...And the priestess spoke again and said: Speak to us of Reason and Passion.

And he answered, saying:

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite.

Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.

But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.

If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.

For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;

And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix, rise above its own ashes.

I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.

Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason."

And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lighting proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion."

And since you are a breath in God's sphere, and lef in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.

Beatiful, Cinder...thank you.

LA

I love Kahlil Gibran. Thanks for sharing.

Cin,

Been a long time since I have read "The Prophet". I need to get back to things along that line again.

You have at the bottom of your post
In all of the years I have read your posts I have not noticed this one before. As a guy, I find it chilling. My W doesn't like chocolate.

How long have you had that quote? I like it, but....

JL

I've loved that in her sigline for awhile, JL...

However...

Hey, Cinder...that reminds me...I just caught that part of Legally Blonde and it's where Elle is talking about their client, the aerobic instructor she adores, and she said "Exercise gives you endorphins..." and we all know chocolate does, too. So did you change it to chocolate to make it your own, hmmm?

LA

I haven't read The Prophet in ages either.

Crap, now I 've got to go find my favorite from him...

Thanks, Cinders!

Whatever gave you that idea? Well, are there new ideas under the sun?

Actually, you are exactly and precisely correct. It was attributed to a paraphrase of that line until they revamped the system and disallowed quotes in your sig line....wait, I didn't know they did that.....it's been there for ages....6 months or more, I guess.

The Prophet is one of my favorite books of all the books I have ever read.