Khalil Gibran

Born Gubran Khalil Gubran January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931, was a Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in the town of Bsharri in modern-day Lebanon (then part of the Ottoman Mount Lebanon mutasarrifate), as a young man he emigrated with his family to the US where he studied art and began his literary career. He is chiefly known in the English speaking world for his 1923 book The Prophet, an early example of inspirational fiction including a series of philosophical essays written in poetic English prose. The book sold well despite a cool critical reception, and became extremely popular in the 1960s counterculture.[7] Gibran is the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu.

Some Quotes by Kahlil Gibran
• Advance, and never stop, for advancing is the road to perfection.

• A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?
• A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.

• Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood.

• All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.

• All that spirits desire, spirits attain.

• An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.

• And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

• And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.

• Art is a step from what is obvious and well-known toward what is arcane and concealed.

• Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

• But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

• Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes.

• Death most resembles a prophet who is without honor in his own land or a poet who is a stranger among his people.
• Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.

• Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

• Exaggeration is truth that has lost its temper.

• Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.

• Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.

• For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

• Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
Your friend is your needs answered.

• Say not, ‘I have found the truth,’ but rather, ‘I have found a truth.’

• A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?

• Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

• But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

• Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

• Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.

• “The New Frontier” “Are you a politician asking what your country can do for you or a zealous one asking what you can do for your country?”

Pure fancy

A fish said to another fish, “Above this sea of ours there is another sea, with creatures swimming in it — and they live there even as we live here.” The fish replied, “Pure fancy! Pure fancy! When you know that everything that leaves our sea by even an inch, and stays out of it, dies. What proof have you of other lives in other seas?” -Kahlil Gibran

When I was asked what I think about love and happiness

When I was asked what I think about love and happiness I said; love and happiness are two mutually inclusive events, one happen at the same time another occurs, they both starts from within and spreads to the world around you to form a force field of acceptance and forgiveness.

College Admission Essay

A cool breeze rolls in from the open window. The sky is illuminated with brilliant shades of pink, red, and purple and the clouds are crashing on the horizon like waves in an ocean. The calls to prayer are the first things to be heard in this peaceful and calming dawn. As I approach the window to witness the breath taking view, I pause for a moment, closing my eyes and embracing the beauty of nature. Within the blink of an eye, a cloud of smoke appears on the runway of the airport miles away, and I wonder if my eyes deceive me. Several seconds later, the shockwave hits with a ground-shaking boom and the shattering of glass can be heard all around. This began the day of when a war started, and it was also the day I gained a new perspective on life.

I will never forget this day. I was in Lebanon visiting family overseas when war broke out between Lebanon and its neighboring country Israel. The journey home that was soon to be embarked upon would be far from short or easy. The trip impacted me with a wide range of emotions that was overwhelming as a child. It caused me to realize many things that I should consider myself to be lucky for and has definitely helped create the person I am today. My father had the ability to handle the situation with a calm, collected, and most importantly, focused manner, which gave me a deep sense of motivation to be just like him. His actions also taught me that being able to control your emotions and knowing how to set your goals is essential in solving any problem, whether it is immediate action or even planning for future years.

Ever since I was little, I have always aspired to be like my father, an electrical engineer, working for Otis Elevators of United Technologies. He gave me the gift of finding interest and passion in problem solving. In my hardest math and science classes, I found the endless possibilities of enjoyment that can occur when these problems are solved. Along with basic formulas and complex equations, they also taught me that with hard work and perseverance, even the toughest problems have a solution. Engineering puts these “problems” into question every day, and it is my aspiration to integrate this sort of problem solving into my every day life. Thus, creating a bigger and brighter future, for not only myself, but also the entire world.

Along with this passion for problem solving, I am highly appreciative of my heritage and its cultures. My parents are first generation immigrants, my mother from China, and my father from Lebanon and I have had the utmost privilege in being able to travel to both of these countries extensively and experience the cultures that are connected with them. Being surrounded by these different cultures has given me the opportunity of opening my eyes to cultures from around the world. Engineering has helped spread these different cultures with countless inventions throughout history. This achievement however, may not be as simple as it seems.

I feel as though there are prerequisites that are necessary in order to be able to spread these different cultures throughout the world efficiently. One must first be able to develop the ideas of what they are trying to achieve, and then be able to communicate with other countries and cultures. Leadership is also a key characteristic due to the necessity of being able to have the confidence to carry out the objective and having others follow by good example. This is a definite area in which I would be able to benefit the world that we live in today. This past summer I attended the American Legion Boy’s State. The program taught me how important the skills that are necessary to be a leader really are, and essentially helped me achieve those skills.

