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Khalil Gibran, known in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and visual artist celebrated for his profound and timeless works. Born on January 6, 1883, in Bsharri, Lebanon, Gibran’s life was marked by his unique blend of Eastern mysticism and Western philosophy, which he wove into his writings and art.
His most famous work, The Prophet, published in 1923, has become a classic of spiritual literature, resonating with readers worldwide for its poetic beauty and profound insights into love, life, and the human condition.
Gibran’s quotes reflect his deep understanding of human emotions, spiritual quests, and the interconnectedness of all beings. His words have inspired generations, offering wisdom on love, children, life, wisdom, leadership, and success. Here are some of his most impactful quotes, categorized by theme, along with translations in Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam.
Top 10 Khalil Gibran Quotes
Khalil Gibran Quotes on Love
- “Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself, Love possesses not nor would it be possessed: For love is sufficient unto love.”
- “Hearts united in pain and sorrow will not be separated by joy and happiness. Bonds that are woven in sadness are stronger than the ties of joy and pleasure.”
- “Love that is washed by tears will remain eternally pure and faithful.”
- “Darkness may hide the trees… and the flowers from the eyes but it cannot hide love from the soul.”
- “Love is quivering happiness.”
- “Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.”
- “Sorrow is just a wall between two gardens.”
- “If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were.”
- “The feelings we live through in love and in loneliness are simply, for us, what high tide and low tide are to the sea.”
- “And your fragrance shall be my breath, And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.”
Khalil Gibran Quotes on Children
- “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”
- “They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.”
- “You may give them your love, but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”
- “You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.”
- “You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.”
- “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.”
- “And look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.”
- “If you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles. Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.”
- “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.”
- “I love you, my brother, whoever you are – whether you worship in a church, kneel in your temple, or pray in your mosque. You and I are children of one faith.”
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Khalil Gibran Quotes on Life
- “Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.”
- “A traveler I am, and a navigator, and every day I discover a new region within my soul.”
- “If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?”
- “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
- “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.”
- “Much of your pain is self-chosen.”
- “Rest in reason; move in passion.”
- “The lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul.”
- “Our worst fault is our preoccupation with the faults of others.”
- “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but what he aspires to.”
Khalil Gibran Quotes on Wisdom
- “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.”
- “No one can reveal to you nothing but that which already lies half-asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.”
- “Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.”
- “For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.”
- “In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans; in one aspect of You are found all the aspects of existence.”
- “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.”
- “I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.”
- “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”
- “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
- “If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.”
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Khalil Gibran Quotes on Leadership
While Khalil Gibran’s quotes are not specifically categorized under leadership, his wisdom can be applied to leadership principles. Here are some relevant quotes:
- “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.”
- “The real test of good manners is to be able to put up with bad manners pleasantly.”
- “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
- “Our worst fault is our preoccupation with the faults of others.”
- “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but what he aspires to.”
- “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.”
- “If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.”
- “For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?”
- “We are all prisoners but some of us are in cells with windows and some without.”
- “Rest in reason; move in passion.”
Khalil Gibran Quotes on Success
While Khalil Gibran’s quotes are not specifically categorized under success, his wisdom can be applied to achieving success. Here are some relevant quotes:
- “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
- “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.”
- “Much of your pain is self-chosen.”
- “Rest in reason; move in passion.”
- “The lust for comfort murders the passions of the soul.”
- “Our worst fault is our preoccupation with the faults of others.”
- “To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but what he aspires to.”
- “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.”
- “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”
- “If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.”
