Mixed feelings Inspiring poetry or vague sentimentality?

I can never quite make up my mind on this book. I read it years ago and was also somewhat puzzled by it. Rereading it I feel vague inspiring feeling, and the other a kind of vague repulsion. I see many many readers are inspired by the work. I myself feel it to be a kind of sentimental popular mixture of Whitman and Zarathustra, but without the great lyric sweeping of the former or the fierce intellectual irony of the latter.^M

Most Beloved Volume

I discovered this book as a teenager in the early 70s. The wisdom it contains is invaluable. I have re-read it countless times. I've given copies to many young people over the years, hoping it will inspire them as much as it inspires me. The thoughts contained within this small volume transcend religious boundaries. If you assimilate the lessons of this book into your life, you will raise happier children, be happier with your life partner, accept your grief as well as your joy . . . ^M

Peaceful

Being a Lebanese,I have loved Gibran Khalil Gibran all my life & read most of his books in both English & Arabic.You do not loose any of the contents when going through the translation process.Reading the Prophet gives me inner peace with the hustle & bustle of our material life.It is a shelter & a refuge I always seek, when I am stressed out.