The Prophet
by Kahlil Gibran · first published 1923
79% recommend21% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, easy-to-read collection of poetic essays on life themes such as children, work, giving, and pain. Its beautiful language and lasting advice suit readers who like to dip into chapters and reflect.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The Prophet is a book of 26 poetic essays written in English in 1923 by the Lebanese-American artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran. In the book, the prophet Almustafa who has lived in the foreign city of Orphalese for 12 years is about to board a ship which will carry him home. He is stopped by a group of people, with whom he discusses many issues of life and the human condition. The book is divided into chapters dealing with love, marriage, children, giving, eating and drinking, work, joy and sorrow, houses, clothes, buying and selling, crime and punishment, laws, freedom, reason and
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My Name Is Red - Orhan Pamuk (I read it 2nd time) The Organized Mind - Daniel Levitin (Recommended) The Prophet - Kahlil Gibran (Recommended if you like the style) The Power of Habit (Not recommend it)
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗The Prophet - by Kahlil Gibran. Short read. Powerful yet beautiful words. Has soul.
on “What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?” ↗A bunch of books by Kahlil Gibran. Read The Prophet twice. One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez The Problem Of Pain by C S Lewis Disgrace by J M Coetzee The Road by Cormac McCarthy…
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche Ashtavakra Gita - Ashtavakra The Prophet - Gibran
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗…the Discworld recomendation. The series is fantastic. Read everything Pratchett has written, it is worth it. Also: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn: the only book to truly explain the genesis scripture. The prophet by Khalil Gibran: One of the most beautiful books I've read. And please ignore Paulo Coelho books. Paulo Coelho is to Richard Bach what Dan Brown is to Humberto Eco.
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books? I'm bored” ↗I discovered The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran around 2009 and it quickly became and has remained one of my favorites. I appreciate the descriptiveness and beauty of the language along with the continuing relevance of the advice.…
on “Ask HN: Who are your favorite poets?” ↗The Prophet - By Kahlil Gibran. Beautifully written prose. A co-worker lend it to me and I kept it in my desk until I was clearing up before leaving the company. Decided to read it before giving it back to him...…
on “Ask HN: What are the books that changed the perspective of your life?” ↗…Eros by Raymond Lawrence Jr. The Phenomenon of Science: A Cybernetic Approach to Human Evolution by Valentin Turchin Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians History, Guilt & Habit by Owen Barfield The Prophet by Khalil Gibran Dawn by Octavia Butler Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg The Little Prince…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗…this first chapter (on the contrary, it's great), but this chapter is short, yet so powerful, and best of all, it stands by itself. Bonus, if you like to read brief but powerful pieces, pick up "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran and read the chapters that interest you. I'd suggest the "On Giving" chapter as a great start.
on “Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?” ↗I'll make a suggestion that is somewhat odd for HN since it is effectively poetry: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran This little book stumbles into my life every 5 or 10 years and always reinvigorates my appreciation for the beauty of life. It is like being swept away by a beautiful piece of music…
on “Ask HN: What is one book you would recommend everyone to read?” ↗Check out The Prophet by Khalil Gibran, he uses few words to say a lot: "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the…
on “Can Neural Stimulation Zap Addiction?” ↗…so much what the story tells. Poetry is good for this if you can get into it. Or books where you can read a little thing and think about it for hours. Meditations by Marcus Arailius is a good one. The Prophet by Kahil Gibran is another good one. Ficciones By Borjes is another. These are books where a little bite can set you thinking for an hour breaking you out of the frantic flow of modern life.
on “Ask HN: AI robbed my joy of reading books?” ↗The Prophet by Kahil Gibran
on “Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?” ↗The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
on “Ask HN: Which book would you pick to re-read for the rest of your life?” ↗…Ferriss 2014 - Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon 2015 - Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins 2016 - Black Swan, Nicolas Taleb 2017 - Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman, Richard Feynman 2018 - The Prophet, Khalil Gibran 2019 - Three Body Problem (series), Liu Cixin These aren’t publishing years, just the year these books transformed me.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in the past decade?” ↗