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.
Only children believe they're capable of everything.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that children possess an innate belief in their limitless potential, a perspective that often fades with age.
Paulo Coelho's quote reflects on the unique perspective of childhood where imagination and confidence know no bounds. It implies that as people grow older, they may lose this unwavering belief in their capabilities, often conforming to societal expectations and limitations. In essence, the quote encourages a re-examination of our beliefs about what we can achieve, suggesting that embracing a childlike confidence can lead to greater fulfillment and creativity.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech to encourage innovation and creativity in the workplace.
More from Paulo Coelho
All quotes βEach 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.
Similar quotes
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Every normal person, in fact, is only normal on the average. His ego approximates to that of the psychotic in some part or other and to a greater or lesser extent.
It never occurred to him to be spiritually won over to the enemy. Many moderns, inured to a weak worship of intellect and force, might have wavered in their allegiance under this oppression of a great personality. . . . But this was a kind of modern meanness to which Syme could not sink even in his extreme morbidity. Like any man, he was coward enough to fear great force; but he was not coward enough to admire it.
Reason speaks and feeling bites
Each generation should be made to bear the burden of its own wars, instead of carrying them on, at the expense of other generations.
The Divine Truth is greater than any religion or creed or scripture or idea or philosophy.