Great Throughts Treasury

"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."

"That if you really want something, the whole universe will surely come together to help."

"Terror, terror, terror. Life was a reign of terror, in the shadow of the guillotine."

"That is what marks out the warrior: the knowledge that willpower and courage are not the same thing. Courage can attract fear and adulation, but willpower requires patience and commitment. Men and women with immense willpower are generally solitary types and give off a kind of coolness. Many people mistakenly think that (they) are cold (people) when nothing could be further from the truth."

"That is the most common excuse, and the most foolish of all. Love has never prevented a man from following his dreams. If she truly loves you, she will want the best for you."

"That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it."

"That is why I write - to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance."

"That is why embittered people find heroes and madmen a perennial source of fascination, for they have no fear of life or death. Both heroes and madmen are indifferent to danger and will forge ahead regardless of what other people say."

"That is what the forest taught me. That you will never be mine, and that is why I will never lose you...I will always remember you, and you will remember me, just as we will remember the evening, the rain on the window, and all the things we'll always have because we cannot possess them"

"That?s the way it is. People can?t cope with happiness."

"That?s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

"That's all anyone has, and it's always brief, although, of course, some people believe they have a past where they can accumulate things and a future where they will accumulate still more. By the way, speaking of the present moment, do you masturbate a lot?"

"That the truest experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it."

"That is why it is so 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 whatever it is no 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."

"That was the glory of man - to nurture and maintain knowledge."

"That was a matter suspended between heaven and earth, awaiting the hand of destiny."

"That there is no need for iron to be the same as copper, or copper the same as gold. Each preforms its own exact function as a unique being, and everything would be a symphony of peace."

"That?s simple, says the old man. They are the prisoners of their personal history. Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things, other people's ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams."

"That was what made traveling appeal to him?he always made new friends, and he didn?t need to spend all of his time with them. When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person?s life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn?t what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

"That's what distinguishes the warrior to know that the courage and the will are not one, can attract courage and fear of excessive flattery, but madder will necessitate patience and commitment."

"That's because you, like everyone else on this planet, believe that time will teach you to draw closer to God. But the time did not know; all it does is cities with a sense of fatigue and aging."

"The absolute freedom does not exist, so there is the freedom to choose whatever appeals to you then abide by your decision."

"The absence of the personal story: in order for magical rites to pass from generation to generation, the sorcerer (shaman) must forget all he learned before his initiation into magic. According to tradition, a man or women who are tied to his past, will in the end allow himself to be governed by his parents? way of thinking, or that of the society in which he lives. This is why all those who are initiated choose a new name and seek to free themselves from their memories, both good and bad."

"That's how love got lost ... when we started laying down rules for when love should or shouldn't appear."

"That's why I mourn, when swallowed grain wanted to kill someone I hate. I did not know that the other exists inside me Veronica, Veronica could love her."

"That's what the world is like: people talk as if they knew everything, but if you dare to ask a question, they don't know anything."

"That's because like everyone else on the planet, you believed that time would teach you to grow closer to God. But time doesn't teach; it merely brings us a sense of weariness and of growing older."

"That's the way the human heart. People are afraid of pursuing their dreams are important, because they feel they are not entitled to receive it, or that they were not able to reach it. We, their hearts, become daunted just thinking about loved ones who would go on forever, or of moments that should have been good but were not, or of treasures that might have been found but it should be buried in the ground forever. Because, when these things happen, we suffer."

"That's what we're looking for is always in our sight, just look around carefully and intently to discover where God wants to lead us, and which way is best to go."

"The aim of every human being is to understand the meaning of total love."

"The adrenaline and stress of an adventure are better than a thousand peaceful days."

"The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus."

"The art of love is like your painting, it requires technique, patience, and above all, practice by the couple. It requires boldness, the courage to go beyond what people conventionally call making love."

"The angel said: God listens to the prayers of those who keep asking their hatred, but ignores those who wish to escape from love."

"The art of sex is the art of controlled abandon."

"The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus."

"The awareness of death encourages us to live."

"The all-powerful Zahir seemed to be born with every human being and to gain full strength in childhood, imposing rules that would thereafter always be respected: People who are different are dangerous; they belong to another tribe; they want our lands and our women. We must marry, have children, reproduce the species. Love is only a small thing, enough for one person, and any suggestion that the heart might be larger than this may seem perverse. When we are married we are authorized to take possession of the other person, body and soul. We must do jobs we detest because we are part of an organized society, and if everyone did what they wanted to do, the world would come to a standstill. We must buy jewelry; it identifies us with our tribe. We must be amusing at all times and sneer at those who express their real feelings; it's dangerous for a tribe to allow its members to show their feelings. We must at all costs avoid saying no because people prefer those who always say yes, and this allows us to survive in hostile territory."

"The Arousal of Intuition: Make a puddle of water on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. Look into the puddle for a while. Then, begin to play with it, without any particular commitment or objective. Make designs that mean absolutely nothing. Do this exercise for a week, allowing at least ten minutes each time. Don?t look for practical results from this exercise; it is simply calling up your intuition, little by little. When this intuition begins to manifest itself at other times of the day, always trust in it. (The Water Exercise)"

"The best way to prepare for a challenge is to cultivate the ability to call on an infinite variety of responses."

"The best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us. This doesn't mean that we should do what others expect us to do, but it helps us to understand ourselves better."

"The best way to weaken one's enemy was to get him to believe that you were on his side."

"The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader."

"The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader. That's why we go to movies and say, Oh, the book is better."

"The boat is safer anchored at the port; but that?s not the aim of boats."

"The Blue Sphere Exercise: Seat yourself comfortably, and relax. Try not to think about anything. 1. Feel how good it is to be alive. Let your heart feel free and affectionate; let it rise above and beyond the details of the problems that may be bothering you. Begin to sing softly a song from your childhood. Imagine that your heart is growing, filling the room ? and later your home ? with an intense, shining blue light. 2. When you reach this point, begin to sense the presence of the saints (or other beings) in which you placed your faith when you were a child. Notice that they are present, arriving from everywhere, smiling and giving you faith and confidence. 3. Picture the saints approaching you, placing their hands on your head and wishing you love, peace, and communion with the world ? the communion of the saints.4. When this sensation becomes strong, feel that the blue light is a current that enters you and leaves you like a shining, flowing river. This blue light begins to spread through your house, then through your neighborhood, your city, and your country; it eventually envelops the world in an immense blue sphere. This is the manifestation of the great love that goes beyond the day-today struggle; it reinforces and invigorates, as it provides energy and peace. 5. Keep the light spread around the world for as long as possible. Your heart is open, spreading love. This phase of the exercise should last for a minimum of five minutes. 6. Come out of your trance, bit by bit, and return to reality. The saints will remain near. The blue light will continue to spread around the world. This ritual can and should be done with more than one person. When this is the case, the participants should hold hands while they do the exercise."

"The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other."

"The boy began to wind envied their freedom has realized that he could become a free like that; nothing prevents him about it except for himself in particular."

"The boy could see in his father's gaze a desire to be able, himself, to travel the world?a desire that was still alive, despite his father's having had to bury it, over dozens of years, under the burden of struggling for water to drink, food to eat, and the same place to sleep every night of his life."

"The boy didn't know what a Personal Legend was. 'It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend."