EN ESPANOL CLICAR AQUI: Puercoespines
EM PORTUGUES CLICAR AQUI: Os Porcos-Espinhos
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During the Ice Age many animals died because of the cold. Seeing this situation, the porcupines decided to group together, so they wrapped up well and protected one another.
But they hurt one another with their thorns, and so then they decided to stay apart from one another.
They started to freeze to death again.
So they had to make a choice: either they vanished from the face of the earth or they accepted their neighbor’s thorns.
They wisely decided to stay together again. They learned to live with the small wounds that a very close relationship could cause, because the most important thing was the warmth given by the other.
And in the end they survived.
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You should make a book with your collected stories and illustrations by Ken Crane.
…but I guess you have this already in your mind.
The porcupines here look more like hedgehogs (sorry, but the biologist and teacher in me could not ignore this fact), nevertheless the illustrations of Ken Crane are wonderfully painted and coloured…
…and they have a subtile sense of humor. I love it!
I wish I had a calendar to take with me … every week a picture & on the back the story & funny comments that you guys made ….
carrying with me the blog on a working day :o)
Thank you, Monika!
I didn’t know the difference between hedghogs and porcupines.
I will check it out.
Well Paulo thats really an awsm story really touchin..
Paolo
What a wonderful story !
The Declaration of principles was so good !
I keep coming back to your blog and go back with a new lease of life.
Thanks is a too little word for you.
Hi! Thank you for this! It is exactly what we needed right now as friends and as brothers and sisters in Christ. ^_^ I will share this to others. Actually I just did.
Love you Paulo, you are answering all my question when i need the answers. You are definitely not God but you help me find him.
Just when I thought I couldn’t handle more hurt from a loved one and was about to cut them out of my life, I read this. Thank you
Appreciated
For me, a way of helping me is to see the other as who he or she is truly, to address myself to the soul, to see the soul, to develop Jesus’s sighting of people, events, etc … it helps me to stay there in relation and continue to let who I am become more and more the Warrior of Light.
Love, Jojo
I love it!
And this is indeed true.
A beautiful metaphorical story about one of the basic needs of humans. In Transactional Analysis (TA) it has been defined as Stroke. Stroke could be positive or negative. Positive such as Saying “Hello” to somebody and negative such as beating him. Both of them conditionally could help us to be alive. In some kind of relationships such as Games and Intimacy, we experience Stroke intensely. Anyway, beautiful story!
That’s so right
We want the same “distance” in our relationship
I really enjoyed dis story
I always like hapy ending story~!! I,m so happy with thi story.^^*
What a sweet story!!! I love it! ;)
great story,; like it; it’s to us as humans to contemplate ;;
thk u sir coelho, i do appreciate ur works a lot
Pois sãs estas feridas que causamos uns aos outros e o saber aceitar e perdoar aí chega o tal calor que é o amor que sara todas as feridas.
“I’d rather hurt than feel nothing at all!” …feels good to be reminded of that things don’t have to be perfect :)
tooo gud… very touching
but now a days ppl dont do tht…they want be on the safer side..want to save themselves at any cost…
like it ;; thk u
Paulo,
vorrei sapere gentilmente se tu leggi personalmente tutte le risposte di questo blog o se per te risponde qualcun altro. Grazie
i love
very nice!!!
Monika,
anch’io vorrei essere quello al centro con la tazza del thè, ma mi accontenterei anche di essere uno di quello lì attorno.
Purtroppo la SOLIDARIETA’ è una merce MOLTO RARA: la pretendiamo ma difficilmente siamo disposti a darla nella realtà. Ne parliamo tanto, ma questo ci rende ancora più colpevoli.
Naturalmente non mi riferivo alle tue parole che sono carine, ma alla situazione in generale.
Ho provato molte volte a chiedere solidarietà ed aiuto ma troppo spesso non mi è stato nemmeno risposto di NO. Somo stata semplicemente ignorata. Forse perchè è più facile parlare bene che agire bene.E’ così?
O remédio ruim que cura… aceitando todos com seus defeitos…
Tão difícil, mas necessário.
