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For What Is It To Die But To Stand Naked In The Wind And To Melt Into The Sun? And What Is It To Cease Breathing But To Free The Breath From Its Restless Tides, That It May Rise And Expand And Seek God Unencumbered? Only When You Drink From The River Of Silence Shall You Indeed Sing. And When You Have Reached The Mountaintop,then You Shall Begin To Climb. And When The Earth Shal Claim Your Limbs,then Shall You Truly Dance.

-Khalil Gibran

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For What Is It

Khalil Gibran

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For What Is It To Die But To Stand Naked In The Wind And To Melt Into The Sun? And What Is It To Cease Breathing But To Free The Breath From Its Restless Tides, That It May Rise And Expand And Seek God Unencumbered? Only When You Drink From The River Of Silence Shall You Indeed Sing. And When You Have Reached The Mountaintop,then You Shall Begin To Climb. And When The Earth Shal Claim Your Limbs,then Shall You Truly Dance.

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You Are Your Own Forerunner, And The Towers You Have Builded Are But The Foundation Of Your Giant-self. And That Self Too Shall Be A Foundation.

Who Can Depart From His Pain And Aloneness Without Regret? Too Many Fragments Of The Spirit Have I Scattered In These Streets, And Too Many Are The Children Of My Longing That Walk Naked Among These Hills, And I Cannot Withdraw From Them Without A Burden And An Ache. It Is Not A Garment I Cast Off This Day, Bit A Skin That I Tear With My Own Hands... Yet I Cannot Tarry Longer.

If Indeed You Must Be Candid, Be Candid Beautifully.

When Love Beckons To You, Follow Him, Though His Ways Are Hard And Steep.

You, The Strong, Have I Loved, Though The Marks Of Your Iron Hoofs Are Yet Upon My Flesh.

For That Which Is Boundless In You Abides In The Mansion Of The Sky, Whose Door Is The Morning Mist, And Whose Windows Are The Songs And The Silences Of Night.

Let There Be Spaces In Your Togetherness

He Who Denies His Heritage, Has No Heritage

When God Threw Me, A Pebble, Into This Wondrous Lake, I Disturbed Its Surface With Countless Circles. But When I Reached The Depths, I Became Very Still.

The Obvious Is That Which Is Never Seen Until Someone Expresses It Simply.

Your House Is Your Larger Body. It Grows In The Sun And Sleeps In The Stillness Of The Night; And It Is Not Dreamless. Does Not Your House Dream, And Dreaming, Leave The City For Grove Or Hilltop?

Let Me, O Let Me Bathe My Soul In Colours; Let Me Swallow The Sunset And Drink The Rainbow.

The Significance Of A Man Is Not In What He Attains, But Rather What He Longs To Attain.

God Has Made Many Doors Opening Into Truth Which He Opens To All Who Knock Upon Them With Hands Of Faith.

Give Your Hearts, But Not Into Each Other's Keeping, For Only The Hand Of God Can Contain Your Hearts.

Often Times I Have Hated In Self-defense; If I Were Stronger I Would Not Have Used Such A Weapon.

I Have Found Both Freedom And Safety In My Madness; The Freedom Of Loneliness And The Safety From Being Understood, For Those Who Understand Us Enslave Something In Us.

You Are A Flower Crushed Beneath The Feet Of The Animal That Is Concealed In A Human Being. Take Comfort, In That You Are The Flower Crushed And Not The Foot That Has Crushed It.

Only Those Beneath Me Can Envy Or Hate Me. I Have Never Been Envied Nor Hated; I Am Above No One. Only Those Above Me Can Praise Or Belittle Me. I Have Never Been Praised Nor Belittled; I Am Below No One.

For The Sight Of The Angry Weather Saddens My Soul And The Sight Of The Town, Sitting Like A Bereaved Mother Beneath Layers Of Ice, Oppresses My Heart.

He Was Gentle, Like A Man Mindful Of His Own Strength. In My Dreams I Beheld The Kings Of The Earth Standing In Awe In His Presence.

Half Of What I Say Is Meaningless; But I Say It So That The Other Half May Reach You.

Perhaps A Man May Commit Suicide In Self-defense.

