[Kahlil Gibran] speaks about fundamental things--those which are, or should be, a part of every human life--love, giving, food and drink, work, sorrow and joy, children, clothes and housing, buying and selling, crime and punishment, freedom, reason and passion, self-knowledge, teaching, friendship, talking, good and evil, prayer, pleasure, beauty, religion and death . . . Like most wisdom, most of what he has to tell is ancient, the possession of all men who have thought much and hard about fundamental things . . . But on it all there is also the imprint of a rich and unusual personality . . . Gibran offers no short-cuts to happiness, no easily mastered formulae for successful living. Essentially, he bids you look closely into your own heart and mind. --NEW YORK TIMES