Paulo Coelho

Loyalty can be compared to a shop selling exquisite porcelain vases, a shop to which Love has given us the key.
Each of those vases is beautiful because it is different, as is every person, every drop of rain, every rock sleeping on the mountainside.

Sometimes, due to age or some unsuspected defect, a shelf collapses and falls. And the shop-owner says to himself:
‘I invested years of my time and my love on this collection, but the vases have betrayed me and broken.’
The man sells his shop and leaves. He becomes a solitary, embittered individual, believing that he will never trust anyone again.

It’s true that some vases do break – a promise of loyalty broken. In that case, it’s best to sweep up the pieces and throw them away, because what was broken will never be the same again.
But sometimes the reasons why a shelf collapses and falls go beyond mere human intentions: it could be an earthquake, an enemy invasion, clumsiness on the part of someone who enters the shop without looking where he is going.

Men and women blame each other for the disaster. They say: ‘Someone should have foreseen what was going to happen.’ Or: ‘If I had been in charge, these problems could have been avoided.’
Nothing could be further from the truth. We are all prisoners of the sands of time, and we have no control over them.

Time passes and the shelf that fell gets mended.

Other vases fighting for their place in the world are put there. The new shop-owner, who understands that nothing lasts, smiles and says to himself: ‘That tragedy opened up an opportunity for me and I will try to make the most of it. I will discover works of art I never even knew existed.’

taken from THE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN ACCRA