Excerpts from THE PROPHET

by

KAHLIL GIBRAN

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On Marriage

THEN Almitra spoke again and said, And what of Marriage, master?

And he answered saying:



You were born together, and together you

shall be forevermore.

You shall be together when the white

wings of death scatter your days.

Ay, you shall be together even in the

silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,

And let the winds of the heavens dance

between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond

of love:

Let it rather be 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.

Give your hearts, but not into each

other's keeping.

For only the hand of Life can contain

your hearts.

And stand together yet not too near

together:

For the pillars of the temple stand apart,

And the oak tree and the cypress grow

not in each other's shadow

.

On Children

AND a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.



And he said:



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 to-

morrow, 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.



You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.



The archer sees the mark upon the path

of the infinite, and He bends you with His

might that His arrows may go swift and far.



Let your bending in the archer's hand

be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.