Khalil Gibran Inspirational Quotations

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

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

I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember.

Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.

Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

Truth is a deep kindness that teaches us to be content in our everyday life and share with the people the same happiness.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.

To be able to look back upon ones life in satisfaction, is to live twice.

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.

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

The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply.

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'

What the soul knows is often unknown to the man who has a soul. We are infinitely more than we think.

One day you will ask me which is more important? My life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life.

If I accept the sunshine and warmth, then I must also accept the thunder and lightning.

Work is love made visible.

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the same well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

I would not exchange the laughter of my heart for the fortunes of the multitudes.

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.

A root is a flower that disdains fame.

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

Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.

The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.

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.

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

Do not fear the thorns in your path, for they draw only corrupt blood.

Yes, there is a Nirvanah; it is leading your sheep to a green pasture, and in putting your child to sleep, and in writing the last line of your poem

An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun? And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

All that spirits desire, spirits attain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

No lower can a man descend than to interpret his dreams into gold and silver.

Yet has not Man wept at the sounds? And are not his tears eloquent understanding?

Said a skunk to a tube-rose, "See how swiftly I run, while you cannot walk nor even creep." Said the tube-rose to the skunk, "Oh, most noble swift runner, please run swiftly!"

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain... When you are joyous look deep into your heart and you will find that it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

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

In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth. He conceals the other half out of fear of people's wrath.

Strange that creatures without backbones have the hardest shells.

The lights of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reaches us. So it is with great men who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities.

Let there be spaces in your togetherness

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

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.