Heads up! You can read this book for free here on Good Reads, and I highly recommend that you at least give it a shot. "You have been told that, even like a chain, you are as weak as your weakest link. This is but half truth. You are also as strong as your strongest link. To measure you by your smallest deed is to reckon the power of ocean by the frailty of its foam. To judge you by your failures is to cast blame upon the seasons for their inconstancy."I found myself in turns pat-pat-patting my hand over my heart at this book and shaking my head in confusion at times. For the most part, it is a book to savor, to read slowly. I imagine it is a book for those who are willing to see abstractly, and those who are searching for a deeper meaning in life. I tend to live so frantically that I find no time for self reflection. I read purely fiction as a way to escape from daily pressures, and I rarely slow down long enough to enjoy the wonderful things that I have been blessed with. This was a book that I feel like I desperately needed at this time in my life. Ten years ago, I would have rolled my eyes at most of it. But I was young, single, and searching for something different ten years ago. Now, I'm a mother and wife and rarely just me. At different times of my life, I could reread The Prophet and put it down with a completely different take on it. Right now, my kids are getting older, pulling away from me a little, trying to find their own path. And this quote made me cry. He's speaking of children, and the plight of parents to let them be their own people:"You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams."I found myself quoting and marking, many many times. I'm tempted to go and buy a second copy of the book, one that I can mark up the margins and dog ear the pages. I know I'll read this over and over again. Maybe not all at one time. But I really think that I could just open to any random page and find a passage that speaks to me.I read this book over a few weeks, and I'm glad that I took the time to really sit and pick apart the words. There were still times that I had no idea what the author was trying to accomplish with some of his phrases. I'm sure some inflection and such was lost in translation and some of my confusion is due to nearly 100 years passing since the publication, and still other (and this is more likely) my own ignorance. It's a wonderful guide for life, giving advice and insight on love, children, religion, law, pain and self knowledge...and so much more. It's one of those books that I had to force myself to pick up but am so very glad that I did."What shall I say of these save that they too stand in the sunlight, but with their backs to the sun? They see only their shadows, and their shadows are their laws. And what is the sun to them but a caster of shadows?"
