The Fifth Mountain, Paulo Coelho

- The act of living one's own destiny includes a series of stages that are far beyond our understanding, whose objective is always to take us back to the path of our personal legend - or to make us learn the lessons necessary to fulfill our own destiny

- Whenever I thought myself the absolute master of a situation, something would happen to cast me down. And the unavoidable happens at the very moment you feel secure and confident

- There are things that are ever brought into our lives to lead us back to the true path of our personal legend. Other things arise so we can apply all that we ave learned, and finally, some things come along to teach us, these teachings need not be linked to pain and suffering; discipline and attentiveness alone are enough

- The soul too, like plants, need a different kind of rain: hope, faith, a reason to live. When this doesn't come to pass, everything in the soul dies, even if the body went on living

- When a man journeys towards his destiny, often he is obliged to change paths. At other times the forces around him are too powerful and he is compelled to lay aside his courage and yield. all this is part of the apprenticeship. But no one can lose sight of what he desires. Even if there are moments when he believes that the world and the others are stronger. The secret is the: do not surrender

- Everything will happen as was written by the Lord. There are moments when tribulations occur in our lives, and we cannot avoid them. But they are there for some reason. What reason? That is a question we cannot answer before, or even during, the trials. Only when we have overcome them do we understand why they were there

- Every man has the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doesn't doubt himself is unworthy - for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commits the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision

- Becoming aware that oftentimes a man's fate has nothing to do with what he believes or fears. He feels calm and confident knowing that whatever the outcome might be, there was a reason that all of this had come to pass

- The Lord hears the prayers of those who ask to put aside hatred. But he is deaf to those who would flee from love

- What is a prophet? He is someone who goes on listening to the same voices he heard as a child. And still believes in them. In this way, he can know the angels' thoughts. He never forgets , even if adults call it foolishness. That way you will always know God's will. Prophets do not know the future. They only transmit the words that the Lord inspires in them at that present moment

- Life is made not of desires but of the acts of each person. He recalled that several times in the past he had tried to renounce his mission, but he was still there, in the middle of that valley, because this that the Lord had demanded

- Nothing is a unique chance, the Lord gives men many opportunities.

- Everything in life demands training.It's not easy to listen: in our prayers we always try to say where we have erred, and what we should like to happen to us. But the Lord already knows all of this and sometimes asks us only to hear what the universe is telling us. And to be patient

- All life's battles teach us something, even those we lose. When you grow up, you'll discover that you have defended lies, deceived yourself, or suffered for foolishness. If you're a good warrior, you will not blame yourself for this, but neither will you allow your mistakes to repeat themselves

- A man must choose. Therein lies his strength: in the power of his decisions. He who makes no choice is dead in the eyes of the Lord

- There is no tragedy, only the unavoidable. Everything has its reason for being: you need only distinguish what is temporary from what is lasting. The temporary is the unavoidable, and the lasting is the lessons learned of the unavoidable

- Fear reaches only to the point where the unavoidable begins; from there on, it loses its meaning. And all we have left is the hope that we are making the right decision

A man who depends on the whether and the seasons manages to survive the unavoidable. He cares for his flock, treats each animal as if it were the only one, tries to help the mothers with their young, is never too far from a place where the animals can drink. Still, now and again one of the lambs to which he gave so much of himself dies in an accident. The unavoidable always happens. You need discipline and patience to overcome it. And hope. When that no longer exists, one can't waste his energy fighting against the impossible. It's not a question of hope in the future. It's a question of re-creating your own past

- If you have a past that dissatisfies you, forget it now. Imagine a new story of your life, and believe in it. Concentrate only on those moments in which you achieved what you desired, and this strength will help you to accomplish what you want

- Everything that could have happened but did not is carried away with the wind and leaves no trace. Life is made of our attitudes. And there are certain things that God obliges us to live through. Their reason for this does not matter, and there is no action we can take to make them pass us by

- A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires

- Sometimes it is necessary to struggle with God. Every human being at some time had tragedy enter his life; it might be the destruction of a city, the death of a son, an unapproved accusation, a sickness that left one lame forever. At that moment, God challenges one to confront Him and to answer His question: Why do you cling fast to an existence so short and so filled with suffering? What is the meaning of your struggle?

The man who doesn't know how to answer this question would resign himself, while another, one who sought a meaning to existence, feeling that God had been unjust, would challenge his own destiny. It was at this moment that fire of a different type descended from the heavens - not the fire that kills but the kind that tears down ancient walls and imparts to each human being his true possibilities. Cowards never allow their hearts to blaze with this fire; all their desire is for the changed situation to quickly return to what it was before, so they can go on living their lives and thinking in their customary way. The brave, however, set afire that which was old and, even at the cost of great internal suffering, abandon everything, including God, and continue onward

The brave are always stubborn

From Heaven, God smiles contentedly, for it was this that He desired, that each person take into his hands the responsibility for his own life. For, in the final analysis, He had given His children the greatest of all gifts: the capacity to choose an determine their acts

Only those men and women with the sacred flame in their hearts had the courage to confront Him. And they alone knew the path back to His love, for they understood that tragedy was not punishment but challenge

For it is that struggle with the divine that blesses us and makes us grow. We grasp the opportunity in the tragedy and do our duty about Him, by proving we were able to obey the order to walk. even in the worst of circumstances, we have forged ahead

- When we face a suffering, we ask: Why has that come to pass?
Because we thought that everything was answered and decided in our souls, and we could accept no changes. But we also know how to act as warriors, and a warrior is always aware of what is worth fighting for. He does not go into combat over things that do not concern him, and he never wastes his time over provocations.

A warrior accepts defeat. He does not treat it as a matter of indifference, nor does he attempt to transform it into a victory. The pain of defeat is bitter for him, he suffers at indifference and becomes desperate with loneliness. After all this has passed, he licks his wounds and begins everything anew. A warrior knows that war is made of many battles; he goes on

Tragedies do happen. We can discover the reason, blame others, imagine how different our lives would be had they not occurred. But none of that is important: they did not occur, and so be it. From there onward we must put aside the fear that they awoke in us and begin to rebuild

- There are moments when God demands obedience. But there are moments in which He wishes to test our will and challenges us to understand His love. We stop thinking about life and choose to live it

- Make whatever decision you wish but never forget one thing: all of you are much better than you believed. Take advantage of the chance that tragedy has given you; not everyone is capable of doing so. It is necessary to go onward, however difficult in may appear.

Sadness does not last forever when we walk in the direction of that which we always desired. It is always necessary to know when a stage of one's life has ended. If you stubbornly cling to it after the need has passed, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest. And you risk being shaken to your senses by God. The Lord is stern. Only with those He has chosen

- When we are on high, we see everything else as small. Our glory and our sadness lose their importance. Whenever we conquered or lost remains there below

3 comments:

  1. Excellent words. I thoroughly enjoyed the article and thanks to Mr. Paulo for writing these grate words. Neena

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  2. awesome summary, really good to read it.

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  3. Great book . Enjoyed it very much
    Abhi

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