Hippie

by Paulo Coelho

our travels teach us everything we need to know for the rest of our lives, as long as there’s no need to explain this to our parents.

The worst killing is that which kills the joy we get from life.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life. A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities. Every great dream begins with a dreamer.

dream is something unpredictable and dangerous for those who lack the courage to dream.

Fight because you are at peace with the universe, with the planets, the suns that explode and the stars that shrink and flare out forever. Fight to fulfill your destiny, without giving thought to gain or profit, losses or stratagems, victories or defeats.

A love that owes nothing to anyone, that has no obligations, that finds joy in simple existence and the freedom to express itself.

Those who trust in themselves trust others. Because they know that, when they are betrayed—and everyone is betrayed, that’s part of life—it’s possible to start all over again. Part of the fun in life is exactly this: running risks.

The ancients said that change is permanent and constant—because life passes quickly. If there was no change, there would be no universe.

Accusations? Who cared about that? Simply recognizing these criticisms gave power to their critics.

If we stay quiet for an hour, we’ll begin to hear God, Paulo thought to himself. But if we cry out with joy, God will also hear us and come down to bless us.

In the end, his imprisonment and torture were behind him in the physical sense but continued as present as ever in some parallel reality, in one of the many lives he lived all at once.

“And fear, contrary to what most people say, has its roots in the past. There are gurus in my country who claim: ‘Each time you take a step forward, you will feel fear at what you’ll find.’ But how can I fear what I’ll find if I haven’t already experienced pain, separation, internal and external torture?

It was all right, it was just one day, but one day was the most precious good he had on this earth. Just one day—his mother had begged on her deathbed. Just one day was worth more than all the kingdoms in the world.

“Your dancing is already a form of praising God. Go back to the others and continue what you’re doing.”

everyone there saw dance and music as means to free themselves from their bodies.

“Dancing transforms everything, demands everything, and judges no one. Those who are free dance, even if they find themselves in a cell or a wheelchair, because dancing is not the mere repetition of certain movements, it’s a conversation with a Being greater and more powerful than everyone and everything. To dance is to use a language beyond selfishness and fear.” And,

He’d once watched the dervishes perform with their skirts twirling around them. He’d been fascinated and decided that he was going to learn how to dance like that until he finally understood it wasn’t merely a dance but a way of speaking with God. They called themselves Sufis,

“A man in search of spirituality knows little, because he reads of it and tries to fill his intellect with what he judges wise. Trade your books for madness and wonder—then you will be a bit closer to what you seek. Books bring us opinions and studies, analyses and comparisons, while the sacred flame of madness brings us to the truth.”

“Salute the sun. Allow it to fill your soul—knowledge is an illusion, ecstasy is the true reality. Knowledge fills us with guilt, ecstasy allows us to be one with He who is the Universe before it existed and after it has been destroyed. The search for knowledge is an attempt to wash oneself with sand when a well of clean water can be found right next to us.”

So you want to be a pilgrim on the pathway of the Light? Learn to roam the desert. Speak with your heart, because words are a question of mere chance—though you need them to communicate with others, do not be misled by meanings and explanations. People hear only what they want to hear, never seek to persuade anyone, only follow your destiny without fear—or even filled with fear, but follow your destiny.

My temple is the world, do not leave it. Though it may be difficult, remain in the world—even should you be the target of others’ laughter. Speak with others but do not seek to persuade them. Never allow others to believe in your words or become your disciples, for when this occurs, they no longer believe in what their hearts tell them, which in truth is the only source to which they must listen.

But before dying, he clarified Truth’s ultimate definition. It is not that which gives us certainty. It is not that which gives us profound thoughts. It is not that which makes us better than others. It is not that which makes us prisoners to our own prejudices. ‘The Truth is what makes us free. You will know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free,’