My Soul gave me good counsel, teaching me to love what the people abhor and to show good will toward the one they hate. It showed me that Love is a property not of the lover but of the beloved. Before my Soul taught me, Love was for me a delicate thread stretched between two adjacent pegs, but now it has been transformed into a halo; its first is its last, and its last is its first. It encompasses every being, slowly expanding to embrace all that ever will be.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Gibran redefines love not as a bond between two people but as an expansive quality of the beloved that encompasses all beings.
- In plain terms
- Love isn't between two people, it belongs to the one being loved and covers everyone.
- What can you take from it?
- See love as an expansive quality, not a tie.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who does your love embrace?
- Is love a thread or a halo?
Another view
The definition abstracts love so much it loses the specific intimacy of personal relationships.
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