Quote#Love
O love, whose lordly hand
Quote byKahlil Gibran · 1883–1931
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Forerunner (1920), "Love".
English (original)
O love, whose lordly hand Has bridled my desires, And raised my hunger and my thirst To dignity and pride, Let not the strong in me and the constant Eat the bread or drink the wine That tempt my weaker self. Let me rather starve, And let my heart parch with thirst, And let me die and perish, Ere I stretch my hand To a cup you did not fill, Or a bowl you did not bless.
— Kahlil Gibran
More from Kahlil Gibran
My enemy said to me, "Love your enemy." And I obeyed him and loved myself.
For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, "Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks." Thus I became a madman.
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.
Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he …
The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of snobs and the guffaws of scoffers.
I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves, and behold the reality beneath.