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Posted on: Nov 30, '08


 good and evil-the prophet-

I am just quoting my favorite Gibran on his views of good and evil.He is positive in talking about the good, but seems non judgemental on evil.....

Good and Evil



And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."

And he answered:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"

For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?" 



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Comments  [ 9 Comments ] [ Post your comment | Subscribe (?) ]


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gamblers said:


December 06, '08


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gamblers said:


December 06, '08


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milan_48 said:
How come such serious Blog.
Usually it is peppy.
Yep Evil has its ways over Good in todays world.

December 04, '08


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BrainyBakra said:
Very sweet words, Didi

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

How true !!



December 03, '08


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Ledzep said:
draculvanhelsig, your comment intrigues... what leads you to believe gibran views evil as a negation of good?

the obvious influences are sufi and bahai...

the 'evil' that is postulated to exist for 'its own sake' ...i presume must invariably be, or must invariably be in, someone else... the convenient 'other' who, or that which, is miraculously not influenced or even influenceable by ourselves :-)!

...is it soo inconceivable that duality can be transcended??!

December 01, '08


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DraculVanHelsing said:
t's been years since I've read a bio of Kahlil Gibran but if I remember correctly he was very much influenced by the overly optimistic worldview of late 19th and early 20th Century thought. Many thought science and technology would solve all problems forgetting that science and technology are value neutral. And while a small chorus of voices like that of Dostoevsky were saying that without God, no good is possible, by far the vast majority of men were waiting for Nietzsche's Superman, a figure who would go beyond Good and Evil. And so in the 20th Century, butchers like Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot arose- men who saw themselves as going beyond good and evil. And yet the only end result was evil. Gibran was a good writer but he made the same mistake that a number of philosophers of the Middle Ages did in seeing evil as only a negation of the good. Evil as a person exists for his/its own sake.

December 01, '08


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Ledzep said:
how full of love.

'In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.'

how simple. how true.

cheers!

November 30, '08


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akshay4093 said:
APNI ZINDAGI JIYO AUR DOOSRON KO JEENE DO. Yahi na? good advice

November 30, '08


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MyZoneCAN said:
Surely....evil is inflicting death, wound and grief on a fellow human being...even if it's in the name of a 'cause', an 'ideal' or a 'religion'!
No cause or ideal is lofty if it proposes death of innocent people....
No religion is sacred if it proposes violence...and death!

November 30, '08

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