Quotes by Lebanese Authors - Page 6

There must be something strangely sacred in salt. It is in our tears and in the sea.
Kahlil Gibran
Never look at an opportunity at face value & pass it on that basis. Examine the income vs. the profit vs. expenses then make your decision.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Life is not only merriment,It is desire and determination.
Kahlil Gibran
You could read a dozen large tomes on the history of Islam from its very beginnings and you still wouldn't understand what is going on in Algeria. But read 30 pages on colonialism and decolonisation and then you'll understand quite a lot.
Amin Maalouf
My best ideas come when I distance myself from day-to-day operations. It gives me more focus.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Never worry about what you can't control...Focus on what you can.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
English does not distinguish between arrogant-up (irreverence toward the temporarily powerful) and arrogant-down (directed at the small guy).
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Putting your pride first makes the results come in second, at best.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
If you are filled with pride, then you have no room for wisdom.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.
Kahlil Gibran
I believe Innovation is more likely to emerge from a culture of encouragement.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
He may be my half brother, but we're not related. A chasm of incommunicable worlds lies between us.
Rabih Alameddine
For thought is a bird of space, that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings but cannot fly.
Kahlil Gibran
Seek respect, not attention. It lasts longer.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
After all is said and done, you are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence of your choice.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
The illusion of choice is the greatest magic trick ever performed.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
The Fanatics have dirtied its fiber, and their mottos have reated a thick layer of mold over its wounds, one of total intolerance, feeding on the indoctrination of the youth cliques.
Rami Ollaik
Knowledge in youth is wisdom in age.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Once there was and once there was not a devout, God-fearing man who lived his entire life according to stoic principles. He died on his fortieth birthday and woke up floating in nothing. Now, mind you, floating in nothing was comforting, light-less, airless, like a mother’s womb. This man was grateful.But then he decided he would love to have sturdy ground beneath his feet, so he would feel more solid himself. Lo and behold, he was standing on earth. He knew it to be earth, for he knew the feel of it.Yet he wanted to see. I desire light, he thought, and light appeared. I want sunlight, not any light, and at night it shall be moonlight. His desires were granted. Let there be grass. I love the feel of grass beneath my feet. And so it was. I no longer wish to be naked. Only robes of the finest silk must touch my skin. And shelter, I need a grand palace whose entrance has double-sided stairs, and the floors must be marble and the carpets Persian. And food, the finest of food. His breakfast was English; his midmorning snack French. His lunch was Chinese. His afternoon tea was Indian. His supper was Italian, and his late-night snack was Lebanese. Libation? He had the best of wines, of course, and champagne. And company, the finest of company. He demanded poets and writers, thinkers and philosophers, hakawatis and musicians, fools and clowns.And then he desired sex.He asked for light-skinned women and dark-skinned, blondes and brunettes, Chinese, South Asian, African, Scandinavian. He asked for them singly and two at a time, and in the evenings he had orgies. He asked for younger girls, after which he asked for older women, just to try. The he tried men, muscular men, skinny men. Then boys. Then boys and girls together.Then he got bored. He tried sex with food. Boys with Chinese, girls with Indian. Redheads with ice cream. Then he tried sex with company. He fucked the poet. Everybody fucked the poet.But again he got bored. The days were endless. Coming up with new ideas became tiring and tiresome. Every desire he could ever think of was satisfied.He had had enough. He walked out of his house, looked up at the glorious sky, and said, “Dear God. I thank You for Your abundance, but I cannot stand it here anymore. I would rather be anywhere else. I would rather be in hell.”And the booming voice from above replied, “And where do you think you are?
Rabih Alameddine
There are situations where the best solution still doesn't make everyone happy. The trick is understanding what's best.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Keep people in your life who truly love you, motivate you, and make you happy. If you know people who do none of these things, let them go.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Don't ever be afraid to show who you really are, because as long as you are happy with yourself, no one else's opinion matters.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Being happy isn't necessarily about getting there, it's how you get there.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Never measure or compare yourself to anyone other than your past self, seek to always improve & you'll be happy and successful.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
It's not how long you live somewhere that makes it home. Home is a feeling here, (she tapped on the chest). That you belong somewhere and somewhere belongs to you. But i will tell you a secret. Some people don't feel they belong anywhere. No matter where they are, they are always unhappy. They go from place to place trying to find peace. And usually they find themselves back where they started.
Claire Hajaj
The world is for you and for the ones who roll out the carpet, even if it's tattered. They're scattered all over. And if you look carefully, they can help you find your way home, wherever you are.
Salma Abdelnour
I too am my own forerunner, though I sit in the shadows of my trees and seem motionless.
