A merchant asked his servant to go to the market to buy some pieces of cloth.
Upon reaching the market, the servant saw his own Death shopping at the store near him.
Terrified, he ran back to the merchant’s house.
“I have to leave now, “he said, almost crying. “I saw my death this morning in the market, and I have to escape. I will go to Bokhara, my village, to spend the weekend there. ”
The merchant accepts the plea of the servant, but is wary. He decides to go to the market, where he finds the Death of the servant.
“Wow, you frightened my employee,” said the merchant.
“He also frightened me ” replied Death. “I never expected to find him around here as I have an appointment with him in Bokhara. ”
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~ taken from a short story by John O’Hara
Maria:
“At every moment of our lives we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.”
“When we meet someone and fall in love, we have a sense that the whole universe is on our side… And yet if something goes wrong, there is nothing left! How is it possible for the beauty that was there only minutes before to vanish so quickly? Life moves very fast. It rushes from heaven to hell in a matter of seconds.”
“If I must be faithful to someone or something, then I have, first of all, to be faithful to myself.”
“If I’m looking for true love, I first have to get the mediocre love out of my systems.”
“Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally come to realize that nothing really belongs to them.”
“The art of sex is the art of controlled abandon.”
“Passion makes a person stop eating, sleeping, working, feeling at peace. A lot of people are frightened because, when it appears, it demolishes all the old things it finds in its path.”
“In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each of us responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.”
“The great aim of every human being is to understand the meaning of total love. Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person. The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.”
Pain and suffering are used to justify the one thing that brings only joy: love.
“Considering the way the world is, one happy day is almost a miracle.”
from the diary of Maria, the prostitute in ELEVEN MINUTES
Do you need a lot of time between books? Do you need time for a story to live in your imagination? (from Hadrian )
Actually, when I’m not writing I dedicate myself completely to live. I don’t seek stories or anything of the sort. I simply enable myself to be immersed in life – this way I know that somewhere along the line a novel will take hold. But I can’t force this.
Have you ever thought of writing a sequel for the Alchemist? (from Adam )
Have you ever thought of writing a sequel for the Alchemist? (from Adam )
No – for me a book has a beginning and an end. It has never crossed my mind to write a sequel to any of my books.
Are all the feelings that guide you through your books the same ones that resonate in your life? (from Paloma)
Are all the feelings that guide you through your books the same ones that resonate in your life? (from Paloma)
The feeling that guides me through my books is the need to share. In this perspective others are essential. As a writer I cannot write a book while being isolated from people. Books only emerge from this interaction.
“This desire to get something for nothing,” she said, “has been very costly" (Aleph)
The simple things are also the most extraordinary, but only the wise can see them
The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.
~ Paulo Coelho
“This desire to get something for nothing,” she said, “has been very costly" (Aleph)
The simple things are also the most extraordinary, but only the wise can see them
The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.
“I am willing to give up everything”, said the prince to the master. “Please accept me as your disciple.”
“How does a man choose his path?” asked the master.
“Through sacrifice,” answered the prince. “A path which demands sacrifice, is a true path.”
The master bumped into some shelves. A precious vase fell, and the prince threw himself down in order to grab hold of it. He fell badly and broke his arm, but managed to save the vase.
“What is the greater sacrifice: to watch the vase smash, or break one’s arm in order to save it?” asked the master.
“I do not know,” said the prince.
“Then how can you guide your choice for sacrifice? The true path is chosen by our ability to love it, not to suffer for it.”
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SINCERE REPENTANCE
The monk Chu Lai was beaten by a teacher who did not believe anything he said. However, the professor’s wife was a follower of Chu Lai, and demanded that her husband had to apologize to him.
Displeased, but without the courage to deny his wife’s wishes, the man went to the temple with her and murmured some words of repentance.
“I do not forgive you,” replied Chu Lai, “go back to work.”
The woman was horrified. “My husband is humiliated, and you were not generous!”
Displeased, but without the courage to deny his wife’s wishes, the man went to the temple with her and murmured some words of repentance.
“I do not forgive you,” replied Chu Lai, “go back to work.”
The woman was horrified. “My husband is humiliated, and you were not generous!”
And Chu Lai responded:
“Within my soul there is no rancor. But if he is not truly sorry, it is better for him to recognize now that he is mad at me. If I had accepted his apology, we would be creating a false state of harmony, and this would further increase the anger of your husband.”
“Within my soul there is no rancor. But if he is not truly sorry, it is better for him to recognize now that he is mad at me. If I had accepted his apology, we would be creating a false state of harmony, and this would further increase the anger of your husband.”
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