Reading Kahlil Gibran

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.

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

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.

And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life--while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret.

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

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 shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.

You would know in words that which you have always known in thought.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

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.

For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of ocean by the frailty of its foam.