Kahlil Gibran
Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit
Kahlil Gibran
Why do we keep focusing on the minutiae, not the possible significant large events, in spite of the obvious evidence of their huge influence?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Change brings opportunity.
Nido R. Qubein
Surely you know that pleasure soon evaporates, into thin air?Then all we are left with are stories.
Hanan Al-Shaykh
By nature, a storyteller is a plagiarist. Everything one comes across—each incident, book, novel, life episode, story, person, news clip—is a coffee bean that will be crushed, ground up, mixed with a touch of cardamom, sometimes a tiny pinch of salt, boiled thrice with sugar, and served as a piping-hot tale.
Rabih Alameddine
And when you crush an apple with your teeth, say to it in your heart:Your seeds shall live in my body,And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,And your fragrance shall be my breath,And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons.
Kahlil Gibran
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing - the ability to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Don't ever confuse my personality with my attitude. My personality is who I am. My attitude always depends on who you are.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Don't judge someone's attitude until you've felt their pain.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go they merely determine where you start.
Nido Qubein
I deserted the world and sought solitude because I became tired of rendering courtesy to those multitudes who believe that humility is a sort of weakness, and mercy a kind of cowardice, and snobbery a form of strength.
Kahlil Gibran
Sometimes being too nice is dangerous, you have to show your mean side once in a while to avoid getting hurt.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
People with higher ratios of positive to negative emotions are more likely to flourish in life.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Never underestimate a clown with a book.
Rawi Hage
Never blame anyone in life. The good people give you happiness. The worst people give you a lesson. The best people give you memories.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
5 rules to live a happier life: 1) Love yourself. 2) Do good. 3) Always forgive. 4) Harm no one. 5) Be positive.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
You are only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go those who keep weighing you down.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Be a good person but do not waste time to prove it.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Nothing ever stays the same. Just because things aren't good now doesn't mean they will be that way forever....Never quit.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
People aren't born good or bad. It's the way you live your life that matters and how many people you inspire and empower after you're gone.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
I believe the best gift you could ever give a woman is your time.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
I don’t see any dearth of women leaders, it’s a question of what we consider a woman leader.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither one works. Don't bother.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
No nostalgia is felt as keenly as nostalgia for things that never existed.
Rabih Alameddine
Had I known that coffee could taste so good, I would have gotten drunk on it every day.
Rabih Alameddine
When a man kills another man, the people say he is a murderer, but when the Emir kills him, the Emir is just. When a man robs a monastery, they say he is a thief, but when the Emir robs him of his life, the Emir is honourable. When a woman betrays her husband, they say she is an adulteress, but when the Emir makes her walk naked in the streets and stones her later, the Emir is noble. Shedding of blood is forbidden, but who made it lawful for the Emir? Stealing one's money is a crime, but taking away one's life is a noble act. Betrayal of a husband may be an ugly deed, but stoning of living souls is a beautiful sight. Shall we meet evil with evil and say this is the Law? Shall we fight corruption with greater corruption and say this is the Rule? Shall we conquer crimes with more crimes and say this is Justice? Had not the Emir killed an enemy in his past life? Had he not robbed his weak subjects of money and property? Had he not committed adultery? Was he infallible when he killed the murderer and hanged the thief in the tree? Who are those who hanged the thief in the tree? Are they angels descended from heaven, or men looting and usurping? Who cut off the murderer's head? Are they divine prophets, or soldiers shedding blood wherever they go? Who stoned that adulteress? Were they virtuous hermits who came from their monasteries, or humans who loved to commit atrocities with glee, under the protection of ignorant Law? What is Law? Who saw it coming with the sun from the depths of heaven? What human saw the heart of God and found its will or purpose? In what century did the angels walk among the people and preach to them, saying, "Forbid the weak from enjoying life, and kill the outlaws with the sharp edge of the sword, and step upon the sinners with iron feet?
Kahlil Gibran
I believe one of the best ways to achieve justice is to expose injustice.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.You are the way and the wayfarers.And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.
Kahlil Gibran
One hour devoted to mourning and lamenting theStolen equality of the weak is nobler than aCentury filled with greed and usurpation.
Kahlil Gibran
Behind each person is an utter mystery, supreme value. The more we recognize this the better we ALL get.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
The rationalist imagines an imbecile-free society; the empiricist and imbecile-proof one, or even better, a rationalist-proof one.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
No matter the situation, never let your emotions overpower your intelligence.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
Our debts don't leave us much in terms of choices. We can choose to pay now or try to pay later. But the longer we wait the steeper the bill
Ziad K. Abdelnour