I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.
Khalil GibranRead
Believing is a fine thing, but placing those beliefs into execution is a test of strength. Many are those who talk like the roar of the sea, gut their lives are shallow and stagnant, like the rotting marshes. Many are those who lift their heads above the mountain tops, but their spirits remain dormant in the obscurity of the caverns.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Belief alone is not enough; action is necessary to prove one's strength and character.
This quote emphasizes that having beliefs and aspirations is commendable, but true strength lies in the ability to translate those beliefs into action. It suggests that many people may present themselves as powerful or knowledgeable, but without the depth of action to back it up, their lives can be unfulfilling and stagnant. Gibran uses vivid imagery to contrast the loudness of empty boasts with the tranquil yet unproductive nature of a stagnant life, urging individuals to seek meaningful actions that reflect their beliefs.
Themes
BeliefActionStrengthGrowthDepth
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage team commitment to project goals.
More from Khalil Gibran
All quotes →Be patient, for it is from doubt that knowledge is born.
Khalil GibranRead
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
Khalil GibranRead
God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.
Khalil GibranRead
Happiness is a vine that takes root and grows within the heart, never outside it.
Khalil GibranRead
Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow.
Khalil GibranRead
Similar quotes
Keep good company, read good books, love good things and cultivate soul and body as faithfully as you can
Louisa May AlcottRead
One's thoughts turn towards Hope.
Leonardo Da VinciRead
Sorrows are the rags of old clothes and jackets that serve to cover, and then are taken off. That undressing, and the beautiful naked body underneath, is the sweetness that comes after grief.
RumiRead
The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace.
Henry David ThoreauRead
The gentlest thing in the world overcomes the hardest thing in the world. That which has no substance enters where there is no space. This shows the value of non-action. Teaching without words, performing without actions: that is the Master's way.
LaoziRead
It is in men as in soils where sometimes there is a vein of gold which the owner knows not.
Jonathan SwiftRead