My Ten Favourite Khalil Gibran Messages
May 11, 2022

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