I hadn't actually realized until rereading this how much of a communist Kahlil Gibran seems to be. That said, I think what appeals to me about this book is that his advice by and large comes at two levels. He gives you the ideal behind his advice, the thing that would be best for you to do were you infinitely wise and if we lived in a perfect world, and then he gives you the "since that can't happen" version. It's a very effective rhetorical technique, in my opinion, to give the advice and the cosmic principle behind it. I feel like it's both pragmatic and idealistic at once.

I also like how very concise and without waste he writes. I'm glad other people agree. For being largely ignorant of English for the first half of his life, he achieved an impressive effectiveness with it (except for all the ands at the beginning of sentences...god, that pisses me off).