A Self Portrait Quotes

“I am a cloud, May—a cloud that mingles with objects, but never becomes united with them. I am a cloud, and in the cloud is my solitude, my loneliness, my hunger, and my thirst. But my calamity is that the cloud, which is my reality, longs to hear someone say, "You are not alone in this world but we are two together, and I know who you are.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“The subtlest beauties in our life are unseen and unheard.”
― Kahlil gibran, A Self Portrait

“I used to be like a bird imprisoned in a cage, contenting myself with seeds dropped down to me by the hands of Destiny. But today I feel like a free bird who sees the beauty of the fields and prairies and wishes to fly in the spacious sky, mingling its affections, its fancy and its hopes with the ether.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“There is nothing more difficult than the existence of a strong spirit in a weak body.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“Today I believe in Life and in all that she brings upon us, and I confirm that all that the days and nights bring is good, and beautiful and useful.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“There is something in our life which is nobler and more supreme than fame; and this something is the great deed that invokes fame.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“The soul, May, does not see anything in life save that which is in the soul itself. It does not believe except in its own private event, and when it experiences something, the outcome becomes a part of it.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“I feel that there is a great power in the depth of my heart that wishes to come out, and it is going to come out some day with the help of God.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“I feel a gnawing hunger in my heart for the approach of the great works of art, and I have a profound longing for the eternal sayings; however, this hunger and longing come out of a great power that exists in the depth of my heart—a power that wishes to announce itself hurriedly but is unable to do so, for the time has not come, and the people who died on the day of their birth are still walking and standing as a barrier in the way of the living.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“Man finds the expatriation of his beloved friends difficult to bear because his pleasure comes through the five senses. But Gibran's soul has already grown beyond that to a plane of higher enjoyment which does not require the mediation of the five senses. His soul sees, hears, and feels, but not through the medium of eyes, ears, and fingers. His soul roams the whole world and returns without the use of feet, cars, and ships.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“The most beautiful thing in life is that our souls remain hovering over the places where we once enjoyed ourselves. I am one of those who remembers such places regardless of distance or time. I do not let one single phantom disappear with the cloud, and it is my everlasting remembrance of the past that causes my sorrow sometimes. But if I had to choose between joy and sorrow, I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joy of the whole world.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“My work in these days is like a chain of many rings connected with one another. I have changed my way of living and I miss some of the joys of loneliness that embraced my soul before I dreamed about going to Paris.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“I love to work and I do not let one moment pass without working. But the days in which I find myself dormant and my thought slothful are more bitter than quinine and more severe than the teeth of the wolf. I spend my life writing and painting, and my enjoyment in these two arts is above all other enjoyments.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“Be mad and tell us what is behind the veil of "sanity". The purpose of life is to bring us closer to those secrets, and madness is the only means.”
― Kahlil gibran, A Self Portrait

“My being away from the city, living a simple, quiet, and orderly life near the sea and the woods, has stilled the palpitations of my heart.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“The strangest things are the closest to the real truth. In the will of man there is a power of longing which turns the mist in ourselves into sun.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“While the Western world has been seeking practical solutions to its problems through science, the various peoples comprising the Arabic-speaking world have preferred to look at life in poetic and philosophical terms.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait

“I feel that life is a sort of debt and payment. It gives us again and takes from us anew until we get tired of the giving and receiving and surrender to the final sleep.”
― Kahlil Gibran, A Self Portrait