If you ever feel the need to take a moment to reflect on the goings-on in life, look to Kahlil Gibran for inspiration. First published in 1926, a paperback edition of this philosopher-poet's The Prophet has accompanied me since 1989. I heartily recommend it as an aid to reflection, and share here a few choice extracts...
On Death:
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
For Opa, d. 2 February 2004 aged 96.
On Marriage:
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it be rather 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.
For my wife, with whom the sum is indeed greater than its parts.
On Joy and Sorrow:
When you are sorrowful, look again into your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
For my parting colleagues as we come to terms with change.
All extracts from Gibran K. The Prophet. London: William Heinemann; 1980.
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