"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight"
About this Quote
The phrasing “in truth” matters because it doesn’t argue with your sadness; it upgrades it. Your tears aren’t irrational, and they’re not merely loss. They’re also a form of testimony. Gibran’s trick is to braid two emotional registers that modern culture often separates: pleasure as the “good” feeling, grief as the “bad” one. He collapses that moral sorting and replaces it with continuity. The heartbreak is not the opposite of delight; it’s delight’s afterimage.
Context helps: Gibran, writing as a Lebanese-American mystic-poet in the early 20th century, built a bridge between Romantic lyricism and spiritual counsel. In The Prophet, where this sentiment fits neatly, his project is consolation without anesthesia. He offers a vocabulary that lets mourning keep its dignity while smuggling in gratitude - not as a pep talk, but as a hard-won recognition that what hurts now once made life larger.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sadness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gibran, Kahlil. (2026, January 18). When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-sorrowful-look-again-in-your-heart-17376/
Chicago Style
Gibran, Kahlil. "When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-sorrowful-look-again-in-your-heart-17376/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-you-are-sorrowful-look-again-in-your-heart-17376/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.