I am aware that the University of Connecticut has an exceptional engineering program, which is why, among other reasons, I would like to attend your college. If there is one thing that I have learned throughout my schooling career, it is that the best foundation to being successful is a good education. When you combine education with hard work, dedication, and leadership, you create a perfect platform to raise yourself up to success. By attending the University of Connecticut, I hope to utilize my talents and traits to their fullest, and be able to call myself a proud Uconn Alumni.

My Son’s Creative Writing Assignment

To loyal friend Johnnie,
As you may know I recently got thrown in the slammer, all because of that damned 18th Amendment. The day they passed that Amendment, they thought it was all hotsy-totsy for the public, but believe me I knew for a fact that it was going to end up as complete banana oil. Here I was minding my own business on a Friday night, on a blind date with this amazing, beautiful, darb of a girl, she was just the bee’s knees. She had the cutest belly laugh a man could ever hear, plus she had an adorable little button nose. We were eatin’ dinner at this gin mill called “The Back Room” having a good time, and out of nowhere this cake-eater big shot comes over and starts flirtin’ with her. Me being the sophisticated man that I am, I try and start a bull session, just to see his true intentions. We had a couple of giggle waters and the laughs were flyin’, then wouldn’t you know it, the good for nothin’ lounge lizard starts necking with my girl! I picked him up by the collar of his jacket and socked him right in the kisser. I guess, according to authorities, I was a little too spifflicated and whipped out my piece, which made everything go all wet. Before you know it, everyone started to scram outta the gin mill. Listen kiddo, if you have ever taken my advice, you should listen to me when I say, never go on blind dates, because they will just completely mess up your night, no matter how ritzy or swell the girl is. Besides, most of them are gold diggers. Anyways, after the chief took me downtown, they got a tip-off that I had been making a large lump of dough from bootlegging so they investigated further. I thought I had my storage on lockdown, I had the most copacetic hiding place for it, but low and behold, the feds found it. Later that night, (in the slammer) this group of newly established men, who called themselves the “IRS”, informed me of what they had found. I tried to argue that I had been framed, but the wouldn’t buy it. So, later on, they took pictures of me and held me for bootlegging and for trying to bump off that one drugstore cowboy. I was surprised when they said I could see the goofy looking mug shot of me, and man did it give me the heebie-jeebies. I even got the privilege of including it in this letter to you. Once I had done my time, I went down to my boss, Alphonse Capone, who was the big cheese at the time. He told me and a couple other fellas, “I need you to take these two police uniforms and bump off these other gangsters, cause they ruinin’ our business. I hand picked you the 4 of you because I know what hard-boiled torpedoes you are.” Which made me feel rather flattered. So the four of us, a driver, and some Sheba, gathered up into this sweet ride and took off. Once we got to the location (2,122 North Clark Street) we intercepted a North Side Gang’s beer distribution rendezvous. We lined them up and unleashed hell and let me tell you, they should call it the Valentine’s Day Massacre because it was just that bloody. In any case, lets just hope that no one ever finds out about what happened that day, so after you read this and write back, you better dispose of this or I will personally kill you. Just kidding, but seriously burn this letter. I just wanted to write you this to make sure everything is all jake, just be sure you do not repeat any of this in your response. Hope you are doin’ well kiddo.
Best regards,
Adam Dassouki

Life is a journey with no particular destination

Life is a journey with no particular destination. Enjoy the trip and every stop along the way….

Who are we and what is the pupose of life?

Did you ever stop and thing whether there is anyone else out there?

Are we Alone?

How old is the human race?

Are we aliens on this earth came from another dying planet and our race is millions of years old??

Or perhaps our DNA that came from another planet was given by our dying ancestors who crash landed on this earth or hand delivered by a highly advanced beings to local inhabitance of earth the “neanderthals”.

Dinner time

01 Watermark [Instrumental]

It’s Dinner Time.

Dinner time at my house is a family time, it is time to gather around the table to reflect and share our thoughts and experience of the day.

One day my son asked if he can get together with his friend and have a sleep over, I said you had one last month do you remember? he said no that was long ago, I said well, if you are going to forget  what you did and how much fun you had why bother going anyways, he dazed for a little while wondering how to respond and what to say  and he said well dad I just want to enjoy the moment.