khalil gibran's the prophet

on work:
"you work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
for to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite."

on freedom:
"you shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,
but rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound."

on pain:
"much of your pain is self-chosen.
it is the bitter poison by which the physician within you heals your sick self."

on self-knowledge:
"the soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
the soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals."

on beauty:
"beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.
but you are life and you are the veil.
beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.
but you are eternity and you are the mirror."