The Book of Mirdad - Mikhail Naimy

[Hoda]

A spiritual book of wisdom and philosophy. Not a good pick for the bookclub, I believe. This is one book to be read quite slowly. It isn't a good story.

[Hoda]

“Often you shall think your road impassable, sombre and companionless. Have will and plod along; and round each curve you shall find a new companion.”

“Ask not of things to shed their veils. Unveil yourselves, and things will be unveiled.”

“Logic is immaturity weaving its nets of gossamer wherewith it aims to catch the behemoth of knowledge. Logic is a crutch for the cripple, but a burden for the swift of foot and a greater burden still for the wise.”

“How much more infinite a sea is man? Be not so childish as to measure him from head to foot and think you have found his borders.”

“So think as if your every thought were to be etched in fire upon the sky for all and everything to see. For so, in truth, it is.”

“Too vast is Man and too imponderable his nature. Too varied are his
talents, and too inexhaustible his strength. Beware of those who
attempt to set him boundaries.Live as if your God Himself had need of
you His life to live. And so, in truth, He does.”

“No love is Love that subjugates the Lover.
No love is Love that feeds on flesh and blood.
No love is Love that draws a woman to a man only to breed
more women and men and thus perpetuate their bondage to the flesh.”

― Mikhail Naimy, The Book of Mirdad: The Strange Story of a Monastery Which Was Once Called the Ark