The Prophet

 By Kahlil Gibran

And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship.
And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love
and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger,
and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind
you fear not the "nay" in your own mind,
nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent
your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship,
all thoughts, all desires,
all expectations are born and shared,
with joy that is unacclaimed. 

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him
may be clearer in his absence,
as the mountain to the climber
is clearer from the plain. 

And let there be no purpose in friendship
save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught
but the disclosure of its own mystery
is not love but a net cast forth:
and only the unprofitable is caught. 

And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide,
let him know the flood also.
For what is your friend
that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need,
but not your emptiness. 

And in the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things
the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

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