Rating: 
Summary: It Just Expresses Life the Way it Should..
Review: Being an Atheist, it may seem strange to some people that this book holds any meaning for me, but I think that, despite the religious references, people from all walks of life will relate to the poetic prose of The Prophet.Kahlil Gibran has been greatly celebrated in several countries for the book's simple yet biting phrases. Any two sentences in this legacy of living can be made into a thought-altering quote. Gibran uses a prose style throughout. Short lines of words written as freestyle poetry create a rich medium to deliver his words. Each section has something poweful to say, but some of my favorites were those on Work, Giving, Children, Crime and Punishment, Freinds, Time, and of course Love. As oppposed to most books containing the word "Prophet" anywhere in the title, Gibran expresses life as something to be enjoyed and soaked in as many ways as possible. The book does not stress the punishment of sins, but to bask in pleasure and not look back. Decadence is not suggested, but the basic purpose of Gibran's legacy is to tell us that life is short and must be lived without regrets. It is a book that includes such beautiful metaphors and velvetty language that you are always sucked into reading "just one more section." What makes the book work is not just the simple genius of the author's statements, but also the beauty of his words, the flow of his language. I hate to be like everyone else (in more instances than just this), but it does change you. It states what any prophecy should, and allows the religious aspects of the beliefs to take the backseat to the love of life and aspirations. Buy, read, and live by The Prophet's words.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike anything you'll ever read
Review: My late father gave me a pocket sized hardcover edition of this book when I was a teenager. I've had it ever since and still read it from time to time. Gibran's words are refreshingly nonsectarian yet feel none the less profound, timeless, universal and relevant to all cultures, peoples and times. Some have attributed an alternative spirituality to this work either as praise or as criticism. I personally don't view the Prophet as a book that advocates any particular spiritual or religious path whatsoever. Regardless of whatever else this book may be may be, I've found the Prophet to be restful and quite enjoyable from time to time. I don't worry about the potential hermeneutic interpretations (that I seriously doubt exist) that might exist therein. Thus, if it's a spiritual and/or religious text you seek I wouldn't recommend the Prophet. But I don't mean that as a criticism of the Prophet. I simply view the Prophet as a text on the nonreligious, nonsectarian and universal ideas, ideals, feelings and qualities of what it is and means to be and feel human as viewed from the perspective of another fellow human being who had the same limited perspectives that we all share by virtue of being human beings. Gibran never claimed any differently. If you only buy one book of prose then this is the one I'd recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read for me
Review: To me, there is simplicity in this person's words that I understand clearly.
There are good things this book construes, but I can see other misinterpreting it, and its value that it has to many people. You will need to read this for yourself to find out if it's significance to your life. Worse case, it can be just a good read.
Rating:
Summary: A gift given with love for 25 years
Review: I have given this book to young missionaries and other special people in my life for 25 years. They almost without exception express profound gratitude for the wonderment that is "The Phrophet". As thier lives progress,understanding peace,joy,and personal wellness are the gifts so richly endowed by this master teacher to the reader. Each writing gains more meaning as life is experienced and enjoyed. I encourage you to read and share your best discoveries in this life with others. Each topic re-read, like "on Work" in this book sends you on a magical journey to the center of your soul. Sometimes just thinking and musing is all that is required to understand the gifts given. Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet" is a wonderful gift that lasts a lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: A reference to live.
Review: Gibran wrote the ultimate way of seeing life and living in it. the importance of each relationship. The book was written to be relatable to every reader, all the subjects are mondain. The availability of this book is a great advantage that I don't think people are aware of. It's an hour long to read, but a lifetime to understand, if you read it you'll remember it in every new life matter or relationship.
Buy it and keep it on the shelve for reference, it's an answer to everything. and read it carefully.
Rating:
Summary: A gift given with love for 25 years
Review: I have given this book to young missionaries and other special people in my life for 25 years. They almost without exception express profound gratitude for the wonderment that is "The Phrophet". As thier lives progress,understanding peace,joy,and personal wellness are the gifts so richly endowed by this master teacher to the reader. Each writing gains more meaning as life is experienced and enjoyed. I encourage you to read and share your best discoveries in this life with others. Each topic re-read, like "on Work" in this book sends you on a magical journey to the center of your soul. Sometimes just thinking and musing is all that is required to understand the gifts given. Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet" is a wonderful gift that lasts a lifetime.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful!!
Review: This is a book you can read and re-read many many times.
Great and timeless thoughts about relationships, love and
friendship. I will share this with my family. :) Jeffrey C. McAndrew
author of "Our Brown Eyed Boy"
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, advanced reading.
Review: I read "The Prophet", by Khalil Gibran for a class assignment, and I found it an amazing piece of writing, even though it was a bit difficult to follow in some instances. Gibran's insights into the proper way to live, his wisdom, and his poetic ways with words, make it unlike anything I've ever seen. Very inspirational, and thought provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: Fundamentally Flawed
Review: Gibran reveals the fundamental optimism that shapes the rest of his thinking in his response to one of the city judges: "Like the ocean is your god-self;
It remains for ever undefiled.
And like the ether it lifts but the winged.
Even like the sun is your god-self;
It knows not the ways of the mole nor seeks it the holes of the serpent." This belief in a holy inner spiritual component of every man provides the foundation of such assertions as the moral nondistinction between criminal and victim. This may all sound good, but in practice has little to do with what we observe in the world around us (and is completely unworkable both individually and in society!) The traditional Christian view, boring though it may at first seem, is that there is no perfect holiness within us; rather, we holistic unities of imperfection and rebellion. Granted, we consist of both material and immaterial substance, but the material and immaterial are inseperable except by death. Gibran deals with the rational problems arising from his irreconcilable view of the sprit versus the world by, of course, positing reincarnation upon us. Christian theology deals with all the issues addressed by Gibran, but without making us all out to be God. And without relying on the terrible concept of reincarnation (the only thing I can think of that would be worse than enduring a lifetime of suffering would be to endure an endless procession of lifetimes of suffering). Sure, there are many wonderful, truthful passages in this book, but nobody should make the mistake of assuming it to be inspired. So let the reader beware!
Rating:
Summary: Worth your time
Review: Most stories have some sort of existential or spiritual point to make. Gibran's story has many. But unlike most books this one sacrifices length and plot, employing a simple and poetic (in prose) directness in order to tell us not so much the meaning of life as how to live. The prophet in Gibran's story is asked by his people to talk about everything from the law to pain and death. And his sermons are both instructive and profound without being over righteous or narcissistic. In fact, so carefully woven and universal is Gibran's prose that one could conceivably adopt The Prophet as some sort of new age holy book. This would, of course, not only be potentially unwise but also unnecessary since its foundations are clearly derived from Judeo-Christian spiritual values. It certainly does not square with many eastern religions in its almost excessive romanticization of notions such as good, evil and God. And even for western readers, it is probably most valuable when considered as an eloquent reminder of our own spiritual heritage. I will keep this book and undoubtedly reread it many times over for its depth and wisdom. It isn't easy to write a modern set of spiritual aphorisms without sounding awkward, cliched, or downright wrong. But Gibran manages it with a natural attractiveness and spiritual sincerity that has assured its status as a modernized tome of timeless spiritual values.
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