I'm not doing anything, and yet I'm also doing the most important thing a man can do: I'm listening to what I needed to hear from myself.
Paulo CoelhoRead
I am my own best friend and my own worst enemy. Before coming here, I was thinking I don't deserve it, that i wouldn't be able to meet your expectations, and that you had probably chosen the wrong candidate. At the same time, my heart was telling me that i was being rewarded because i hadn't given up and had fought to the end
Interpretation
This quote highlights the internal struggle between self-doubt and self-acceptance.
Paulo Coelho reflects on the duality of oneβs internal voice, acknowledging that while we can be our own worst critics, we also have the capacity to recognize our worth and achievements. This balanced perspective encourages listeners to overcome self-doubt and embrace their accomplishments, reminding us that perseverance in the face of adversity is ultimately rewarding.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming personal barriers.
I'm not doing anything, and yet I'm also doing the most important thing a man can do: I'm listening to what I needed to hear from myself.
Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field.
We need to clear our minds of bad thoughts.
Having the courage to take the steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing that we trust in God.
The fool who loves giving advice on our garden never tends his own plants
Sometimes the Warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once.
Self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion.
You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself...the height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. ...And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.
I am poor and naked, but I am the chief of the nation. We do not want riches but we do want to train our children right. Riches would do us no good. We could not take them with us to the other world. We do not want riches. We want peace and love.
It is much easier to try one's hand at many things than to concentrate one's powers on one thing.
'And how, who am I? I will remember, if I can! I'm determined to do it!' But being determined didn't help much.
The song and the drumming were like this: Behold, a sacred voice is calling you; All over the sky a sacred voice is calling.
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