Quote by Kahlil Gibran: “Much of your pain is self‑chosen.”

This profound statement suggests that many of the difficulties we experience are not externally imposed but arise from our own attitudes, choices, or resistance to life's natural flow, implying a degree of personal agency in our suffering.

Following WWI, there was a widespread search for spiritual meaning and personal responsibility, moving away from purely deterministic views of suffering, reflected in Gibran's philosophical writings.

Lebanese-American poet, philosopher, and visual artist best known for his 1923 work The Prophet, a collection of poetic essays that has never gone out of print. Born in northern Lebanon, he emigrated to the United States and became one of the best-selling poets of all time. His work blends Eastern mysticism with Western Romanticism.