And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?
And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.
Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.
These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.
And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.    

Khalil Gibran- The Prophet

Comments

Thersites said…
And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom." And he answered: At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them. Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff. And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment. You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound. And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour? In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes. And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free? If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead. You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone,...
nicrap said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
nicrap said…
Freedom is the logic of the prison house - apparently. :;
Always On Watch said…
And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

Nothing like a good paradox to end a "dissertation."

Sometimes I believe that life itself is one big paradox.
Always On Watch said…
But here's something that I've puzzled about....How did Khalil Gibran end up dying of cirrhosis of the liver?
Jen said…
Sometimes I believe that life itself is one big paradox.
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Me too, AOW. And depending on my state of mind, that thought either frustrates me or comforts me.
Jen said…
How did Khalil Gibran end up dying of cirrhosis of the liver?

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I'm not sure I understand.
Cirrhosis could have a number of different causes. Of course, the most common are Hep A, B, C, and alcoholism.
But diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and heart failure can also cause cirrhosis. I think he also suffered from a chronic respiratory condition (cystic fibrosis??).

I don't know the cause of his cirrhosis.

Ducky's here said…

"In the courtyard, the wind is about to meet the leaves"
Ducky's here said…
If I may make a film suggestion, Jen.

Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us.

Good example of Persian mysticism.
Jen said…
Thanks Duck. I'll look for it.

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