Kahlil Gibran wrote The Prophet and it was published in 1923.  Since then it has been translated into forty languages and has always been in print.  Kahlil moved to the United States from Lebanon as a teen and endured hardships including his siblings and mother dying young.  Supported by an older sister, he wrote on.  And he became the third most successful poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao Tzu.

The words he wrote inspired millions including Elvis, John Lennon, Johnny Cash and David Bowie.

What he said means so much to so many because truth continues to ring through his words as time passes.

Some of the things he said include…

“Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.”

“March on.  Do not tarry.  To go forward is to move toward perfection.  March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path.”

“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.”

“Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.”

“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.”

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”

“Your daily life is your temple and your religion.  When you enter into it take with you your all.”

“Your children are not your children.  They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts.  For they have their own thoughts.  You may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.  You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.  For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.”

“Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost.”

Kahlil reminds us to follow our dreams, keep moving forward even when we are unsure of what will happen next, embrace uncertainty, have faith in our gifts, learn and grow from our struggles, think our own thoughts, give our all, support our children by giving them roots and wings, and say what we mean to say.  Advice that will always be relevant.  If we listen and believe we are enough.