Nature requires constant, conscious and reasonable work from everyone.
Nature wants all people to be content and it does require a little, not much. To achieve this satisfaction, one must study oneself truly and deeply.
Someone says that a person cannot become “something” and usually what they believe, that is what happens.
If one wants a good person to come out of him/her, they believe in the opportunities they are given or gifted and not what those around them say or do.
If a bottle is empty, let all the world say there is something in it, it will remain empty;
if a bottle is full, let the whole world say it is empty, it will remain full.
One Believes in what actually is, not what is not.
If we know our head is the “full” bottle we believe the one who tells it is full, not the one who says it is empty.
We tend to believe in people who maintain a positive outlook in life, not the opposite ones.
We tend to associate with people who have good thoughts, feelings and actions.
Very often we see and will say that not any person is capable of something. That's not how we should talk if we were paying attention. This person is capable, but perhaps has overestimated him/herself: he thinks he can do more than what he is doing at any given moment.
He can lift a 50 kg weight and he says he lifts a hundred kilos. As he tries to lift the hundred kilos, he sees that he can't.
It is not a question of making tremendous efforts, of expending all the energy we have.
Whatever one does, one should leave some of one's energy in reserve, not spend it all and regret later…
"Somebody doesn't sing well." - he sings though, but not like a great singer. He sings better than me and you. There we should be glad that he sings, be patient and listen to him, being willing to learn something from him -if not the song at least the desire for singing.
All men cannot be singers, nor philosophers, nor scientists nor farmers. Some will sing, others will listen; some will make scientific discoveries and research, and others will benefit from their work; some will philosophize, others will apply philosophy and debate on its “ rightness”...overall there always will be someone to benefit from the work of the other, this is how Nature works…
He was called "filthy" because his skin was dark, unintelligible because he could barely speak English.
When he arrived in this country, he was placed in a special class for immigrants. But, a few of his teachers saw something in the way he expressed himself, through his drawings, through his view of the world.
He would soon master his new language.
His mother had made a difficult decision to take him, his two younger sisters and a half-brother to America, seeking a better life for their family. They settled in Boston's South End, at the time the second-largest Syrian-Lebanese-American community. The family would struggle and the young boy would lose one sister and his half-brother to tuberculosis. His mother would die of cancer.
He would write, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
Artwork: “Humility” 2024 by A. A.
He was born in poverty on January 6, 1883 in what is now modern day Lebanon.
He believed in love, he believed in peace, and he believed in understanding.
His name was Kahlil Gibran, and he is primarily known for his book, "The Prophet." The book, published in 1923, would sell tens of millions of copies, making him the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Dzi.
Published in 108 languages around the world, passages from "The Prophet" are quoted at weddings, in political speeches and at funerals, inspiring influential figures such as John F. Kennedy, Indira Gandhi, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and David Bowie.
He was very outspoken, attacking hypocrisy and corruption. His books were burned in Beirut, and in America, he would receive death threats.
Gibran was the only member of his family to pursue scholastic education. His sisters were not allowed to enter school, primarily because of Middle Eastern traditions as well as financial difficulties. Gibran, however, was inspired by the strength of the women in his family, especially his mother. After one sister, his mother, and his half-brother died, his other sister, Mariana would support Gibran and herself by working at a dressmaker's shop.
Of his mother, he would write:
"The most beautiful word on the lips of mankind is the word 'Mother,' and the most beautiful call is the call of 'My mother.' It is a word full of hope and love, a sweet and kind word coming from the depths of the heart. 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."
Gibran would later champion the cause of women’s emancipation and education.
He believed that “Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being.”
In a poem to new immigrants, he would write, "I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation. 'Here I am. A youth. A young tree. Whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon. Yet I am deeply rooted here. And I would be fruitful.'"
He would write in "The Prophet":
“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. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.”
Sharing this story for everyone who experienced similar things in their lives.
Because I myself once was an immigrant, I can truly relate. Can you?
Shared with joy
A.A.
Stob, Bulgaria