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All 16 learnings · one per slide
The
Prophet
Kahlil Gibran, in bytes
16 key learnings from Kahlil Gibran's poetic reflections on love, work, joy and death.
16 learnings · ~40 sec eachSwipe →
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The Prophet, in bytes
16 key learnings from Kahlil Gibran's prose poems, in which the prophet Almustafa speaks on life's great themes. Each takes about 40 seconds to read. Swipe, use the arrows, or your keyboard.
The
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Learning 1 · The Coming of the Ship
Almustafa's Farewell
The story
The prophet Almustafa, about to sail home after twelve years in the city of Orphalese, is asked by the people to speak about life.
The form
Each chapter answers a question from someone in the crowd, from a mother to a merchant.
Takeaway
Wisdom shared at a parting.
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Learning 2 · On Love
On Love
The teaching
Love brings both joy and pain, and asks to be followed fully.
The image
Love threshes you, sifts you and grinds you, as wheat becomes bread.
Takeaway
Love fully, accepting the cost.
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Learning 3 · On Marriage
On Marriage
The teaching
Let there be spaces in your togetherness; partners are like pillars of a temple, standing apart yet together.
The image
The oak and the cypress don't grow in each other's shadow.
Takeaway
Closeness needs room.
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Learning 4 · On Children
On Children
The teaching
Your children come through you but don't belong to you; they have their own thoughts and paths.
The image
Parents are the bows from which children, as living arrows, are sent forth.
Takeaway
Guide, don't possess.
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Learning 5 · On Eating and Drinking
On Eating and Drinking
The teaching
Gibran treats even eating as an act of gratitude and connection with all life.
In practice
Pausing to appreciate where food came from before a meal.
Takeaway
Ordinary acts can be sacred.
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Learning 6 · On Work
On Work
The teaching
Work is love made visible.
The image
Working without love is like baking bitter bread that feeds only half a person's hunger.
Reflect
Does your work express what you care about?
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Learning 7 · On Joy and Sorrow
On Joy and Sorrow
The teaching
Joy and sorrow are inseparable; the deeper sorrow carves, the more joy we can hold.
The image
The same cup that holds your wine was burned in the potter's oven.
Takeaway
Sorrow deepens joy.
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Learning 8 · On Freedom
On Freedom
The teaching
True freedom comes when you are no longer bound by your own desires and fears.
In practice
Noticing how a craving for approval limits your choices.
Takeaway
Freedom is inner.
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Learning 9 · On Houses
On Houses
The teaching
Don't let comfort become a master that makes you a guest in your own home.
The image
Gibran warns of the 'lust for comfort' that enters a house as a guest and becomes a master.
Takeaway
Don't be ruled by comfort.
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Learning 10 · On Giving
On Giving
The teaching
You give little when you give possessions; you truly give when you give of yourself.
In practice
Giving time and attention, not only money.
Takeaway
Give of yourself.
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Learning 11 · On Teaching
On Teaching
The teaching
A good teacher leads you to the threshold of your own mind, not into their house of wisdom.
In practice
Asking a learner questions instead of handing over answers.
Takeaway
Teach people to think.
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Learning 12 · On Self-Knowledge
On Self-Knowledge
The teaching
Say not 'I have found the truth', but 'I have found a truth'.
Why
The soul walks upon all paths, and unfolds itself like a lotus of countless petals.
Takeaway
Hold truth humbly.
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Learning 13 · On Pain
On Pain
The teaching
Pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses understanding.
In practice
Seeing a hard time as part of growing, not only suffering.
Takeaway
Pain can open us.
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Learning 14 · On Friendship
On Friendship
The teaching
Your friend is your needs answered; seek them with hours to live, not hours to kill.
In practice
Seeing friends to share real life, not just to pass time.
Takeaway
Give friendship your best time.
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Learning 15 · On Death
On Death
The teaching
Life and death are one, as the river and sea are one.
The image
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
Takeaway
Death is part of life.
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Learning 16 · The Farewell
The Farewell
The teaching
Almustafa departs, promising to return.
The line
Almustafa says that a little while, and another woman shall bear him.
Takeaway
Endings can hold hope.
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All 16 learnings complete
That’s all 16 learnings.
Gibran saw work as love made visible. Where does your work express care?
Abhay Kumar JaiswalFCA · PMP® · Workday Financeabhayjaiswal.com
Summaries in my own words. Read the book for the full stories.
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Summaries are written in my own words for learning. The Prophet was published in 1923 and is in the public domain in many countries. More Books in Bytes