"These are the palaces where I refused to live any longer, the tombs where I did not want to be buried alive. And these are the people from whom I escaped to free myself from their habits and to break the bonds that tied me to their social class. [...] I do not condemn them, I pity them; I do not hate them; I hate their blind submission to hypocrisy, lies, and deceit. If I revealed the secrets of their hearts and the mysteries of their lives, I did not do it because I enjoy slander and gossip, but to show you the true face of those whom until yesterday I resembled and from whom I have been liberated."

In 1908, Gibran, before leaving for Paris, publishes his third book in Arabic: "The Revolted Souls". Through four realistic novellas set in Lebanon, Gibran expresses his opposition to oppression by feudal lords, clergy, and legislators, and strongly denounces the subjugation of the peoples of the East to outdated customs.