kahlil gibran :: pity the nation

Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, 

and that deem the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,

yet submits in its awakening.

Pity the nation that raises not its voice

save when it walks in a funeral,

boasts not except among its ruins,

and will rebel not save when its neck is laid

between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,

whose philosopher is a juggler,

and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,

and farewells him with hooting,

only to welcome another with trumpeting again.