A Truly Religious Man Does Not Embrace A Religion; And He Who Embraces One Has No Religion.

Happiness Is A Vine That Takes Root And Grows Within The Heart, Never Outside It.

Humanity Is A River Of Light Running From The Ex-eternity To Eternity.

You Often Say ; I Would Give , But Only To The Deserving, The Trees In Your Orchard Say Not So , Nor The Flocks In Your Pasture. Surely He Who Is Worthy To Receive His Days And Nights Is Worthy Of All Else From You. And He Who Has Deserved To Drink From The Ocean Of Life Deserves To Fill His Cup From Your Little Stream. See First That Youyourself Deserve To Be A Giver , And An Insturument Of Giving. For In Truth It Is Life That Gives Unto Life-while You , Who Deem Yourself A Giver , Is But A Witness.

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. For If You Bake Bread With Indifference, You Bake A Bitter Bread That Feeds But Half Man's Hunger. And If You Grudge The Crushing Of The Grapes, Your Grudge Distils A Poison In The Wine. And If You Sing Though As Angels, And Love Not The Singing, You Muffle Man's Ears To The Voices Of The Day And The Voices Of The Night.

Time Has Been Transformed, And We Have Changed; It Has Advanced And Set Us In Motion; It Has Unveiled Its Face, Inspiring Us With Bewilderment And Exhilaration.

Learn The Words Of Wisdom Uttered By The Wise And Apply Them In Your Own Life. Live Them - But Do Not A Make A Show Of Reciting Them, For He Who Repeats What He Does Not Understand Is No Better Than An Ass Loaded With Books.

Words Of Wisdom

If I Extend An Empty Hand And In Retrieving It And Finding It Still Empty, I Feel Disappointment, That Is Foolishness; Yet If I Extend A Hand Which Is Full And Yet Find No One To Receive It, Then That Is Hopelessness.

The Ageless Melody, Unheard, Heals; The Healing Vision, Unseen, Leads; The True Leaders, Immortal, Know...

A God Who Is Good Knows No Segregation Amongst Words Or Names. And Were A God To Deny His Blessing To Those Who Pursue A Different Path To Eternity, There Would Be No Human Who Should Offer Worship.

Death Changes Nothing But The Mask That Covers Our Faces.

He Who Defines His Conduct By Ethics Imprisons His Song-bird In A Cage.

For What Is Prayer But The Expansion Of Your Self Into The Living Ether?

In Friendship Let There Be Laughter And Sharing Of Pleasures.

I Love You When You Bow In Your Mosque, Kneel In Your Temple, Pray In Your Church. For You And I Are Sons Of One Religion, And It Is The Spirit.

I Do Not Want You To Hear That I Love You, But I Want You To Feel It Without Me Having To Say.

Tortoises Can Tell You More About The Road Than Hares.

The Soul Is An Embryo In The Body Of Man, And The Day Of Death Is The Day Of Awakening, For It Is The Great Era Of Labour And The Rich Hour Of Creation.

And Is Not The Lute That Soothes Your Spirit The Very Wood That Was Hollowed With Knives?

Inspirational Love

No Human Relation Gives One Possession In Another—every Two Souls Are Absolutely Different. In Friendship Or In Love, The Two Side By Side Raise Hands Together To Find What One Cannot Reach Alone.

Poetry Is A Deal Of Joy And Pain And Wonder, With A Dash Of The Dictionary.

Now I Realize That The Trees Blossom In Spring And Bear Fruit In Summer Without Seeking Praise; And They Drop Their Leaves In Autumn And Become Naked In Winter Without Fearing Blame.

The Envier Praises Me Unknowingly.

When You Work You Are A Flute Through Whose Heart The Whispering Of The Hours Turns To Music. Which Of You Would Be A Reed, Dumb And Silent, When All Else Sings Together In Unison?

The Voice Of Life In Me Cannot Reach The Ear Of Life In You; But Let Us Talk That We May Not Feel Lonely.

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.

Inspirational Love

Your Pain Is The Breaking Of The Shell That Encloses Your Understanding. It Is The Bitter Potion By Which The Physician Within You Heals Your Sick Self. Therefore, Trust The Physician And Drink His Remedy In Silence And Tranquility.

Let Us Disperse From Our Aloofness And Serve The Weak Who Made Us Strong, And Cleanse The Country In Which We Live. Let Us Teach This Miserable Nation To Smile And Rejoice With Heaven's Bounty And Glory Of Life And Freedom.

In Truth We Gaze But Do Not See, And Hearken But Do Not Hear; We Eat And Drink But Do Not Taste. And There Lies The Difference Between Jesus Of Nazareth And Ourselves. His Senses Were All Continually Made New, And The World To Him Was Always A New World.

Oh Heart, If One Should Say To You That The Soul Perishes Like The Body, Answer That The Flower Withers, But The Seed Remains.

Friendship Is Always A Sweet Responsibility, Never An Opportunity.

Only Those Return To Eternity Who On Earth Seek Out Eternity.

God Has Given You A Spirit With Wings On Which To Soar Into The Spacious Firmament Of Love And Freedom. Is It Not Pitiful Than That You Cut Your Wings With Your Own Hands And Suffer Your Soul To Crawl Like An Insect Upon The Earth?

Strange That Creatures Without Backbones Have The Hardest Shells.

Love Is Trembling Happiness.

Many Are The Places Of Worship, But Few Indeed Are Those Who Worship In Spirit And In Truth.

People Of Orphalese, Beauty Is Life When Life Unveils Her Holy Face. But You Are Life And You Are The Veil. Beauty Is Eternity Gazing At Itself In A Mirror. But You Are Eternity And You Are The Mirror.

My Friends: Music Is The Language Of Spirits. Its Melody Is Like The Frolicsome Breeze That Makes The Strings Quiver With Love. When The Gentle Fingers Of Music Knock At The Door Of Our Feelings, They Awaken Memories That Have Long Lain Hidden In The Depths Of The Past. The Sad Strains Of Music Bring Us Mournful Recollections; And Her Quiet Strains Bring Us Joyful Memories. The Sound Of Strings Makes Us Weep At The Departure Of A Dear One, Or Makes Us Smile At The Peace God Has Bestowed Upon Us.

The Silence Of The Envious Is Too Noisy.

Life Has Two Halves: One Patient And One Afire. Love Is The Fiery Half. Make Me, O Lord, Food For The Flames.

Reason Without Learning Is Like The Untilled Soil, Or Like The Human Body That Lacks Nourishment.

Let Your Home Be You Mast And Not Your Anchor.

Love And Doubt Have Never Been On Speaking Terms.

The Most Pitiful Among Men Is He Who Turns His Dreams Into Silver And Gold.

Love Is A Magic Ray Emitted From The Burning Core Of The Soul And Illuminating The Surrounding Earth. It Enables Us To Perceive Life As A Beautiful Dream Between One Awakening And Another.

I Have Never Agreed With My Other Self Wholly. The Truth Of The Matter Seems To Lie Between Us.

The Mute Grain Turns To Love Songs When Swallowed By The Nightingale.

To Know The Pain Of Too Much Tenderness

But If You Love And Must Needs Have Desires, Let These Be Your Desires: To Melt And Be Like A Running Brook That Sings Its Melody To The Night. To Know The Pain Of Too Much Tenderness. To Be Wounded By Your Own Understanding Of Love; And To Bleed Willingly And Joyfully. To Wake At Dawn With A Winged Heart And Give Thanks For Another Day Of Loving; To Rest At Noon Hour And Meditate Love's Ecstasy; To Return Home At Eventide With Gratitude; And Then To Sleep With A Prayer For The Beloved In Your Heart And A Song Of Praise On Your Lips.

Our Pain Carves Out A Larger Space For Love To Fill.

The Tears That You Spill, The Sorrowful, Are Sweeter Than The Laughter Of Snobs And The Guffaws Of Scoffers.

Each Thing That Exists Remains Forever, And That Very Existence Of Existence Is Proof Of Its Eternity. But Without That Realization, Which Is The Knowledge Of Perfect Being, Man Would Never Know Whether There Was Existence Or Non-existence. If Eternal Existence Is Altered, Then It Must Become More Beautiful; And If It Disappears, It Must Return With More Sublime Image; And If It Sleeps, It Must Dream Of A Better Awakening, For It Is Ever Greater Upon Its Rebirth.

He Is Short-sighted Who Looks Only On The Path He Treads And The Wall On Which He Leans.

I Am Bored With Gabbers And Their Gab; My Soul Abhors Them. . . . Is There Any Place Where There Is No Traffic In Empty Talk? Is There On This Earth One Who Does Not Worship Himself Talking?

They Deem Me Mad Because I Will Not Sell My Days For Gold; And I Deem Them Mad Because They Think My Days Have A Price.

Who Among You Does Not Feel That His Power To Love Is Boundless? And Yet Who Does Not Feel That Very Love, Though Boundless, Encompassed Within The Center Of His Being, And Moving Not From Love Thought To Love Thought, Nor From Love Deeds To Other Love Deeds?

Life Without Love Is Like A Tree Without Blossoms Or Fruit.

God Listens Not To Your Words Save When He Himself Utters Them Through Your Lips.

Strange That We All Defend Our Wrongs With More Vigor Than We Do Our Rights.

It Takes A Minute To Have A Crush On Someone, An Hour To Like Someone, And A Day To Love Someone... But It Takes A Lifetime To Forget Someone.

In The Autumn I Gathered All My Sorrows And Buried Them In My Garden. And When April Returned And Spring Came To Wed The Earth, There Grew In My Garden Beautiful Flowers Unlike All Other Flowers. And My Neighbors Came To Behold Them, And They All Said To Me, "when Autumn Comes Again, At Seeding Time, Will You Not Give Us Of The Seeds Of These Flowers That We May Have Them In Our Gardens?"

Life Without Freedom Is Like A Body Without A Soul, And Freedom Without Thought Is Like A Confused Spirit. . . . Life, Freedom And Thought Are Three-in-one, And Are Everlasting And Shall Never Pass Away.

We Live Only To Discover Beauty. All Else Is A Form Of Waiting

Beautiful Women

Your Saying 'i Do Not Understand You' Is Praise Beyond My Worth, And An Insult You Do Not Deserve.

In The Depth Of Your Hopes And Desires Lies Your Silent Knowledge Of The Beyond.

The Mother Is Everything - She Is Our Consolation In Sorrow, Our Hope In Misery, And Our Strength In Weakness. She Is The Source Of Love, Mercy, Sympathy, And Forgiveness. He Who Loses His Mother Loses A Pure Soul Who Blesses And Guards Him Constantly

How Distant I Am From People When I Am With Them, And How Close When They Are Far Away.

Your Body Is The Harp Of Your Soul And It Is Yours To Bring Forth Sweet Music From It Or Confused Sounds.

Saying This, He Turned His Head Toward The Window As If He Were Trying To Solve The Problems Of Human Existence By Concentrating On The Beauty Of The Universe.

Zeal Is A Volcano, The Peak Of Which The Grass Of Indecisiveness Does Not Grow.

To Belittle, You Have To Be Little.

You Give But Little When You Give Of Your Possessions. It Is When You Give Of Yourself That You Truly Give.

In The Depth Of My Soul There Is A Wordless Song - A Song That Lives In The Seed Of My Heart. It Refuses To Melt With Ink On Parchment; It Engulfs My Affection In A Transparent Cloak And Flows, But Not Upon My Lips.

The Creator Gives No Heed To The Critic Unless He Becomes A Barren Inventor.

He Who Understands You Is Greater Kin To You Than Your Own Brother. For Even Your Own Kindred Neither Understand You Nor Know Your True Worth.

Do Not Fear The Thorns In Your Path, For They Draw Only Corrupt Blood.

True Love Cannot Be Found Where It Truly Does Not Exist, Nor Can It Be Hidden Where It Truly Does. Anonymous Love Possesses Not Nor Would It Be Possessed; For Love Is Sufficient Unto Love.

The Saint And The Sinner Are Twin Brothers...one Was Born But The Moment Before The Other.

For Life Goes Not Backward, Nor Tarries With Yesterday.

Bows And Arrows

They Consider Me To Have Sharp And Penetrating Vision Because I See Them Through The Mesh Of A Sieve.

Inspiration Will Always Sing; Inspiration Will Never Explain.

We Who Love Him Beheld Him With These Our Eyes Which He Made To See; And We Touched Him With These Our Hands Which He Taught To Reach Forth.

Prayer Is The Song Of The Heart. It Reaches The Ear Of God Even If It Is Mingled With The Cry And The Tumult Of A Thousand Men.

The Tiny Flame That Lights Up The Human Heart Is Like A Blazing Torch That Comes Down From Heaven To Light Up The Paths Of Mankind. For In One Soul Are Contained The Hopes And Feelings Of All Mankind.

Philosophy Began When Man Ate The Produce Of The Earth And Suffered Indigestion.

Is Not The Cup That Holds Your Wine The Very Cup That Was Burned In The Potter’s Oven?

Inspirational Love

Beauty Shall Rise With The Dawn From The East.

Man Struggles To Find Life Outside Himself, Unaware That The Life He Is Seeking Is Within Him.

It Is Well To Give When Asked, But It Is Better To Give Unasked, Through Understanding; And To The Open-handed The Search For One Who Shall Receive Is Joy Greater Than Giving.

We Stood Up And Bade Each Other Farewell, But Love And Despair Stood Between Us Like Two Ghosts, One Stretching His Wings With His Fingers Over Our Throats, One Weeping And The Other Laughing Hideously. As I Took Selma's Hand And Put It To My Lips, She Came Close To Me And Placed A Kiss On My Forehead, Then Dropped On The Wooden Bench. She Shut Her Eyes And Whispered Softly, "oh, Lord God, Have Mercy On Me And Mend My Broken Wings!

All That Spirits Desire, Spirits Attain.

You Are Good When You Are One With Yourself. Yet When You Are Not One With Yourself You Are Not Evil. For A Divided House Is Not A Den Of Thieves; It Is Only A Divided House. And A Ship Without Rudder May Wander Aimlessly Among Perilous Isles Yet Sink Not To The Bottom.

Persecution Cannot Harm Him Who Stands By Truth. Did Not Socrates Fall Proudly A Victim In Body? Was Not Paul Stoned For The Sake Of The Truth? It Is Our Inner Selves That Hurt Us When We Disobey It, And It Kills Us When We Betray It.

Behold, I Have Reached The Peak Of The Mountain And My Spirit Has Taken Flight In The Heavens Of Freedom And Liberation. I Have Gone Far, Far Away, O Children Of My Mother; The Hills Beyond The Mists Are Now Hidden From My View, The Last Traces Of The Valleys Have Been Flooded By The Ocean Of Serenity, And The Paths And Trails Have Been Erased By The Hand Of Oblivion. The Roar Of Ocean Waves Has Faded. I No Longer Hear Anything But The Anthem Of Eternity, Which Harmonizes With The Spirit.

He Who Passes Not His Days In The Realm Of Dreams Is The Slave Of The Days.

The Truly Great Man Is He Who Would Master No One, And Who Would Be Mastered By None.

And That Which Sings And Contemplates In You Is Still Dwelling Within The Bounds Of That First Moment Which Scattered The Stars Into Space.

What Difference Is There Between Us, Save A Restless Dream That Follows My Soul But Fears To Come Near You?

When You Reach The Heart Of Life You Shall Find Beauty In All Things, Even In The Eyes That Are Blind To Beauty.

And Ever Has It Been Known That Love Knows Not Its Own Depth Until The Hour Of Separation.

I Am A Poet Who Composes What Life Proses, And Who Proses What Life Composes.

Braving Obstacles And Hardships Is Nobler Than Retreat To Tranquility. The Butterfly That Hovers Around The Lamp Until It Dies Is More Admirable Than The Mole That Lives In A Dark Tunnel.

Marriage Is The Union Of Two Divinities That A Third Might Be Born On Earth. It Is The Union Of Two Souls In A Strong Love For The Abolishment Of Separateness. It Is That Higher Unity Which Fuses The Separate Unities Within The Two Spirits. It Is The Golden Ring In A Chain Whose Beginning Is A Glance, And Whose Ending Is Eternity. It Is The Pure Rain That Falls From An Unblemished Sky To Fructify And Bless The Fields Of Divine Nature.

