Kahlil Gibran

I would not exchange the laughter of my heart for the fortunes of the multitudes; nor would I be content with converting my tears, invited by my agonized self, into calm. It is my fervent hope that my whole life on this earth will ever be tears and laughter.

He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy.

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?

Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in man's life, and it is the sole purpose of being. Is not civilization, in all its tragic forms, a supreme motive for spiritual awakening?

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

Reason, ruling alone, is a force confining, and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction. Therefore, let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion!

If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.

Only those return to Eternity Who on earth seek out Eternity.

A shy failure is nobler than an immodest success.

Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow. Solitude is the ally of sorrow as well as a companion of spiritual exaltation.