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cricket1988's review against another edition
5.0
No matter how much Gibran I read I still keep coming back. A while ago I flipped through a tear and a smile but I never committed to reading it but when this year was coming to such a unenthusiastic end I thought I needed a little spirituality to pick my mood up again.
This book is filled with stories that center around the human spirit. The corruption of the soul is so easy to treat but as humans we are blind to our own mistakes and doomed to repeat them. Your heart has a empty void that only Gibran can fill you will die a lesser man if you pass the chance to read this book.
Quotes that I loved:
House of fortune
"Share of thy self with the people"
The Criminal
"…the first touch of humanity's selfishness make criminals of the humble and make killers of the sons of peace; this does the early greed of humanity grow and strike back at humanity a thousand fold…
Vision
I am the human heart, prisoner of substance and victim of earthly laws
Two wishes
Only those return to Eternity who on earth seek out Eternity
A poets voice
Humanity raged like a tempest, but I sigh in silence for I know the storm must pass away while a sigh goes to God
You may do unto me whatever you wish but you shall not be able to touch my truth
You may shed my blood and burn my body but you cannot kill or hurt my spirit
Peace
…look at the Darkness giving birth to the Sun…
Before the throne of beauty
Beauty is that which attracts your soul, and that which loves to give and not receive
A lovers Call
…that kiss was introduction to a great sigh, like the Almighty's breath that turned earth into man…
This book is filled with stories that center around the human spirit. The corruption of the soul is so easy to treat but as humans we are blind to our own mistakes and doomed to repeat them. Your heart has a empty void that only Gibran can fill you will die a lesser man if you pass the chance to read this book.
Quotes that I loved:
House of fortune
"Share of thy self with the people"
The Criminal
"…the first touch of humanity's selfishness make criminals of the humble and make killers of the sons of peace; this does the early greed of humanity grow and strike back at humanity a thousand fold…
Vision
I am the human heart, prisoner of substance and victim of earthly laws
Two wishes
Only those return to Eternity who on earth seek out Eternity
A poets voice
Humanity raged like a tempest, but I sigh in silence for I know the storm must pass away while a sigh goes to God
You may do unto me whatever you wish but you shall not be able to touch my truth
You may shed my blood and burn my body but you cannot kill or hurt my spirit
Peace
…look at the Darkness giving birth to the Sun…
Before the throne of beauty
Beauty is that which attracts your soul, and that which loves to give and not receive
A lovers Call
…that kiss was introduction to a great sigh, like the Almighty's breath that turned earth into man…
blackorwa's review against another edition
4.0
"I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of the multitude. And I would not have the tears that saddens makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter. I would that my life remain a tear and a smile".The aforementioned clause in the book summarizes Khalil Gibran's perspective of life, it is always a balance between two sides. He continues by saying, "A tear to purify my heart and give me understanding of life's secrets and hidden things. A smile to draw me nigh to the sons of my kind and to be a symbol of my glorification of the gods". The book is about the duality of life and the more forgotten aspects of life that keeps the balance. Additional tales of life and its injustice makes it a poem worth of a story.
mrspenningalovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful collection of poetry and prose. The whimsical, yet delicate diction reads like lyrics set to music in my mind. I loved Gibran’s philosophical and poetic use of themes of love, freedom, the self, and humanity. Definitely want to use some of these poems in my AP Lit class!
“As love gives life to the human heart in travail, so does folly teach it the ways of wisdom. Pain and folly lead to a great joy and a perfect knowledge, for the eternal Wisdom has created no thing in vain under the sun.”
“I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of multitude. And I would not have the tears that sadness makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter. I would that my life remain a tear and a smile...”
“As love gives life to the human heart in travail, so does folly teach it the ways of wisdom. Pain and folly lead to a great joy and a perfect knowledge, for the eternal Wisdom has created no thing in vain under the sun.”
“I would not exchange the sorrows of my heart for the joys of multitude. And I would not have the tears that sadness makes to flow from my every part turn into laughter. I would that my life remain a tear and a smile...”
gamerboy09pc's review against another edition
3.0
Fortune craves not Contentment, for it is an earthly hope, and its desires are embraced by union with objects, while Contentment is naught but heartfelt.
The eternal soul is never contented; it ever seeks exaltation.
