The Prophet. Kahlil Gibran

pasture.

      They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

      Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

      And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

      And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

      And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

      See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

      For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

      And you receivers – and you are all receivers – assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

      Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

      For to be overmindful of your debt is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

      ON EATING & DRINKING

      THEN an old man, a keeper of an inn, said, Speak to us of Eating and Drinking.

      And he said:

      Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, and like an air plant be sustained by the light.

      But since you must kill to eat, and rob the newly born of its mother’s milk to quench your thirst, let it then be an act of worship,

      And let your board stand an altar on which the pure and the innocent of forest and plain are sacrificed for that which is purer and still more innocent in man.

      When you kill a beast say to him in your heart:

      “By the same power that slays you, I too am slain; and I too shall be consumed.

      For the law that delivered you into my hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.

      Your blood and my blood is naught but the sap that feeds the tree of heaven.”

      And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart:

      “Your seeds shall live in my body,

      And the buds of your to-morrow shall blossom in my heart,

      And your fragrance shall be my breath,

      And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.”

      And in the autumn, when you gather the grapes of your vineyards for the winepress, say in your heart:

      “I too am a vineyard, and my fruit shall be gathered for the winepress,

      And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels.”

      And in winter, when you draw the wine, let there be in your heart a song for each cup;

      And let there be in the song a remembrance for the autumn days, and for the vineyard, and for the winepress.

      ON WORK

      THEN a ploughman said, Speak to us of Work.

      And he answered, saying:

      You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.