And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
– From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
一位怀抱婴儿的母亲说道：请为我们谈谈孩子吧。
先知答道：
你的孩子并非你的孩子。
他们是生命对于自身渴望而诞生的孩子
他们通过你来到这个世界，却非因你而来。
他们在你身边，却不属于你。
你可以给予他们的是你的爱，而不是你的思想，
因为他们拥有自己的思想。
你可以庇护的是他们的身体，而不是他们的灵魂，
因为他们的灵魂栖居于明日之屋，那是你无法探访的所在，即便在梦中，也难以企及。
你可以拼尽全力变得像他们一样，而不要让他们变得像你一样。
因为生命不会逆行，也不在过去停留。
你是弓，你的孩子是从你这里发射出的生命的箭矢。
那伟大的弓箭手，早已瞄准了无限之路上的一点。
命运的神力将你引满，使生命的箭矢能迅疾而遥远地射出。
请让你在弓箭手手中弯曲的过程，充满喜悦与感恩；
因为祂既钟爱那疾飞的箭，也同样珍视那稳定的弓。
– 摘自《先知》纪伯伦