For If You Bake Bread With Indifference, You Bake A Bitter Bread That Feeds But Half Man's Hunger.

The Brooks Flow To Their Lover, The Sea, And The Flowers Smile At The Object Of Their Passion, The Light. The Mist Rolls Down To Its Beloved, The Valley. And I? In Me Is What Brooks Do Not Know, What Flowers Do Not Hear, What The Mist Does Not Apprehend. You See Me Alone In My Love, Solitary In My Yearning.

Sayings Remain Meaningless Until They Are Embodied In Habits.

To Be Closer To God, Be Closer To People.

As One's Gifts Increase, His Friends Decrease.

There Is A Desire Deep Within The Soul Which Drives Man From The Seen To The Unseen, To Philosophy And To The Divine.

When You Have Grasped A Problem Clearly, Face It With Resolution, For That Is The Way Of The Strong.

Truth Is A Deep Kindness That Teaches Us To Be Content In Our Everyday Life And Share With The People The Same Happiness.

The Biggest Thing In Today's Sorrow Is The Memory Of Yesterday's Joy.

You May Give Them Your Love, But Not Your Thoughts. For They Have Their Own Thoughts.

Would That I Could Be The Peacemaker In Your Soul, That I Might Turn The Discord And The Rivalry Of Your Elements Into Oneness And Melody.

In A Dream I Saw Jesus And My God Pan Sitting Together In The Heart Of The Forest. They Laughed At Each Other's Speech, With The Brook That Ran Near Them, And The Laughter Of Jesus Was The Merrier. And They Conversed Long.

Rest In Reason. Move In Passion.

Life Is But A Sleep Disturbed By Dreaming, Prompted By The Will; The Saddened Soul With Sadness Hides It's Secrets, And The Gay, With Thrill.

Doubt Is A Pain Too Lonely To Know That Faith Is His Twin Brother. Doubt Is A Foundling Unhappy And Astray, And Though His Own Mother Who Gave Him Birth Should Find Him And Enfold Him, He Would Withdraw In Caution And In Fear.

Life Is Weaker Than Death And Death Is Weaker Than Truth.

Art Arises When The Secret Vision Of The Artist And The Manifestation Of Nature Agree To Find New Shapes.

I Am One Of Those Who Believe That Spiritual Progress Is A Rule Of Human Life, But The Approach To Perfection Is Slow And Painful. If A Woman Elevates Herself In One Respect And Is Retarded In Another, It Is Because The Rough Trail That Leads To The Mountain Peak Is Not Free Of Ambushes Of Thieves And Lairs Of Wolves.

I Came Here To Be For All And With All, And What I Do Today In My Solitude Will Be Echoed Tomorrow By The Multitude. What I Say Now With One Heart Will Be Said Tomorrow By Thousands Of Hearts.

I Purified My Lips With Sacred Fire That I Might Speak Of Love, But When I Opened My Mouth To Speak, I Found Myself Mute.

He Who Repeats What He Does Not Understand Is No Better Than An Ass That Is Loaded With Books.

Music Is The Language Of The Spirit. It Opens The Secret Of Life Bringing Peace, Abolishing Strife.

Madness Is The First Step Towards Unselfishness. Be Mad And Tell Us What Is Behind The Veil Of "sanity". The Purpose Of Life Is To Bring Us Closer To Those Secrets, And Madness Is The Only Means.

They Tell Me: If You See A Slave Sleeping, Do Not Wake Him Lest He Be Dreaming Of Freedom. I Tell Them: If You See A Slave Sleeping, Wake Him And Explain To Him Freedom.

The Song Of The Voice Is Sweet, But The Song Of The Heart Is The Pure Voice Of Heaven.

Your Fear Of Death Is But The Trembling Of The Shepherd When He Stands Before The King Whose Hand Is To Be Laid Upon Him In Honour.

And If You Sing Though As Angels, And Love Not The Singing, You Muffle Man's Ears To The Voices Of The Day And The Voices Of The Night.

The True Wealth Of A Nation Lies Not In It's Gold Or Silver But In It's Learning, Wisdom And In The Uprightness Of Its Sons.

