"When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."

Sadness

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Sadness as articulated by Khalil Gibran. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Sadness provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Khalil Gibran

Jubrān Khalīl Jubrān, usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran, was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist. He was also considered a philosopher, although he himself rejected the title. He is best known as the author of The Prophet, which was first published in the United States in 1923 and has since become one of the best-selling books of all time, having been translated into more than 100 languages.

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More by Khalil Gibran

"March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path."

— Khalil Gibran
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"Love possesses not nor will it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love."

— Khalil Gibran
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"If the grandfather of the grandfather of Jesus had known what was hidden within him, he would have stood humble and awe-struck before his soul."

— Khalil Gibran
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"Sadness is but a wall between two gardens."

— Khalil Gibran
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More about Sadness

"The South is very beautiful but its beauty makes one sad because the lives that people live here, and have lived here, are so ugly."

— James Baldwin
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"There were points in my life where I felt oddly irresistible to women. I'm not in that state now and that makes me sad."

— Jack Nicholson
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"The rejection that we all take and the sadness and the aggravation and the loss of jobs and all of the things that we live through in our lives, without a sense of humor, I don't know how people make it."

— Marlo Thomas
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"When a child can be brought to tears, and not from fear of punishment, but from repentance he needs no chastisement. When the tears begin to flow from the grief of their conduct you can be sure there is an angel nestling in their heart."

— Horace Mann
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