Kahlil Gibran's Little Book of Life

by Kahlil Gibran, Neil Douglas-Klotz (Editor)

Overview

For the past 80 years, the beautiful words of the Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran have graced everything from greeting cards to wedding invitations to inspirational wall hangings & corporate motivational literature. In this beautiful gift book, we discover the essential wisdom about what it means to be alive. Here are over 100 fables, aphorisms, parables, stories, and poems to help you along lifes journeys.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781571748300
Publisher:	Red Wheel/Weiser
Publication date:	03/01/2018
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	634,004
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Kahlil Gibran (January 6, 1883-April 10, 1931) was a Lebanese-American artist, and poet. He is chiefly known in the English-speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction that includes a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose.

Neil Douglas-Klotz, PhD, (Saadi Shakur Chishti) is a world-renowned scholar of religious studies, spirituality, and psychology. Living in Scotland, he directs the Edinburgh Institute for Advanced Learning and for many years was co-chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion. He is also the cofounder of the International Network of the Dances of Universal Peace.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

1 Listening to Nature's Life 1

The Law of Nature 2

Said a Blade of Grass 4

Three Dogs 5

Shadows 7

Song of the Rain 8

A Hyena and a Crocodile 11

Two Oysters 12

Trees Are Poems 13

The Red Earth 14

The Full Moon 15

The Supreme Ant 16

The Pomegranate 18

Solitude 20

Living Water 21

Other Seas 22

The River 23

Contentment and Thrift 25

The Lotus-Heart 26

The Shadow 29

The Serpent and the Lark 30

Frogs: On the Nature of Disturbance 33

Song of the Flower 36

Spring in Lebanon 38

2 Beauty and the Song of Life 41

Life's Purpose 42

Singing 43

Secrets of the Beauty of Life 45

The Poet 47

Art and Life 51

Pleasure Is a Freedom Song 53

Singing 54

Before the Throne of Beauty 55

The Flute 59

Beauty 61

Soul of the Dancer 64

An Hour Devoted to Beauty and Love 66

3 Life's Human Journey 69

Your Daily Life Is Your Temple 70

Burying Dead Selves 72

Giving Up a Kingdom 73

Possessions 77

Treasure 78

The Value of Time 79

With Senses Continually Made New 80

Work Is Love 82

Builders of Bridges 84

Renown 86

Life Is a Procession 87

Song of Humanity 88

Singing in the Silence 91

Modesty 92

Between 93

Ignorance 94

When You Meet a Friend 95

Strangers to Life 96

Life Is a Resolution 97

Longing 98

To American Immigrants from the Middle East (1926) 99

4 Seasons of Life 103

Changing with the Seasons 104

No Miracles Beyond the Seasons 105

Youth and Knowledge 108

Seasons 109

Autumn and Spring 110

Time 111

All Your Hours Are Wings 112

Be Dark 113

Day and Night 114

Shell-Life 115

Tides of Breath 116

Shoreless Without a Self 117

Finding Fault 118

Every Year I Had Waited for Spring… 119

5 Paradoxical Life 123

Life Comes Walking 124

Talk 125

A Tale of Two Tales 126

Confession 127

Yesterday and Today 128

Gifts of the Earth 133

Giving and Gaining 134

High and Low 135

Seeking 136

Freedom 137

Limits 140

Owl Eyes 141

Voices 142

Ocean and Foam 143

Blessing Darkness 144

Agreement 146

Jesus and Pan 147

6 The Life of the Soul 151

Resurrection of Life 152

A Fragment 153

The Greater Sea 154

Truth Is Like the Stars 157

Have Mercy on Me, My Soul 158

Trust the Dreams 162

The Greater Self 163

Rising 165

Children of Space 166

Leave Me, My Blamer 167

The Forerunner 171

Walk Facing the Sun 173

Soul's Dewdrop 174

Roots Between 175

Self Is a Sea 176

The Longing of the Giant Self 178

Angels and Devils 179

Blessed Mountain 180

Song of the Soul 181

Sources of the Selections 184

Selection Notes 185

Editorial Reviews

01/08/2018
