A Poem A Day: Good And Evil XXII by Khalil Gibran

A poem on goodness and what it means to be good to yourself and to others. Food for thought. Short ramblings at the end.

Good And Evil XXII

By Khalil Gibran

And one of the elders of the city said, Speak to us of Good and Evil. 

And he answered: 

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. 

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? 

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters. 

You are good when you are one with yourself. 

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil. 

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house. 

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom. 

You are good when you strive to give of yourself. 

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself. 

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast. 

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance. 

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root. 

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech, 

Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose. 

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue. 

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps. 

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping. 

Even those who limp go not backward. 

But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness. 

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good, 

You are only loitering and sluggard. 

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles. 

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you. 

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest. 

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore. 

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, Wherefore are you slow and halting? 

For the truly good ask not the naked, Where is your garment? nor the houseless, What has befallen your house? 

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Personal Ramblings:

My vocation is one of perpetual learning and study, and sometimes I would feel guilty for being lazy, for not being as productive as I could or should be. The verses in this poem that speak of being Good even if you limp or stumble your way to the finish line is a lovely reminder to be kind to myself when I only have the mental or physical fortitude to take one tiny step forward.

What gave me pause and warranted food for thought though were these lines:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil. 

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst? 

First of all, this posits that humans are inherently good, but life on this earthly plane has taught me that humans can be incredibly shitty and maintaining a healthy level of cynicism is a necessary survival skill. And yet I still, deep down, believe that people are inherently good. Blame my hopeless optimism or years of Catholic education.

So what makes good people turn evil? Need for survival? People who start out good but are forced by necessity to a life of crime and sin. Greed? People who are overcome by insatiable wanting. The more they have, the more they want. In both instances, these people recognize their moral dilemma hence the torture. Human conscience is simultaneously a wonderful and terrible thing to have.