紀伯倫（Kahlil Gibran,1883-1931）
先知
論罪與罰
我常聽你們談起一個犯了過錯的人，彷彿他不是你們當中的一員，而是一個闖入你們天地的陌生人。
至於我，卻要說那純潔或善良者，超不過在於你們每個人心靈中的至純至善；
同樣，那惡劣或柔弱者，也不會低於你們每個人心靈中的極惡極弱。
正如一片樹葉，只有得到整棵樹的默許，才會枯黃。
就像那作惡者，如果不是你們大家暗中默許，他是不會作惡的。
彷彿你們行走在隊伍中，都要尋找你們的神性。
你們既是路，也是行路者。
倘若你們當中有人跌倒，是因為後面的人而跌倒的，那便是告誡他們，讓他們繞開絆腳石。
是的，他也是為前面的人絆倒的。他們雖然比他走得快，腳步也比他穩，卻未曾挪開那塊絆腳石。
Kahlil Gibran（1883-1931）
The Prophet
ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
OFTENTIMES have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him,
a caution against the stumbling stone.
Aye, and he falls for those ahead of him,
who, though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.