Kahlil Gibran | Quotes / Aforismi

Pablo Picasso | Le couple, 1904

"I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers!".

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart".

“We are all like the bright moon, we still have our darker side".

"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need".

Khalil Gibran | On pleasure / Il piacere

Pleasure is a freedom-song, But it is not freedom.

It is the blossoming of your desires,

But it is not their fruit.

It is a depth calling unto a height, But it is not the deep nor the high. It is the caged taking wing,

But it is not space encompassed.

Ay, in very truth, pleasure is a freedom song.

And I fain would have you sing it with fullness of heart; yet I would not have you lose your hearts in the singing.

Some of your youth seek pleasure as if it were all, and they are judged and rebuked.

I would not judge nor rebuke them. I would have them seek.

For they shall find pleasure, but not her alone;

Seven are her sisters, and the least of them is more beautiful than pleasure.

Have you not heard of the man who was digging in the earth for roots and found a treasure?

Kahlil Gibran | Il pittore / The painter

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)🎨 - Lebanese-American writer, poet, visual artist - painted more than 700 pictures, watercolors and drawings.

In 1930, Gibran's final will reflected this similar desire: "Everything found in my studio after my death - pictures, books, objects of art, ecc. - goes to Mrs. Mary Haskell Minis🎨, now living at 24 Gaston Street West, Savannah, Ga. But I would like to have Mrs. Minis send all, or any part of these things, to my hometown, should she see fit to do so".

After Gibran's death in 1931, Mary Haskell Minis🎨 both directly and indirectly placed Gibran's art in numerous public collections including The Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge-Massachusetts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and the Newark Museum in Newark-New Jersey.

Kahlil Gibran | Love letter to Mary Haskell / Lettera d'amore a Mary Haskell, 1912

New York, 7th January 1912

Now I will say goodnight, as any other time.
I kiss you and then I say goodnight
and then I open the door and then I go out to the streets
with a full heart and a hungry soul.
But I always come again
to kiss you and to say goodnight
and to open the door and to go out to the street
with hungry soul and full heart.
Kahlil🎨

New York - domenica pomeriggio, 7 gennaio 1912

Ora ti do la buonanotte, come ogni altra volta.
Ti bacio e poi ti auguro la buonanotte,
e poi apro la porta e poi esco per le strade
con il cuore pieno e l’anima affamata.
Ma continuo a tornare, ancora e sempre,
per baciarti e augurarti la buonanotte
e aprire la porta e uscire per la strada
con l’anima affamata e il cuore pieno.
Kahlil🎨

Khalil Gibran | Ho imparato il silenzio da chi parla troppo../ I have learned silence from the talkative..

Ho imparato il silenzio da chi parla troppo,

la tolleranza dagli intolleranti,

la gentilezza dai malvagi;

e, per quanto possa sembrare strano,

sono grato a questi insegnanti.

I have learned silence from the talkative,

toleration from the intolerant,

and kindness from the unkind;

yet strange,

I am ungrateful to these teachers.

Chagall / Khalil Gibran | Farò della mia anima../I will do a casket of my soul

Farò della mia anima uno scrigno

per la tua anima,

del mio cuore una dimora

per la tua bellezza,

del mio petto un sepolcro

per le tue pene.

I will do a casket of my soul

for your soul,

my heart a residence

for your beauty,

my breast a sepulcher

for your pains.

Kahlil Gibran | On Love / Dell'Amore

Quando l’amore vi chiama seguitelo
anche se le sue vie sono ardue e ripide
e quando le sue ali vi avvolgeranno, abbandonatevi a lui
anche se la sua lama, celata fra le sue penne, vi può ferire
e quando vi parla, credetegli
anche se la sua voce può mandare in frantumi i vostri sogni
come il vento del nord devasta il vostro giardino.

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

Kahlil Gibran 1883-1931 | The Summit from Sand and Foam, 1925

Khalil Gibran | Sul dolore / On Pain

Il dolore è lo spezzarsi del guscio
che racchiude la vostra conoscenza.
Come il nocciolo del frutto deve spezzarsi
affinché il suo cuore possa esporsi al sole,
così voi dovete conoscere il dolore.
E se riusciste a custodire in cuore la meraviglia
per i prodigi quotidiani della vita,
il dolore non vi meraviglierebbe meno della gioia;
accogliereste le stagioni del vostro cuore
come avreste sempre accolto le stagioni
che passano sui campi.

***

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

Roman Urbinskiy, 1977🎨 | Russian painter