Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923

Almustafa, the Prophet, dispensed his wisdom to the people of the city of Orphalese after twelve years among them. Looking back at this book as a story, not a work of philosophy or theology, I wonder what he might have said had Almustafa not been a wanderer, a recluse, an outsider with the luxury of looking in. What would he have felt about these people had he been born among and had grown up on their streets? What if he had loved their daughters and had been spurned by them? What if he had felt the spit and fists of their sons? Or had toiled for the vain and small-minded merchants, had been the object of gossip, suspicion and disregard? What would Almustafa had said to them if he did not have the luxury of leaving? Like this, all things seem clearer and more manageable at a distance. It is so much easier to love the townsfolk as you are bidding them goodbye.