“peso sempre as coisas boas e as ruins , se as boas forem as mais pesadas, então valerá a pena continuar . Mas se as más forem as mais pesadas, valerá o dobro continuar …”
Enviado por uma grande amiga.
Bom Dia Paulo, maravilhoso post.
Carinhosamente,
Ale
A very simple way to explain how the humans beings have to live, accepting the wounds caused by other, but in peace together. I think we have to tell this history to ours little childs….
Pablo, do you write histories for childs?
Yes, the road to love is most of the time painful.
Or could it be that pain always leads to love?
Everyday when I come here to read this blog I find words written for me. I know they are not truly really meant to ME, just to ME, but I feel really glad that I have the chance to think about these things everyday reading this.
Accepting the thorns because of the warmth…well…then I must assume that if someone prefer to stay away from my thorns is because the warmth I gave was not enough to make him stay and stand the thorns? Or could it be that that person’s ability to suffer a little pain is less than others? :(
thats so lovely n beautiful…m touched…
thank u Mr coelho:)
beautiful and meaningful!
We have a campaign going on in our Country India ” Save The Tiger” I always say First we kill in our greed and fear and then we save this will soon happen for Human beings we do not tollerate each other because of various difference we are so unaccepting . If Variety is the Spice for Man then this Same Variety is the Essence Of God , we are supposed to love one and all for we all come from the same source why don’t we understand this simple truth . Thanks Paulo for this wonderful story I hope these little stories help everyone overcome their grudges .God Bless !!
So right. The same refers to people
so lovely but these days ppl have stopped enduring eachothers pain they like to be apart
agree .
wow..
Another version of this story tells that the porcupines found a certain distance to each other, not to far, not too close, and they called it politeness…
But Paolo’s version is better.
I want to be the one in the middle with the cup of tea.
that is not tea, its coffee dear, and I am holding it :-)
Where have you those cute images to your stories from?
A beautiful meassage wrapped in a beautiful story.. U are simply awesome!!!
simply beautiful………
Its a wonderful story, and very very cute picture…Thanks!!!
Much LOVe
Thank you, Alexandra!
Dear Prof, Love with all its wounds remains tbe best choice for our existence… And “They learned to live with the small wounds that a very close relationship could cause. because the most important thing was the warmth given by the the other”… It is a very, very touching story……. I looooooooove it………… You are amazing!
God bless you……………. Luv you!!!
sire jus ws curious to know do u read all d replies by ur admirers to ur wonderful work…… n even if u dnt reply to dis sire…..loads of luc to u ur wife fr d days months n years ahead………. keep smiling good noon .. :-) :-){hina,india}
so beautiful story.
It hurts but we have to stay but small wounds kill you internally slowly. Pain and internal satisfaction go side by side
its very much the same with us humans…
Survival of the fittest…. :-) love the story, paulo…thank u… :-)
it’s a new way of thinking about us and what do we want from this life. But the quistion after all i think, what do we want from this life that has been given to us? We have the decision in our hands. There are no right or wrong here we are the masters of our own faith and can chose it the way we want. The only diffrence we have from one another i think that some people know it and others will someday
Sometimes,in every relationship there comes an Ice Age.And you have to choose,either you survive or die there.But some thorns are sharper than knife and also it can kill you.Therefore you should remember,that noone can hurt you more than you let him…
This is my medicine…my wounds make me bulletproof, strong but also tolerant.
You have my admiration Mr. COELHO,hopfuly one day we meet.
this should be addressed to Koreans, cc the rest of the world.
a very good reminder for a porcupine like me… :-)
how many thorns you have, can you give me some :-)
rite..! :)
love the moral lesson of this short story…thank you for the inspiration…
Beautiful article. You explain simple things which seems critical, so clearly and perfectly. Hats off. One of my favorites.
My Goodness. Thank you Paulo, it’s the simplest explanation and yet very powerful. Very true, we all had our differences but it doesn’t mean that we can not co-exist. It’s just making us better when we learn from one another. I love this story the most.
Thank you very much. Mwah! Mwah!
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