Deciding on the Destinies of Others
Malba Tahan tells the story of a man who met an angel in the desert and gave him water.
“I am the angel of death and I came to get you,” said the angel. “But as you were kind, I will lend you the Book of Destiny for five minutes; you may change what you want.”
The angel gave the man the book. As he was leafing through its pages, the man began reading about the lives of his neighbors. And he got discontented,
“These people don’t deserve such nice things,” he said. With the pen in hand, he began worsening the lives of each one.
Finally, he reached the page of his destiny. He saw his tragic end, but as he prepared to change it, the book disappeared. Five minutes had already passed.
And right there, the angel took the man’s soul.
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Decidindo o destino alheio
Malba Tahan conta a história de um homem que encontrou um anjo no deserto, e lhe deu água.
“Sou o anjo da morte e vim buscá-lo”, disse o anjo. “Mas como você foi bom, vou lhe emprestar o Livro do Destino por cinco minutos; você pode alterar o que quiser”.
O anjo entregou o livro. Ao folhear suas páginas, o homem foi lendo a vida dos seus vizinhos. Ficou descontente: “estas pessoas não merecem coisas tão boas”, pensou. De caneta em punho, começou piorar a vida de cada um.
Finalmente, chegou na página de seu destino. Viu seu final trágico, mas quando preparava-se para mudá-lo, o livro sumiu. Já se tinham passado cinco minutos.
E o anjo, ali mesmo, levou a alma do homem.
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Decidiendo el destino ajeno
Malba Tahan cuenta la historia de un hombre que encontró un ángel en el desierto, y le dio agua.
-Soy el ángel de la muerte y he venido a buscarte- dijo el ángel -. Pero como has sido bondadoso, voy a dejarte prestado el Libro del Destino durante cinco minutos. Puedes alterar lo que quieras en él.
El ángel le entregó el libro. Al hojear sus páginas, el hombre fue leyendo la vida de sus vecinos. No le gustó lo que vio: “Estas personas no se merecen cosas tan buenas”, pensó. Pluma en mano, se dedicó a empeorar la vida de cada uno de ellos.
Por último, llegó a la página de su destino. Leyó su trágico final y, cuando se disponía a cambiarlo, el libro desapareció. Los cinco minutos ya habían concluido.
En ese mismo instante, el ángel se llevó el alma de aquel hombre.
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Una società che ha perso l’umanità
Credo che ci vorrebbe un angelo per farci aprire gli occhi
Tra di noi ci sono quelli che hanno un barlume di coscienza ma questo è poco Non possiamo fare altro che persistere e sperare che un giorno riusciamo a svegliarci da questa aberrazione
5 minutes: the speed of a lifetime, however long or short. Use them wisely, I remind myself.
I believe in this many people notices others much more than themselves.
Fantastic story.
Life is to be lived not survived and you survive by helping and beeing helped by others. We try to change so many things but the first thing is to look inwards and starting to change what you see that you do not like.
So true…….we shall never compare our lives to others and moreover never concentrate on their lives, as it distract us from our path/destiny.
He should have utilized those 5 mins wisely on his destiny rather than harboring negative emotions and being jealous with his neighbours.
Hallo mr Coelho :) That’s very true, what You wrote to us. Better is, if each of us will to take care of yourself without to try change life others poeple.
With regards Halina
A brilliant way to show how important time that we have. hope we can use our time as best as we wish the best for our life. Bravo mr. Coelho.
malgastamos nuestras vidas mejorando o empeorando las vidas de los demás y nos olvidamos de nosotros mismo, extraviamos nuestro camino extraviando el de los demás, la ausencia de virtud divina nos ciega, solo despertamos el dia que morimos.
