From the town of Bsharri in North of Lebanon, hails Gebran Khalil Gebran, who is a renowned poet, artist, novelist, and philosopher like no other, and one of the three most-read authors of the century, along with Shakespeare and Rumi.
His works have inspired millions across the world and his quotes shared in all languages on social media and printed on arts and posters.
We have rounded up some of his most famous, inspiring, enlightening, and motivating quotes on various angles of life.
#1 On suffering
“Out of Suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
#2 On arrogance
“To belittle, you have to be little.“
#3 On expression and love
“Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost.”
#4 On Liberty
“Life without Liberty is like a body without spirit. Liberty without thought is like a disturbed spirit.”
#5 On friendship
“A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?”
#6 On personal attitude
“Your living is determined not so much what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as, by the way, your mind looks at what happens.”
#7 On parenting
“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and, though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.”
#8 On beauty
“Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heat.”
#9 On Music
“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife.”
#10 On sorrow
“When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
#11 On Mothers
“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. He who loses his mother loses a pure soul who blesses and guards him constantly.”
#12 On human relation and faith
“I love you, my brother, whoever you are – whether you worship in a church, kneel in your temple, or pray in your mosque. You and I are children of one faith, for the diverse paths of religion are fingers of the loving hand of the one supreme being, a hand extended to all, offering completeness of spirit to all, eager to receive all.”
#13 On one’s wealth
“A man’s true wealth is the good he does in the world.”
#14 On Faith
“Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.”
#15 On Art
“Art arises when the secret vision of the artist and the manifestation of nature agree to find new shapes.”
#16 On Love and Death
“Love is timeless…Death does not separate the lover from the beloved.”
#17 On the words we utter
“All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.”
#18 On our relation to nature
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”
#19 On justice and power
“Where is the justice of political power if it executes the murderer and jails the plunderer, and then itself marches upon neighboring lands, killing thousands and pillaging the very hills?”
#20 On seeking the truth
“God has made many doors opening into truth which He opens to all who knock upon them with hands of faith.”
#20 On patriotism and politicians
In his 1925 essay “The New Frontier”, Gebran wrote, addressing politicians:
“Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country? If you are the first, then you are a parasite; if the second, then you are an oasis in a desert.”
The powerful quote inspired the United State’s 35th President, John F. Kennedy who said to his citizens in his inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you – Ask what you can do for your country.”
#22 On Lebanon
“You have your Lebanon and I have mine.” In 1920, Gebran wrote one of his most famous messages to the Lebanese people:
“You have your Lebanon and I have mine. You have your Lebanon with her problems, and I have my Lebanon with her beauty. You have your Lebanon with all her prejudices and struggles, and I have my Lebanon with all her dreams and securities.
Your Lebanon is a political knot, a national dilemma, a place of conflict and deception. My Lebanon, is a place of beauty and dreams of enchanting valleys and splendid mountains.
Your Lebanon is inhabited by functionaries, officers, politicians, committees, and factions. My Lebanon is for peasants, shepherds, young boys and girls, parents and poets. Your Lebanon is empty and fleeting, whereas My Lebanon will endure forever.”
Gebran Khalil Gebran passed away at the age of 48 in New York City.
Next to his grave stands this quote: “A word I want to see written on my grave: I am alive like you, and I am standing beside you. Close your eyes and look around, you will see me in front of you.”