Khalil Gibran Quotes in Hindi
- “मैं सोया और मैंने सपना देखा कि जीवन पूरी तरह से आनंद है। मैं जाग गया और मैंने देखा कि जीवन पूरी तरह से सेवा है। मैंने सेवा की और मैंने देखा कि सेवा आनंद है।”
- “सुंदरता चेहरे में नहीं है, सुंदरता दिल की रोशनी है।”
- “उदारता अधिक देने की है, और अभिमान कम लेने की है।”
- “अच्छे व्यवहार की सच्ची परीक्षा यह है कि आप बुरे व्यवहार को भी सौहार्दपूर्वक सहन कर सकें।”
- “आप अपनी संपत्ति से देते हैं तो थोड़ा देते हैं। जब आप अपने आप को देते हैं तो सचमुच देते हैं।”
- “आप तब बोलते हैं जब आप अपने विचारों के साथ शांति नहीं होती।”
- कोई भी आपको वह नहीं बता सकता जो पहले से आपके ज्ञान के उदय में आधा सोया हुआ नहीं है।
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Khalil Gibran Quotes in Urdu
Here are ten quotes by Khalil Gibran translated into Urdu:
- محبت طویل قربت کا ردِ عمل نہیں ہے، یہ تو وحی کی طرح ہماری روحوں میں اُتاری جاتی ہے۔ یہ ایک احساس ہے جو محسوسات سے ماورا ہے، یہ احساس روحانی ہے۔
- Love is not the result of long companionship; it is a spiritual affinity that descends upon our souls.
- تمہاری بہت سی تکلیف ایک تلخ دوائی ہے جس سے تمہارے اندر کا معالج تمہارے بیمار خود کو صحت مند بناتا ہے۔
- Much of your pain is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
- جب تم کسی سے محبت کرتے ہو تو انہیں چھوڑ دو، اگر وہ واپس آتے ہیں تو وہ تمہارے ہی تھے۔ اگر نہیں آتے تو کبھی تمہارے نہیں تھے۔
- If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were.
- دوستوں کے درمیان خلا ہونا چاہیے، اور آسمان کے ہوائیں تمہارے درمیان ناچتی رہنی چاہیے۔ ایک دوسرے سے محبت کرو لیکن محبت کا بندھن نہ بناؤ۔
- Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love.
- درد سے مضبوط ترین روحیں پیدا ہوتی ہیں۔ سب سے بڑے کردار داغوں سے جھلسے ہوئے ہوتے ہیں۔
- Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
- جب تم کسی کو چاہتے ہو تو اسے جانے دو، اگر وہ واپس آتا ہے تو وہ تمہارا تھا، اگر نہیں آتا تو کبھی تمہارا نہیں تھا۔
- If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were.
- تمہارے بچے تمہارے بچے نہیں ہیں، وہ زندگی کی اپنی تمنا کے بیٹے اور بیٹیاں ہیں۔
- Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
- جب تم دکھی ہوتے ہو تو اپنے دل میں دیکھو، اور تم دیکھو گے کہ تم وہی چیز کے لیے روتے ہو جو تمہارا انند تھا۔
- When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
- محبت کبھی بھی اپنی گہرائی نہیں جانتے جب تک کہ علیحدگی کا وقت نہ آجائے۔
- Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
- تمہارے پاس جو کچھ ہے اس کا کچھ حصہ دینا بہت کم ہے، جب تم اپنا آپ دیتے ہو تب ہی سچ مچ دیتے ہو۔
- You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
FAQs on Khalil Gibran Quotes
What was Kahlil Gibran's famous quote?
One of Kahlil Gibran's most famous quotes is: If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were
What is a powerful quote about a prophet?
While there isn't a specific quote by Gibran about a prophet, his work The Prophet is filled with profound insights. However, a quote from his book The Prophet that resonates deeply is: No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.
What does Khalil Gibran say about marriage?
Khalil Gibran writes about marriage in his poem On Marriage, saying: Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
What is Khalil Gibran famous for?
Khalil Gibran is famous for his literary work, particularly his book The Prophet, which has been translated into over 100 languages and is considered one of the best-selling books of all time. He is also known for his contributions to modern Arabic literature and his unique blend of poetry and philosophy.
Was Khalil Gibran a genius?
Khalil Gibran is widely regarded for his profound intelligence and creativity. His writings are considered deeply insightful and poetic, often touching on themes of love, spirituality, and human nature. His work has inspired many, and his intelligence is often described as unparalleled
What is the best story of Khalil Gibran?
One of the most celebrated stories by Khalil Gibran is not a traditional narrative but rather his poetic and philosophical book The Prophet. However, his short stories, such as those found in The Wanderer and The Madman, are also highly regarded for their inspirational value