A veces tenemos la rara oportunidad de descubrir como son realmente las personas que nos rodean, y aunque esto nos cause decepcion cuando no son lo que aparentaban ser, debemos agradecer las circunstancias que nos llevaron a ese entendimiento y seguir adelante; no podemos darnos el lujo de dar cabida a algun sentimiento que nos impida crecer como seres humanos, hay que continuar en el camino siendo fiel a nuestros ideales y nuestros sueños, cada cual recibira aquello que ha sembrado y para lo que se ha programado en sus pensamientos, siempre con fé en Dios y confiando en sus designios.
Hay gente que viven la vida queriendo hacer dano, no viven su propia vida y no quieren dejar vivir a los demas. Nadie sabe la cruz que otra persona carga consigo misma.
Por eso no gasto mi energia en criticas negativas, reflexiono en lo dicho mas no dejo que cambie mi vida u camino de otra manera estaria cargando con esa persona negativismo.
wow…how is it that every time, every single time, I read what you have shared it is the exact moment I needed to hear those words?!! Thank you for your wisdom. I always ask God to show me a sign, the sign is here in these words telling me to be thankful, be mindful of what I have, not worry about others except to help them rather than envy them. Thank you.
Ensinamentos sempre tão sábios !O anjo da Morte circula por todos os locais e vai ceifando as vidas já vividas ou aquelas que mal despontaram.Faz parte da mortalidade do ser humano terminar o seu tempo!Quando? pois eis o mistério…Nessa ignorância do quando,somos descuidados e muitas vezes escolhemos os caminhos sinuosos,onde foram semeadas as ervas daninhas:a inveja,a mesquinhez, a vingança e perdemos o tempo da vida-destino ,usando-as.O espírito fica entretido com falsos interesses e quando nos libertamos é tarde.O nosso momento passou! Já não podemos entoar a canção da Vida e muito menos a da Salvação.«PARA tudo há um momento e um tempo,para cada coisa que se deseja debaixo do céu…Livro do Eclesiaste»
if this describes life then it’s kids play!!
i thought understanding life was harder than this. there’s room for improvement always and as long as that persists, i don’t think we really can get things in definite.
Dear Paulo,
The story has a very good lesson in it.. but i wonder why a kind man (like how the angel described him) would want to be so cruel to change other people’s destiny to worst?
The angel was wrong about him?
Are people like this? No idea, certainly not in principle. I hope I’m not. I think it’s nice to be happy with others. I remember a story about destiny. I’ve read it someday in a book. I can not remember the author. I quote the story out of my head.
A man was unhappy with his destiny. So he went into a church to pray.
“Lord, why have you given me such a heavy cross to bear. It’s unfair. Of all the people I have to suffer the most.”
His words reached the ears of a holy statue, which awoke to life.
“Why are you whining like that? How can I help you?”
“Oh, you have no idea how I am suffering. Please help me. My life is so hard. Of all the people my cross is the heaviest.”
“It must surely be a misunderstanding. I’ll help you.”
The saint took his hand and brought him to a strange place. All crosses of all people were there.
“Everyone must bear a cross. Pick that cross which you want. But this cross you must bear the rest of your life.”
Happily, the man looked around and went straight to a very small cross. But he could not lift it, it was too heavy. He went to the next cross. Even this was small. When he touched it long thorns pricked into his skin, the blood flowed down his hand and it was even heavier than the first. Which cross he chose, he could raise none. Time passed and he became increasingly desperate. But then, he wanted to give up already, he found one. It was a perfect fit. He was full of joy.
“This one I choose. It’s the lightest I’ve found.”
“Well then let’s go”, said the saint.
When they were back in the church the man asked:
“Have I something to fear, because I have chosen such an easy cross?”
“No. Do you not recognize it? Look at the name that is on it.”
The man looked up and found his name on it, because he had chosen his cross, the cross he had always worn.
I wish you all a wonderful evening
Yea, we all thinks about others more than ourselves. we judge them, rather than watching our own deeds and judge ourselves instead.
