Daily Archive for October 13th, 2008

Contemplating the desert

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Stories
. 6 Comments

Paulo Coelho

Three people passing in a small caravan saw a man contemplating the late afternoon in the Sahara desert, from the top of a mountain.

- It must be a shepherd who has lost a sheep - said the first.

- No, I don’t think he’s looking for anything, much less at sunset, when the view is hazy. I think he’s waiting for a friend.

- I guarantee that’s a holy man, and is looking for enlightenment, - commented the third.

They began to talk about what the man was doing, and became so engrossed in the discussion that they almost fought over it. Finally, in order to resolve the matter, they decided to climb the mountain and go to the man.

- Are you looking for your sheep? - asked the first.

- No, I have no flock.

- Then you are surely waiting for someone - said the second.

- I’m a lonely man who lives in the desert - was the answer.

- Since you live in the desert in solitude, you must be a saint searching for God’s signs, and are meditating! - said the third man, delighted.

- Does everything on Earth have to have an explanation? Then I shall explain: I am merely looking at the sunset. Is that not enough to give sense to our lives?

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Image of the Day : The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Image of the Day
. 9 Comments

Quote of the Day

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Quotes
. 12 Comments

By Paulo Coelho

Whenever we need to make an important decision, it is best to trust impulse and passion, because reason usually tries to remove us from our dream, saying that the time is not yet right. Reason is afraid of defeat, but intuition enjoys life and its challenges.
(Acceptance speech delivered to the Brazilian Academy of Letters)

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Today’s Question by the reader : Jasmine

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Q&A
. 13 Comments

Here’s my question to you - As an author that writes about his belief in Jesus through his stories, tell me how do you believe in no good or bad or no right or wrong, but sees them more as choices.

I do believe in ONE law of ethics, and it happens to be not a Christian, but a Jewish one: don’t do to your neighbour what you don’t want your neighbour to do to you. If everybody would follow this only and simple sentence, the world would be better. (The Christians say: “love your neighbour as you love yourself - but sometimes either we don’t love ourselves, or we try to impose our values to our neighbours).

Your Opinion on : Will books survive?

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Your Opinion On
. 112 Comments

Will books survive? 

This week I’m will be at the Frankfurt Book fair - which is the most important book event there is- since I was invited to open it on the 14th of October. There will be a press conference on the opening day and on the 15th I will throw a party where most of you will be present through the pictures you sent to the virtual exhibition and also with your hearts.

Given this context, this week I want your opinion on the following matter: will books survive?
This is the question that the book fair is raising and in my speech I say that books will not disappear since there is free content flowing on the net. Said this, many fear sharing content while I think that a solution can be reached in which publishers, authors and agents will agree upon. In my eyes, the wrong way is to be greedy and consider that content shouldn’t be shared and that internauts are mainly pirates. My speech - that will be posted here tomorrow - talks about this: that there are no pirates in internet but people eager to share content.

So I want you to share your ideas on books, free content and on what’s going to happen in this new context.

As you know, I’m a strong supporter of contents for free (with Pirate Coelho and Internet Books) and therefore I’m eager to hear your opinion on this subject. Since there will be more than one press conference in Frankfurt, I’m planning to access my blog and share your views with the journalists at the fair.

Thank you for your support.

Weekly Free Association : The Rose

Published
by
Paulo Coelho
on October 13, 2008
in Free Associations
. 51 Comments

For the ancient Greeks, the rose originated from the death of Adonis, the lover of Aphrodite (Venus). It was believed that his blood made the very first red roses. Since then, roses became the symbol of love, able to overcome death and announcing reincarnation.

In other words, the process of psychic initiation that is described by this story indicates that after the death of the ego and the descent into hell, the rose symbolizes the possibility of spiritual rebirth under the compassionate eye of God. But this love reveals itself through the goddess. No wonder then that Christianity attributed the symbol of the rose to the Virgin Mary.

The rose also symbolizes discretion given that during dyonisiac parties, the guests were invited to use rose crowns that were believed to prevent them of getting drunk. From this belief came the expression “sub rosa” in Latin that means – “under silence”.

Now you take the floor, what do you associate with the rose?

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