Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet: Freedom”

“And an orator said, “Speak to us of Freedom.”
And he (the prophet) answered:

Aye, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have 

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains,

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your
judges, though you pour the sea upon them. And if it is a despot you would dethrone,
see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.
For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud,
but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their own pride?

And if it is a care you would cast off,
that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.
And if it is a fear you would dispel,

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, 

- Kahlil Gibran, “The Prophet: Freedom”