[黎巴嫩]卡裏·紀伯倫/Kahlil Gibran
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, speak to us of Children.
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow the files, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
一位懷抱嬰兒的婦女說，請你給我們講講孩子的事情。
他於是說：
孩子其實並不是你們的孩子。
他們是生命為自己所渴求的兒女。
他們借你們而生，卻並非從你們而來。盡管他們與你們同在，卻並不屬於你們。
你們可以把你們的愛給予他們，卻不能給予思想，因為他們有自己的思想。
你們可以庇護他們的身體，但不是他們的靈魂。
因為他們的靈魂棲息於明日之屋，那是你們在夢中也無法造訪的地方。
你們可以努力地仿效他們，但是，不可企圖讓他們像你。
因為生命無法倒流，也不會滯留於昨日。
你們是弓，而你們的孩子就像從弦上向前射出的生命之箭。
那射手瞄準無限之旅上的目標，用力將你彎曲，拉滿弓，以使手中的箭射得又快又遠。