Paulo Coelho

Stories & Reflections

10 sec reading: stay in the desert

Author: Paulo Coelho

Illustration by Ken Crane

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EN ESPANOL: Quedarse en el desierto
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“Why do you live in the desert?”

“Because I can’t be what I want to be.
” When I begin to be myself, people treat me with a reverence that’s false.
“When I am true to my faith, then they begin to doubt.
“They all believe they are holier than I, but they pretend they are sinners, afraid to insult my solitude.
“They try all the time to show that they consider me a saint, and in this way they become emissaries of the devil, tempting me with Pride.”

And the gentleman answered, walking off:

“Acting in this way, it’s better to stay in the desert. Your problem isn’t trying to be who you are, but trying to be accepted by everybody in the way you think you should be accepted”

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