The Prophet

I read The Prophet perhaps way way too quickly - its short enough to be read in a few hours, but deep enough to take years to digest. There's lots in there that would be good quotes to remember. It reminded me a little bit of the song 'Best of all possible worlds' in Candide(?) where this one know-it-all explains his unrelenting optimism.

What can one say? Wisdom and beauty combined.

Quick read but has a deep meaning. Some chapters were deep and resonating while some others were more of a passing thought. Overall good quick read with some deep impacts.

The Prophet is jus best to be read at this time of pandemic.

Some of you say: "Joy is greater than pain" and others: "No, pain is greater." But I say to you that they are inseparable. They come together, and when one of them sits with you at your table, remember that the other is sleeping in your bed. (Translated from Spanish)

About these twenty-six topics, the author speaks to the people of Orfalese; about love, marriage, children, gifts, food and drink, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothing, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and passion, pain, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, conversation, time, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion, and death. (Translated from Spanish)

A magnificent work of ineffable depth that has left me with the feeling of a multitude of ideas waiting to be discovered. It felt as if during my reading, I had wandered through an immense palace overflowing with beauty, but there always remained some door yet to be opened that would have allowed me to uncover the mysteries it concealed. I am certain that successive readings will gradually reveal the mysterious ideas, the hidden concepts still to be unveiled. (Translated from Spanish)

Gibran explores the soul of the human being and poetry. He speaks to us about friendship, love, money, and through his philosophy, he provides us with feelings that help us stay on the right path through kindness. (Translated from Spanish)

There are some nuggets of wisdom that I enjoyed a lot, especially the ones on friendship and parenting.

This poetic work in prose encompasses many aspects of life. It is a self-help book with suggestions that can transform your life. There is a lot of psychology and philosophy in its essence. (Translated from Spanish)

A worthy book to read, I read it when I was very young and it has a lot of clarity on very human matters such as love, friendship, joy, pain, sadness, and children. The author's reflection also leads us into our own contemplation, making us question existence itself from a philosophical and very profound perspective. (Translated from Spanish)

Reflections, advice, and sayings expressed in simple yet beautiful language around the great questions of life, such as freedom, religion, good and evil, emotions, friendship, pleasure, beauty, etc. The edition also features beautiful illustrations related to the themes discussed. The reading is very enjoyable, and the content is very profound. (Translated from Spanish)

While reading this, it occurred to me that I would like to be drinking whatever Gibran was drinking while he wrote it. This is a book I have seen here and there, sometimes among shelves of old books in people's houses, ever since I was old enough to notice books. I don't think we had a copy in our home, but I could be mistaken. Certainly it hasn't come down into my possession as did many of my favorite books of my father's. In any case, the best word to describe "The Prophet" is drivel. Sure, it has a few nice quotes: "Let there be spaces in your togetherness" being a pretty clever one. And its assertion that live and death, pleasure and pain, etc. etc. etc. are just opposite sides of the same coin are certainly true to an extent. But the language is just pretty silly. Compared to other religious books--and I would treat this as such--it is pretty harmless, however.

I feel like I'm supposed to love this book, but it just didn't do much for me. At its best the writing is quite lyrical and there are some wonderfully quotable passages, but taken as a whole it felt like Gibran had tried to find universals among world religions and that road had just led him to rather obvious truisms.

I read this years ago. I'm not a religious person in the slightest. I might consider myself spiritual. This book was to me what I suppose the Bible or Koran, or Torah or whatever is to people of religion. It's a go-to book for learning how to be a better person. Provides insight into emotions, and ideas about work and life.

It's ok, not earth shattering or anything. May require re-reading.

This was a surprisingly good read. The pithy statements are full of wisdom and poetic grace and the entire whole is abounded by a sense of care and compassion towards the reader. Although I am not religious, I found this to be a particularly gripping book that held my attention from start to finish.

Great read. Recommended for poets, scholars, those with religious reasons, and curiosity-seekers.

beautiful.. quick read and it's not very long. Very profound (Translated from Spanish)

This new edition seemed a good opportunity to take in this classic. You don't hear so much about Kahlil Gibran nowadays, but when I was in my teens he seemed to be all over the place.

To be honest, I'm not sure what I think. The work captures the cadence and impression of a solid work of philosophy -- much better than the other forms I was also consuming in my teens, like Richard Bach. And I found his real world pragmatism on issues reassuring. Unlike the Christian platitudes on marriage about becoming one, Gibran urged the partners to maintain their individuality however much they are together. Similarly, parents are encouraged to allow their children to become their own persons. Parents may strive to be like their children, but they should not work to make their children like them. All true.

On the other hand, I tend not to appreciate arguments of the form of clever wordplay that seek to find deep wisdom by inverting the terms. A and not-A. A chain is only as weak as the weakest link, but also as strong as the strongest one. That's ridiculous.

Were I a different kind of person, or even the same person at a different, probably earlier stage of life, I may have the time and inclination to puzzle over these brief expositions on selected topics. But that's not what's going to happen. In truth, I found the new introduction to be the most memorable, with the story of how reading the right book at the right time can change one's life. That's what we really need to be reminded of.

This edition introduced a new error into the text, on page 19. Publishers do not pay as much attention to copy editing as they did in the old days, sadly.

Just my favorite. (Translated from Spanish)

I picked up a First Edition copy at Thrift Store! The Greatest Find of My life!

Very good reading. Reflections and thoughts on human attitudes towards life. Here is a paragraph about giving... A rich man said: talk to me about giving.

And he answered: You give little if you only give from your wealth. You truly give only when you give of yourselves.

There are those who have little and give it all; these believe in life and in the goodness of life, and their coffers will never be empty. (Translated from Spanish)

Beautiful and inspiring.

Filled with messages that you can internalize, there is a mystique in that man who is called a prophet; he makes you search within yourself to find answers. (Translated from Spanish)

The translation I read makes it seem as if Gibran were trying to condense "Thus Spake Zarathustra." I'm not sure whether this is a fault of the specific translation

Beautiful, amazing, spiritually-lifting little book that I have been flipping through for 25+ years! I highly recommend it - to everyone!!!

"Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth."

What a great line! Little did I know it was far and away the high-point of a book that is otherwise filled with platitudes and skin-deep truths.

If you have ever questioned time, life, freedom, pain, friendship, love, marriage or pleasure I recommend this book.
The lessons in this book can positively impact your life.
Very simply written, this book speaks to everyone.

Humbling, inspiring, and definitely a book to keep on your bedside table...

Sometimes you read a book, sometimes a book reads you.