for what was yours yesterday.

Sadness is a very present feeling.

58. The tyrant demands sweet wine from sour grapes.

There are people who want to reap good things when they have sown hate.

59. When sadness melts two hearts, neither glory nor happiness will be able to destroy that union.

Sadness also unites two people.

60. Love is always shy before beauty, while beauty is always behind love.

With love, we can see beauty everywhere.

61. If at night you cry for the Sun, the tears will not let you see the stars.

Don't hold on to pain as you won't be able to see the beauty around you.

62. The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist looks at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.

He always sees the good in everything.

63. It has always been known that love does not know its own depth until the hour of parting.

Love is an enigma.

64. When love calls you, follow him, even if his paths are difficult and steep. And when his wings envelop you, yield to him, even though the sword hidden in his feathers may hurt you.

Nobody escapes love.

65. Life without love is like a tree without flowers or fruits

Life is more beautiful when lived with love.

66. The deeper sadness sinks its claw into your being, the more joy you will be able to contain!

Sadness is the prelude to joy.

67. My enemy told me: “Love your enemy”. And I obeyed him and loved myself.

Your worst enemy is yourself.

68. The wealth of the world is a crust of bread and a coat.

Just as there are rich people, there are poor people who lack much.

69. It is our inner self that suffers when we disobey and kills us when we betray it.

We always have someone inside us that pushes us to do things.

70. The timeless that exists in you is aware of the timelessness of life.

We are as is the life that we have had to live.

71. Do not say, 'I have found the truth', but rather, 'I have found a truth'.

The truth is something incomprehensible.

72. Some hear with their ears, some with their stomachs, some with their pockets, and some don't hear at all.

You have to know how to listen.

73. Working with love is building a house with love, as if your loved one were to live in that house.

Do your work with love, the results will be magical.

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74. Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

Joy and sadness are very similar.

75. Sadness is a wall between two gardens.

Sadness also unites two hearts.

76. In the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and takes its freshness.

In the little moments is where happiness is found.

77. You do not progress by improving what is already done, but by striving to achieve what still remains to be done.

Always focus on doing more than you can do.

78. The deeper the pain digs into your heart, the more joy you can contain.

Sometimes joy is found behind a dark landscape.

79. At the heart of every winter lives a throbbing spring, and behind every night, comes a smiling dawn.

The storm does not last forever and after it there is a cool day.

80. The tortoise can talk more about the road than the hare.

Enjoy everything you do.

81. Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Every time you enter it, do it with your whole being.

Live each day with intensity.

82. Death is more like a prophet who has no honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his own.

Death is the latent expectation that opens its arms to us.

83. If the other person hurts you, you can forget about the injury; but if you hurt him, you will always remember it.

The burden of conscience will weigh heavily every day.

84. There are those who carry the truth within themselves but do not express it in words.

Many people do not know how to say what they feel.

85. To love life through work is to become intimate with the most recondite secret of life.

Loving life implies experiencing the good and bad moments of it.

86. Some seek pleasure in pain; and others cannot be cleaned except with dirt.

For many people pain is considered as pleasure.

87. We, who err always looking for the loneliest path.

There are people who are lonely and are happy that way.

88. Your children are not your children: they are the sons and daughters of the longing for life that life itself feels.

Our children do not belong to us, they belong to life itself.

89. Many of us spend our entire lives running from feelings in the mistaken belief that you can't handle pain. But you've already endured the pain. What you haven't done is feel all that you are beyond that pain.

We always try to escape from pain, because we do not know that this is something impossible.

90. If you really must be honest, be honest.

Sincerity is important.

91. The flowers of the fields are the daughters of the affection of the sun and the love of nature. And the children of men are flowers of love and compassion.

Children are gifts of love.

92. Love gives nothing but itself, takes nothing but itself. He neither owns nor is owned. Because love is enough for love.

Love is the most beautiful feeling that man possesses.

93. Pay attention to the sun that rises in the dark.

In every difficult situation, there is always a light that shines.

94. Wars bring with them authority and force, which are the cause of clashes and oppression.

Wars only leave misfortune in their wake.

95. You, in giving, give only the smallest part of your fortune, which would be worthless if you did not make your charity an integral part of yourself.

Helping those in need should be a priority.

96. Many doctrines are like window glass. We see the truth through them but they separate us from the truth.

It's okay to have your beliefs, but they shouldn't restrict your mind.

97. They consider me crazy because I don't want to sell my days for gold. And I consider them crazy because they think my days are priceless.

There are things that money can not buy.

98. God made the truth with many doors to welcome all believers who knock on them.

The truth has many faces.

99. Do not look for the friend to kill the hours, but look for him with hours to live.

Friends are important, that's why you don't have to have them out of interest.

100. In the sweetness of friendship there is laughter and sharing of pleasures. In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and rejoices.

Friendship is necessary for a beautiful life.