, poet
, and writer
. Born in the town of Bsharri
in modern-day Lebanon
(then part of the Ottoman Mount Lebanon mutasarrifate
), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the United States
where he studied art and began his literary career. He is chiefly known in the English speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet
, an early example of inspirational fiction
including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English
prose.
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.
The creator gives no heed to the critic unless he becomes a barren inventor.
Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.
The tears that you spill, the sorrowful, are sweeter than the laughter of snobs and the guffaws of scoffers.
My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear — a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and thee from my negligence. The "I" in me, my friend, dwells in the house of silence, and therein it shall remain for ever more, unperceived, unapproachable. I would not have thee believe in what I say nor trust in what I do — for my words are naught but thy own thoughts in sound and my deeds thy own hopes in action.
I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves, and behold the reality beneath.