For the uninitiated, Aleph is a book by Paulo Coelho.
On this page I've shared some of my favourite quotes from the book.
But before I do that I'd like to defend Paulo Coelho. I've just unsuccessfully spent a few minutes searching for a particular quote I read a while ago. However, I did read a few articles about the man and his writing.
It appears he's not afraid of stating his opinions, and, as with all outspoken people, he's the subject of criticism.
What I read a some time ago talked about Paulo dispensing "cheap philosophy". It reminds me of the Scottish Artist Jack Vettriano who is also lampooned by art critics for his "poor form" and "lack of artist talent".
The simple fact is that we, "the masses", love them both. They are both incredibly successful.
From "Aleph":
About our pasts and our problems:
On this page I've shared some of my favourite quotes from the book.
But before I do that I'd like to defend Paulo Coelho. I've just unsuccessfully spent a few minutes searching for a particular quote I read a while ago. However, I did read a few articles about the man and his writing.
It appears he's not afraid of stating his opinions, and, as with all outspoken people, he's the subject of criticism.
What I read a some time ago talked about Paulo dispensing "cheap philosophy". It reminds me of the Scottish Artist Jack Vettriano who is also lampooned by art critics for his "poor form" and "lack of artist talent".
The simple fact is that we, "the masses", love them both. They are both incredibly successful.
From "Aleph":
- The world is being created and destroyed in this very moment.
- Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace; I came with a sword.
- Expend your energies and you will remain young. Tao Te Ching
- .. don’t be intimidated by other people’s opinions. Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks and do what you really want to do.
About our pasts and our problems:
- .. they clog your mind and slow you down..
- If you rely only on experience, you’ll simply keep applying old solutions to new problems.
- It takes a huge effort to free yourself from memory, but when you succeed, you start to realise that you’re capable of far more than you imagined.
- You think you’re the same person you were when you started reading this, but you’re not. [paraphrased]
- .. we become imprisoned by our memories, and that makes our lives wretched, even when we have everything we need in order to be happy.
- The simplest and most sophisticated thing I experienced [in Japan] was drinking tea.
- Let us concentrate all our efforts on achieving Perfection through the imperfect gestures of everyday life.
- Suffering comes from desire, not from pain.
- I decided to go off travelling.. because everything around me was threatening to stagnate.
- We became the slaves of memory.
- Two weeks? What’s that in a whole life-time? Nothing has changed in the street, the neighbours are still gossiping about the same old things, the newspaper you bought this morning carries exactly the same news; the debate over whether Iran should be allowed to have nuclear weapons, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the latest celebrity scandal, the constant complaints about things the government has promised to do, but hasn’t.
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