Great wisdom
hey paulo,
iam roman , and iam from israel .
just wanted to let you know many people in israel are reading your book’s , i did read i think one them , wich is the alchemist . i think its a great story book.
well since i know your facebook fan page its easy for me to read more stuff you write , i bascily speak and read hebrew and your books as i know translated also to the hebrew languge. somtimes i wonder how wonderful is to have tap that gives us water directly to our apartments in this day’s. insted of us going to the river to bring it. i guess this is how it is with your uniq kind of writing it comes directly to our pc screens and it’s lot of fun to read it (: thanks for sharing – i think this story will remind me to stay kind even that somtimes my life feel like roler coster and i dont feel like be kind to other’s . well have a nice day man .
¿Quién soy yo para interferir en la vida de nadie?
¿Quién soy yo para desear el mal a nadie?
No desear ningún mal a nadie, ni siquiera envidiar… es perder el tiempo.
Y con respecto a los hijos y a las hijas, leí: gracias hija, gracias hijo, por haberos metido en mi vida.
Its a full time job ..keeping the focus on myself!!
Love
Breda
Better late than never! I think it is better we change only one mistake of our life, tha we try worsing people’s life. Our time is very precious, and we must not waste it.
I just woke up when i read this article…It made me smile and thankful for all the experience shared with others.Be it good or bad. Thanks Mr.Coelho you are really exceptional…
dear paoulo m one like millions who r waiting your books and every word u write,but i have to make sure that u know about the photo u use in this page,it have an Arabic writing and its from the holy Quraan which says about the belivers who give charity to the people in need ,for me its not really connected to the subject m reading so i have to make sure u know this ,,,, THANKS
Better late than never! I think it better to change only one mistake of our life, than we try worsening people’s life. Our time is very precious, we must not waste it.
it is just super we all learn from this fabuleous lessen.
i wish i could meet you 1 day then i would be able to thank you very much & thank your parents who braught you up
this is a fantastic story we all learn from it.sir you are magical,you have your own way how to tell people in an easy&effective way.thank you 10000000000000000times&specially,many thanks to ur father&mother who braught you up.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How very short is our life! People think they have very long time to live and to do everything, but they have very short time for doing the right things, day past day they spend life waiting for a magic moment, they hope their life’ll change, but they grew old and they often are unhappy, they have not love that they dreamed, they have not success, they are not rich, they have nothing that they wished,so that they think that their life’s failure is fault of others, of their “neighbors”, but they never fought, they never believed theirselves, they hoped their life’ll change without doing nothing, they think others are lucky and don’t deserve their destiny, they get discontented so that they begin worsing life of other persons,instead they begin improving their own life, at this time they can’t change anything, they think it is very late, but better late than never!
el hombre por naturaleza es egoista,hay dos mandamientos que da dios y es amaras al señor tu dios con todo tu corazon con toda tu mente y toda tu alma y amaras a tu projimo como a ti mismo si obedecemos pues nadie tendria problemas con nadie
A lo largo de la vida puedes elejir.decidir, reaccionar, planear y hasta cambiar …al final de la linea es probable Que solo se le recuerda por la forma en que invirtio Su vida y sobretodo sus acciones
Gracias por este recordatorio a la forma de gastar la vida
Say hello :)
Today I finished with reading a book – Aleph. I am exciting – this book is so beautiful :) I don´t find the right words, which I can describe it.
I find the part of myself in this book and I thank you. My life discovered a sun and now is shining again :)
Thank you :)
really so wise story.. tells how a person always ruins his life & lose his Opportunities by always wasting his time looking for the green grass on the other side of the fence , instead of just trying to take care of his own garden .
the time a person wasting on ruining other people’s gardens can be used wisely in improving his own life ..
i really loved the story .. big lessons in small words :D
thank you so much Paulo :D
We should work on ourselves and avoid judging others.
Todos los dias tenemos algo nuevo que aprender, pero nos volvemos unos disimulados viendo la vida de otros, y asi transcurre la vida misma; cuando nos pregunten: que fue lo que mas nos gusto de nosotros mismos ? Que responderemos? Que aprendimos de nuestra vida aqui en la tierra? Que reaponderemos?