Douglas-Klotz (Prayers of the Cosmos) compiles Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran’s writings on energy, vitality, and expression in this pocket-sized first book of the Little Book of Life series. Douglas-Klotz draws from the full breadth of Gibran’s oeuvre (including many poems from Spirits Rebellious and The Garden of the Prophet) and organizes his selections under six themes: the life of nature, beauty, the human journey, seasons, paradoxes, and the soul. Apart from the introduction, Douglas-Klotz forgoes any commentary or personal reflections, though the chosen works generally emphasize Gibran’s influences of Maronite Christianity and Lebanese culture—two cultures the poet (who immigrated to America) straddled throughout his life. Highlights include selections on connecting with nature through solitude, the triumph of life in the face of suffering, and the limits of knowledge. Purposefully avoiding Gibran’s best-known work, The Prophet, this slim gift book will serve as a solid guide for Gibran fans looking for an easy entrée into his less popular work. (Mar.)A previous version of this review listed the incorrect ISBN.

Publishers Weekly

"Lebanese poet, Maronite Catholic, and follower of Sufi mysticism Kahlil Gibran died in 1931, yet his most memorable work, The Prophet, continues to form and inform spiritual seekers. Author Douglas-Klotz (director, Edinburgh Inst. for Advanced Learning) identifies the work as "inspirational fiction" and intersperses quotes from the book with lesser-known works to demonstrate Gibran's reflections on the topics of life and living. Douglas-Klotz admits that while some of these sayings are comforting, others are confusing, even disturbing. This is, he claims, the mystic's willingness to engage chaos as well as peace, signifying Gibran's embrace of all of life. Short apothegms ("We live only to discover beauty/ All else is a form of waiting") are part of chapter-long meditations. A few do not easily reveal their deeper insights ("If I were you/ I would not find fault/ with the sea/ at low tide"). Selection notes provide an important guide for further reading; an "About the Author" endnote is also helpful. VERDICT Poems, parables, and stories for mystical hearts." —Library Journal, Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh

Reviews

"Lebanese poet, Maronite Catholic, and follower of Sufi mysticism Kahlil Gibran died in 1931, yet his most memorable work, The Prophet, continues to form and inform spiritual seekers. Author Douglas-Klotz (director, Edinburgh Inst. for Advanced Learning) identifies the work as "inspirational fiction" and intersperses quotes from the book with lesser-known works to demonstrate Gibran's reflections on the topics of life and living. Douglas-Klotz admits that while some of these sayings are comforting, others are confusing, even disturbing. This is, he claims, the mystic's willingness to engage chaos as well as peace, signifying Gibran's embrace of all of life. Short apothegms ("We live only to discover beauty/ All else is a form of waiting") are part of chapter-long meditations. A few do not easily reveal their deeper insights ("If I were you/ I would not find fault/ with the sea/ at low tide"). Selection notes provide an important guide for further reading; an "About the Author" endnote is also helpful. VERDICT Poems, parables, and stories for mystical hearts." —Library Journal, Sandra Collins, Byzantine Catholic Seminary Lib., Pittsburgh

"Douglas-Klotz (Prayers of the Cosmos) compiles Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran's writings on energy, vitality, and expression in this pocket-sized first book of the Little Book of Life series. Douglas-Klotz draws from the full breadth of Gibran's oeuvre (including many poems from Spirits Rebellious and The Garden of the Prophet) and organizes his selections under six themes: the life of nature, beauty, the human journey, seasons, paradoxes, and the soul. Apart from the introduction, Douglas-Klotz forgoes any commentary or personal reflections, though the chosen works generally emphasize Gibran's influences of Maronite Christianity and Lebanese culture—two cultures the poet (who immigrated to America) straddled throughout his life. Highlights include selections on connecting with nature through solitude, the triumph of life in the face of suffering, and the limits of knowledge. Purposefully avoiding Gibran's best-known work, The Prophet, this slim gift book will serve as a solid guide for Gibran fans looking for an easy entrée into his less popular work." —Publishers Weekly (Mar.)

From the Publisher