I don’t know why it took so long for this book to come to me, recently heard of this masterpiece on life and living by Gibran Kahlil Gibran on a couple of podcasts and went to look for it on Google. Luckily, this book is available for free reading on the Internet Archive, this gem of a book was in plain sight but never crossed my radar, how sad. I believe it’s one of the finest books that I have read and very simple yet ridiculously profound.
More people should read this book, however young or old you are, doesn’t matter. I hope that by mentioning it here, the book gets on the radar of at least one other person in this world, if not, that’s cool too!
“When Love beckons to you, follow him even though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings unfold, you yield to him
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you
And when he speaks to you believe him
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses the tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth
He threshes you to make you naked
He sifts you to free you from your husks
He grinds you to whiteness
He kneads you until you are pliant
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.”
Khalil Ghibran
Source: https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.536146/page/n15/mode/2up