I looked upon slumbering Nature, and with deep reflection discovered the reality of a vast and infinite thing -- something no power could demand, influence acquire, nor riches purchase. Nor could it be effaced by the tears of time or deadened by sorrow; a thing which cannot be discovered by the blue lakes of Switzerland or the beautiful edifices of Italy.
It is something that gathers strength with patience, grows despite obstacles, warms in winter, flourishes in spring, casts a breeze in summer, and bears fruit in autumn -- I found Love.
Everything in life is good; even gold, for it teaches a lesson. Money is like a stringed instrument; he who does not know how to use it properly will hear only discordant music. Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and it enlivens the other who turns it upon his fellow man./*
Where are you, me beloved?
Oh, how great is Love!
And how little am I!
theloranhale's review against another edition
5.0
A Tear and a Smile is one of Gibran’s earliest collection of poetry that demonstrates the author’s alluring style, and his thought-provoking notions.
This oeuvre is aesthetically pleasing and emotionally gratifying. One can easily discern the influence of Romantic literature on the author through the main themes. Chiefly, Khalil Gibran navigates consciousness, poetry, humanitarianism, death, and isolation, and like any other Romantic poet, his prose is coloured with ardent appreciation for nature and gods.
Furthermore, each piece of this book is simmering with a melancholic feeling that overwhelms the reader with the author’s vulnerability and idealism. Gibran is one to perceives love, justice and beauty as the only things worth pursuing and cherishing in life. He denounces materialism, and disdains the festering corruption of the Arab society that looks down on those values, and centers their whole existence on status and wealth.
Notably, Khalil Gibran revolutionised modern Arabic literature and created a new model for its poetry; one that strayed away from its canonical framework, and paved the way for many authors to experiment with the genre, not only through its form, but also through its content. This work is a testimony that poetry doesn’t need to rhyme in order to arouse the reader’s fervent feelings or make them fall in love with it.
God! I love him sm, and I am a huge fan of his works.
This oeuvre is aesthetically pleasing and emotionally gratifying. One can easily discern the influence of Romantic literature on the author through the main themes. Chiefly, Khalil Gibran navigates consciousness, poetry, humanitarianism, death, and isolation, and like any other Romantic poet, his prose is coloured with ardent appreciation for nature and gods.
Furthermore, each piece of this book is simmering with a melancholic feeling that overwhelms the reader with the author’s vulnerability and idealism. Gibran is one to perceives love, justice and beauty as the only things worth pursuing and cherishing in life. He denounces materialism, and disdains the festering corruption of the Arab society that looks down on those values, and centers their whole existence on status and wealth.
Notably, Khalil Gibran revolutionised modern Arabic literature and created a new model for its poetry; one that strayed away from its canonical framework, and paved the way for many authors to experiment with the genre, not only through its form, but also through its content. This work is a testimony that poetry doesn’t need to rhyme in order to arouse the reader’s fervent feelings or make them fall in love with it.
God! I love him sm, and I am a huge fan of his works.
st4rlight's review against another edition
4.0
بـ لغة ثرية وفي غاية الجمال ..
يكتب جبران منغمساً في التأمل والتفكر وباثاً صوتاً من الحكمة الأزلية .
وماضياً بنا بين دمعة وابتسامة ..
♥
يكتب جبران منغمساً في التأمل والتفكر وباثاً صوتاً من الحكمة الأزلية .
وماضياً بنا بين دمعة وابتسامة ..
♥
lostyouth's review against another edition
4.0
A book easy to read, but not to be rushed through. Gibran is a very fine wordsmith; his words are to be savored, felt, pondered over and dwelt upon. There's sweetness and bitterness; sorrow and hope; love and peace ; life and death; reverie and wisdom yet the universal message of humanity remains the same and permeates the whole book.
Consists of 56 chapters, comprising poetry and parables.
"The God separated a spirit from Himself and fashioned it into Beauty."
A being is fashioned, it grows and wanders through the garden of beauty, love, joy, peace and heavenly wisdom and visits the desert of pain, selfishness, hardship; escapes the world of weariness and rests in the land of death.
“Only those return to Eternity. Who on earth seek out Eternity.”
Consists of 56 chapters, comprising poetry and parables.
"The God separated a spirit from Himself and fashioned it into Beauty."
A being is fashioned, it grows and wanders through the garden of beauty, love, joy, peace and heavenly wisdom and visits the desert of pain, selfishness, hardship; escapes the world of weariness and rests in the land of death.
“Only those return to Eternity. Who on earth seek out Eternity.”