I prefer to be a dreamer among the humblest, with visions to be realized, than lord among those without dreams and desires.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone. Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the interconnectedness of our actions and their impact on others, suggesting that our failures can affect those around us.
Khalil Gibran's quote reflects on the concept of responsibility and the consequences of our actions, emphasizing that when someone falls, they do not only fall for themselves but also for those who are behind and ahead of them. It serves as a reminder that our actions can either help or hinder others, and thus we should strive to remove obstacles rather than contribute to them, as our personal journeys are intertwined with the journeys of those around us.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about teamwork, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of supporting each other.
More from Khalil Gibran
All quotes →Be patient, for it is from doubt that knowledge is born.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.
God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.
Happiness is a vine that takes root and grows within the heart, never outside it.
Solitude has soft, silky hands, but with strong fingers it grasps the heart and makes it ache with sorrow.
Similar quotes
Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package that has gone through a kind of processing.
Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise.
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly.
Know that humiliation does not weaken you, it strengthens you. The more egoistic you are, the more humiliation you feel. When you are childlike and have a greater sense of kinship, you do not feel humiliated. When you are steeped in love with the Existence, with the Divine, nothing whatsoever can humiliate you.
I wish to become rich, so that I can instruct the people and glorify honest poverty a little, like those kind hearted, fat, benevolent people do.