You Shall Not Dwell In Tombs Made By The Dead For The Living.

When You Look Closely People Are So Strange & So Complicated That They're Actually Beautiful.

Extreme Torture Is Mute, And So We Sat Silent, Petrified, Like Columns Of Marble Buried Under The Sand Of An Earthquake. Neither Wished To Listen To The Other Because Our Heart-threads Had Become Weak And Even Breathing Would Have Broken Them.

There Is A Space Between Man's Imagination And Man's Attainment That May Only Be Traversed By His Longing.

When We Oppose The Hidden Conscience, It Does Us Hurt. When We Betray It, It Judges Us.

That Which Seems Most Feeble And Bewildered In You Is The Strongest And Most Determined. Is It Not Your Breath That Has Erected And Hardened The Structure Of Your Bones?

It Is Only When You Are Pursued That You Become Swift.

A Minute Moving Among The Patterns Of Beauty And The Dreams Of Love Is Greater And More Precious Than An Age Filled With Splendor Granted By The Weak To The Strong.

The Things Which The Child Loves Remain In The Domain Of The Heart Until Old Age. The Most Beautiful Thing In Life Is That Our Souls Remain Hovering Over The Places Where We Once Enjoyed Ourselves. I Am One Of Those Who Remembers Those Places Regardless Of Distance Or Time.

My Friend, Be Not Like Him Who Sits By His Fireside And Watches The Fire Go Out, Then Blows Vainly Upon The Dead Ashes. Do Not Give Up Hope Or Yield To Despair Because Of That Which Is Past, For To Bewail The Irretrievable Is The Worst Of Human Frailties.

A Friend Who Is Far Away Is Sometimes Much Nearer Than One Who Is At Hand. Is Not The Mountain Far More Awe-inspiring And More Clearly Visible To One Passing Through The Valley Than To Those Who Inhabit The Mountain?

Said One Oyster To A Neighboring Oyster, "i Have A Very Great Pain Within Me. It Is Heavy And Round And I Am In Distress." And The Other Oyster Replied With Haughty Complacence, "praise Be To The Heavens And To The Sea, I Have No Pain Within Me. I Am Well And Whole Both Within And Without." At That Moment A Crab Was Passing By And Heard The Two Oysters, And He Said To The One Who Was Well And Whole Both Within And Without, "yes, You Are Well And Whole; But The Pain That Your Neighbor Bears Is A Pearl Of Exceeding Beauty."

We Are The Sons Of Sorrow; We Are The Poets And The Prophets And The Musicians.

We Wanderers, Ever Seeking The Lonelier Way, Begin No Day Where We Have Ended Another, And No Sunrise Finds Us Where Left By Sunset. Even While The Earth Sleeps We Travel. We Are The Seeds Of That Tenacious Plant, And It Is In Our Ripeness And Our Fullness Of Heart That We Are Given To The Wind To Be Scattered.

You Hate Jesus Because Someone From The North Country Said He Was The Son Of God. But You Hate One Another Because Each Of You Deems Himself Too Great To Be The Brother Of The Next Man.

The Longing For Paradise Is Paradise Itself.

And If There Come The Singers, And The Dancers And The Flute Players - Buy Of Their Gifts Also. For They Too Are Gatherers Of Fruit And Frankincense, And That Which They Bring, Though Fashioned Of Dreams, Is Raiment And Fod For Your Soul.

All You Have Shall Some Day Be Given. Therefore Give Now, That The Season Of Giving May Be Yours And Not Your Inheritors.

But You Who Walk Facing The Sun, What Images Drawn On The Earth Can Hold You? You Who Travel With The Wind, What Weathervane Shall Direct Your Course? What Man's Law Shall Bind You If You Break Your Yoke But Upon No Man's Prison Door? What Laws Shall You Fear If You Dance But Stumble Against No Man's Iron Chains? And Who Is He That Shall Bring You To Judgment If You Tear Off Your Garment Yet Leave It In No Man's Path? People Of Orphalese, You Can Muffle The Drum, And You Can Loosen The Strings Of The Lyre, But Who Shall Command The Skylark Not To Sing?

