My Ten Favourite Khalil Gibran Messages

My introduction to Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese American writer, and philosopher, was through one of his classics, The Prophet. The book is a collection of Khalil Gibran’s poetic musings on a variety of topics like love, giving, work, joy, sorrow, freedom, reason, teaching, friendship, self-knowledge, and so on.

Through this book, among a few others, I became acquainted with Khalil Gibran’s wisdom, which makes for riveting reading. From the hundreds there are, here are ten of my favourite Khalil Gibran quotes. As you read each one, I promise you that you will find yourself asking, “Does this apply to me?”

1. To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.
2. I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
3. Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.
4. If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember.
5. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. 
6. The real test of good manners is to be able to put up with bad manners pleasantly.
7. The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.