excerpts from �the zahir� by paulo coelho..

Excerpts from “The Zahir” by Paulo Coelho

 

The inspector says I’m free. I’m free now and I was free in prison too, because freedom continues to be the thing I prize most in the world. Of course, this has led me to drink wines I did not like, to do things I should have done and which I will not do again; it has left scars on my body and on my soul, it has meant hurting certain people, although I have since asked for their forgiveness, when I realized that I could do absolutely anything excerpt force another person to follow me in my madness, n m lust for life. I don’t regret the painful times; I bear my scars as if they’re medals. I know that freedom has a high prize, as high that of slavery; the only difference is that you play with pleasure and a smile, even when that smile is dimmed by tears.

 

Freedom. The freedom to be wretchedly alone.

 

Many of the people I pass must also have their souls in tatters, and I have no idea how or why they are suffering.

 

Until one morning, I’ll wake up and find I’m thinking about something else, and then I’ll know the worst is over. My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing the beauty of life once more. It has happened before, it will happen again, I’m sure. When someone leaves, it’s because someone else is about to arrive – I’ll find love again.

 

The more beautiful everything is around me, the more wretched I feel.

 

My dream is now realizable, but if I try and fail, I don’t know what the rest of my life will be like; that’s why it’s better to live cherishing a dream that face the possibility that it might all come to nothing.

 

- Whose eyes said more than any words, who was often terrified inside, but always courageous in her actions who could love someone without humbling herself and who never ever apologized for fighting for her man. -

 

All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.

 

In order to be reminded that every day I need to rebuild myself and to accept – fort eh first time in my existence – that I have loved another human being more than I love myself.

 

On the contrary, I am pleased that she exists; she has shown me that I am capable of a love of which I myself knew nothing, and this leaves me in a state of grace.

 

I don’t believe in the curative powers of suffering and tragedy; they happen because they’re part of life and shouldn’t be seen as a punishment. Generally speaking, the universe tells us when we’re wrong by taking away what is most important to us: our friends.

 

The energy of hatred won’t get you anywhere; but the energy of forgiveness which reveals itself through love, will transform your life in a positive way. – Marie

 

When I had nothing more to lose, I was given everything. When I ceased to be who I am, I found myself. When I experienced humiliation and you kept on walking, I understood that I was free to choose my destiny. Perhaps there’s something wrong with me, I don’t know, perhaps my marriage was a dream I couldn’t understand while it lasted. All I know is that even though I can live without her, I would still like to see her again, to say what I never said when we were together: I love you more than I love myself. If I could say that, then I could go on living, at peace with myself because that love has redeemed me.

 

You often said that absolute freedom doesn’t exist; what does exist is the freedom to choose anything you like and then commit yourself to that decision. – Marie

 

That is the Mongolian creation myth: out of two different natures love is born. In contradiction, love grows in strength. In confrontation and transformation, love is preserved. – Mikhail

 

As Dante wrote in the Divine Comedy, ‘The day that man allows true love to appear, those things which are well made will fall into confusion and will overturn everything we believe to be right and true. – Mikhail

 

Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost confused. – Mikhail

 

If someone capable of loving his partner without restrictions, unconditionally, then he is manifesting the love of God. If the love of God becomes manifest, he will love his neighbour. If he loves his neighbour, he will love himself. If he loves himself, then everything returns to its proper place. History changes. – Mikhail

 

Don’t be afraid; the only way to avoid that suffering would be to refuse love.

 

Do you know what I’d like to know? I’d like to know if you love me as much as I love you. But I don’t have the courage to ask. – Marie

 

You want to know is the heart of a man or woman is can contain enough love for more than one person?

 

Well, I’m going to fight for you anyway, because I think you are worth it. Any man capable of loving a woman as much as you loved – or love – Esther deserves all my respect and all my efforts. – Marie

 

No one asks themselves that: Why am I unhappy? The question carries with it the virus that will destroy everything. If we ask that question, it means we want to find out what makes us happy. If what makes us happy is different from what we have now, then we must either change once and for all or stay as we are, feeling even more unhappy.

 

I believe in signs. I believe in fate. I believe that every single day people are offered the chance to make the best possible decision about everything they do.

 

It is always important to know when something has reached its limit. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn’t matter what you call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over. Slowly, I begin to realize that I could not go back and force things to be as they were: these two years, which up until then had seemed an endless inferno, were now beginning to show me their true meaning.

 

He died while he was still alive.

 

If a lie is repeated often enough, it ends up convincing everyone.

 

If they said they haven’t done what they wanted, then, at some point, they must have known what it was that they did want.

 

There is just one thing: as those spaces grow, it is important to fill them up quickly, even if only provisionally, so as not to let be left with a feeling of emptiness.

 

That is why it is important to let certain things go. To release them. To cut loose. People need to understand that no one is playing with marked cards; sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Don’t expect to get anything back, don’t expect recognition for your efforts, don’t expect your genius to be discovered or your love to be understood. Complete the circle. Not out of pride, inability, or arrogance, but simply because whether it is longer fits in your life. Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust. Stop being who you were and become who you are.

 

The acomodador or the giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappointment in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on.

 

Love is only a small thing, enough for one person, and any suggestion that the heart might be larger than this is considered perverse.

 

I was not I, I was nothing – and that seemed quite marvellous.

 

If you’re a nobody, if your work has no impact, then it deserves to be praised. If, however, you climb out of this state of mediocrity and are a success, then you’re defying the law and deserve to be punished.

 

Well, I fought and I lost, and now I’ll just have to lick my wounds and leave – Marie

 

I suffer every day, did you know that? I’ve been suffering for months now, trying to show you how much I love you, how things are only important when you’re by my side. But now, whether I suffer or not, I’ve decided that enough is enough. It’s over. I’m tired. I lowered my guard and said to myself: If the blow comes, it comes. It can lay me out on the canvas, it can knock me out cold, but one day I’ll recover. – Marie

 

I had to lose her in order to understand that the taste of the things recovered is the sweetest honey we will ever know.

 

In the words of a Persian sage: Love is a disease no one wants to get rid of. Those who catch it never try to get better, and those who suffer it do not wish to be cured.

 

Suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way we imagine we want to be loved, and not in the way that love should manifest itself – free and untrammelled, guiding us with its force and driving us on.