If Your Knowledge Teaches You Not The Value Of Things, And Frees You Not From The Bondage To Matter, You Shall Never Come Near The Throne Of Truth.

You Are The Bows From Which Your Children As Living Arrows Are Sent Forth.

The Sun Teaches To All Things That Grow Their Longing For The Light. But It Is Night That Raises Them To The Stars.

All Things In This Vast Universe Exist In You, With You, And For You.

Much Of Your Pain Is The Bitter Potion By Which The Physician Within You Heals Your Sick Self.

A Sense Of Humour Is A Sense Of Proportion.

There Are Those Who Give With Joy, And That Joy Is Their Reward. And There Are Those Who Give With Pain, And That Pain Is Their Baptism. And There Are Those Who Give And Know Not Pain In Giving, Nor Do They Seek Joy, Nor Give With Mindfulness Of Virtue; They Give As In Yonder Valley The Myrtle Breathes Its Fragrance Into Space. Through The Hands Of Such As These God Speaks, And From Behind Their Eyes He Smiles Upon The Earth.

Rob A Neighbour With A Smile.

Poetry Is Not The Opinion Stated. It Is A Song That Appears Instead Of A Bloody Wound Or A Smiling Mouth.

Sit By Me, My Beloved, And Listen To My Heart; Smile, For Your Happiness Is A Symbol Of Our Future.

Darkness Is Dawn Not Yet Born.

If You Cannot But Weep When Your Soul Summons You To Prayer, She Should Spur You Again And Yet Again, Though Weeping, Until You Shall Come Laughing

My Proof Convinces The Ignorant, And The Wise Man's Proof Convinces Me. But He Whose Reasoning Falls Between Wisdom And Ignorance, I Neither Can Convince Him, Nor Can He Convince Me.

If A Man Loses A Dear Friend, He Looks Around And Sees Many Friends Come To Console And Comfort Him. If A Man Loses His Wealth, After A Little Thought He Will Realize That The Delight That Came From Wealth Will Be Restored By Finding More. Thus He Forgets His Loss And Is Consoled. But If A Man's Heart Is Deprived Of Peace, Where Will He Find It Again, How Will He Replace It?

They Give That They May Live, For To Withhold Is To Perish.

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.

Knowledge And Understanding Are Life's Faithful Companions Who Will Never Prove Untrue To You. For Knowledge Is Your Crown, And Understanding Your Staff; And When They Are With You, You Can Possess No Greater Treasures.

He Who Has Not Looked On Sorrow Will Never See Joy.

The Philosopher's Soul Dwells In His Head, The Poet's Soul Is In His Heart; The Singer's Soul Lingers About His Throat, But The Soul Of The Dancer Abides In All Her Body.

The Strong Grows In Solitude Where The Weak Withers Away.

Defeat, My Defeat, My Deathless Courage, You And I Shall Laugh Together With The Storm, And Together We Shall Dig Graves For All That Die In Us, And We Shall Stand In The Sun With A Will, And We Shall Be Dangerous

The Chemist Who Can Extract From His Heart's Elements Compassion, Respect, Longing, Patience, Regret, Surprise, And Forgiveness And Compound Them Into One Can Create That Atom Which Is Called Love

Is Not The Beautiful Moon, That Inspires Poets, The Same Moon Which Angers The Silence Of The Sea With A Terrible Roar?

You Are Good When You Walk To Your Goal Firmly And With Bold Steps. Yet You Are Not Evil When You Go Thither Limping. For Those Who Limp Go Not Backwards. But You Who Are Strong And Swift, See That You Do Not Limp Before The Lame, Deeming It Kindness.

I Am The Lover's Gift; I Am The Wedding Wreath; I Am The Memory Of A Moment Of Happiness; I Am The Last Gift Of The Living To The Dead; I Am A Part Of Joy And A Part Of Sorrow.

Behind The Veil Of Each Night, There Is A Smilling Dawn.

The Bird Has An Honor That Man Does Not Have. Man Lives In The Traps Of His Abdicated Laws And Traditions; But The Birds Live According To The Natural Law Of God Who Causes The Earth To Turn Around The Sun.

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Bernard Malamud

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