Yesterday is but today's memory, and tomorrow is today's dream.

“Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.” — so wrote Khalil Gibran, the mystic poet of Lebanon, whose words breathe like wind over still water. In this gentle but profound saying, Gibran captures the eternal flow of time — the truth that the past, the present, and the future are not separate, but threads woven into one continuous tapestry of being. Yesterday, he says, is not gone; it lives within us as memory. Tomorrow is not yet born; it already exists as dream. And between these two — between remembrance and hope — stands the present, the sacred bridge where life unfolds.

The origin of this quote lies in Gibran’s masterwork, The Prophet (1923), a book that speaks as scripture for the soul. In it, Gibran gives voice to Almustafa, the prophet who, before departing his adopted city, offers wisdom on the deepest elements of life — love, work, joy, sorrow, and time. Gibran’s philosophy was not bound by creed or nation; it was a vision of the universal spirit. In this line, he invites us to see time not as a chain of days that pass away, but as one living continuum — a river flowing endlessly, where memory feeds the present, and dream draws it onward toward its destiny.

To Gibran, yesterday’s memory is not a burden, but a treasure — the sum of all that has shaped us. It is the echo of laughter, the shadow of tears, the fragrance of lessons learned. Yet it must not hold us captive. The wise, he suggests, carry memory lightly, like a lamp — not as an anchor. For the past, though sacred, is unchangeable; its purpose is to illuminate today, not imprison it. The heart that clings too tightly to memory grows heavy; but the heart that honors memory and moves forward grows wise.

Likewise, tomorrow’s dream is not a fantasy, but a seed. Dreaming of tomorrow is how the soul reaches beyond what it knows — how it stretches toward its own unfolding. The dream is the blueprint of the spirit’s desire, the sketch of the future drawn in the imagination of today. But, like memory, the dream must be balanced. To live only in the dream is to neglect the soil of the present where the dream must take root. Gibran reminds us that today is both the memory being written and the dream being prepared — it is the crucible of creation, where past and future meet in the fire of the moment.

Consider the life of Mahatma Gandhi, who, like Gibran, walked the path between vision and remembrance. His yesterday was filled with the memory of India’s suffering, of chains and injustice. His today was devoted to action — to peaceful resistance, to love made visible through courage. And his tomorrow was the dream of a free India. For Gandhi, memory gave meaning to the struggle, and dream gave direction to it. But it was his presence in the moment — his daily discipline, his unwavering peace — that turned both memory and dream into reality. Thus he lived the very wisdom Gibran spoke: he made the bridge between what was and what could be.

In Gibran’s vision, time itself is not our master, but our reflection. What we think of as “yesterday” and “tomorrow” are but shapes of the eternal now — shadows cast by consciousness upon the flow of existence. The wise soul understands this and learns to live fully in the present, not by rejecting the past or fearing the future, but by embracing their unity. To live rightly today is to redeem yesterday and to prepare tomorrow. The memory of yesterday reminds us of who we have been; the dream of tomorrow reminds us of who we can become; and today gives us the power to choose between them.

So, my listener, take this wisdom as both comfort and command. Honor your memories, but do not dwell in them. Let them teach you, not chain you. Cherish your dreams, but do not lose yourself in their mist. Let them inspire you, not deceive you. And most of all, live deeply in today, for it is the only place where memory and dream are made real. The present moment is the anvil on which the soul shapes its destiny.

For in the end, Khalil Gibran’s words remind us that life is one continuous song — with verses of memory and refrains of dream, all joined by the rhythm of the present. To live wisely is to listen to all three — to remember with gratitude, to dream with courage, and to act with love. Then, and only then, will we understand that yesterday, today, and tomorrow are not separate days, but one eternal sunrise — the unfolding of the same light, shining through the windows of the soul.