Porque estoy segura que nos preguntaran sobre nuestra vida y nuestros sentimientos ;no por los de los de mas!!
Love !!!
Esto es algo que debemos cambiar dentro de nosotros, nos dedicamos gran parte de nuestra vida a criticar, envidiar y desear a otras personas males porque les va bien o mejor que a nosotros… no hay envidia buena, la envidia es envidia. Seamos más humanos y preocupémonos por los demás, para que al momento de tener la oportundiad de ver el libro de la vida, nos alegremos por el bien ajeno… Empecemos a preocuparnos más por nosotros mismos.
In the end…none can change his/her destiny.
First of all, I don’t not understand the purpose of the photo … the photo showing some writing from the Islam Holly Book “Quran Kareem” …. anyway, the Quran is with candles indicate its lighting our life … our destiny is written but we can change it by good work …. the moral of this story is that we do not need to keep ourselve busy with other people desity … we need to focus more on what we do … and how that effect our lives and others too …
Who was that man…was it you are was he me.
Salve Paulo;
Moral da história: Cuidado com os privilégios concedidos por anjos irresponsáveis. Pode ferrar com a vida de outros e a sua.
Abs.
What the world needs now !!!
in other words, mind your own business and let others do the same..because time is scarce. *what you beleieve is real.for you.*
Specifically for those kinds of individuals who enjoy eating for someone Else’s plate instead of finishing they’re own ….the world is full of these kinds of individuals, who prefer stopping living they’re own lives to enjoy other people’s affairs and I’ve been totally running far away from these individuals all my life they’re every where brothers!!! pray for them from the distance and get your self as far u can !!!! the only one who can decide about your destiny is yourself !!! and the best u can do about it is bless these people from the distance !!!!! is the only way !!! pray for every 1 !!! and treat others as u would like to be treated respecting other people’s space … love is the base of everything if u love your neighbor u respect and u try to help with a heart full of love and understanding without expecting nothing cause this all about love !!!
Hey Paulo.. You know what? You’re Ammmmmmmazing… every word from you contain a lesson.. You’re just WOW.. =>
wow! good one…several universal truths with this one…karma, do not wish bad on another as it will come back to get you. 2)do not spend so much time changing or trying to change the lives of others and not tending to your own 3)when death comes knocking at the door, or life sends you a message to look at where you are in your journey, a wake up call so to speak, or a reality check…dont waste any time, get on it now…definitely do not be wasting time on others when you need to be focused on saving yourself…
Brilliant short tale carrying the truth to come from the very beginning of our existence.
Thank you
I know myself and what i like,but don’t understand ones to waste precious time on other people’s lives;if they do so, what amazing change would be to start thinking about sharing beautiful feelings and things with each other,that is why a glorious book has written a long time ago,and we still keep it in our hands.
išvada: negalima neigiamai kištis į kitų likimus. :)
…jajajaja…espera…jajajaja…ese hombre se reencarno, no aprendió nada, es mi vecino…disculpa, es que no me puedo contenerme…por su próxima oportunidad!…chin…chin…yo brindo…;)
Una bonita ensenanza, de que debemos leer con detenimiento todo, estudiarlo y no hacer mal a nadie, pues, todo vuelve al lugar de origen. Esto me encanto. Mis respetos a usted Don Paulo Coelho.
Gracias por la enseñanza. Aveces pensamos que viviendo la vida de las demás personas vamos a estar bien. Pero al final del camino no es así. Por eso tenemos que buscar dentro de nuestros corazones y vivir nuestras vidas. Gracias Señor Pablo
SI hubiera dedicado esos 5 minutos a ree-escribir su destino podria haber vivido mejor sus ultimos años…
A veces estamos en la dependencia de otras vidas y no nuestra propia vida, si quieres cambiar a alguien cambia tu mismo
cuídate amigo
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