On Children by Kahlil Gibran

My friend..well my daughter's friend Shelley...sent this to me after a friend of hers sent it to her after Shelley posted my  Simone de Beauvoir quote on facebook...whew...many connections there...and Shelley is definitely my friend too!  Thanks Shelley!

my children

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.

© Kahlil Gibran, 1923, 1973.

Found in Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet