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
She [the Virgin Mary] was normal. She had already had other children. The Bible tells us that Jesus had two brothers. Virginity, as it relates to Jesus, is based on a different thing: Mary initiated a new generation of grace. A new era began. She is the cosmic bride, Earth, which opens to the heavens and allows itself to be fertilized.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the significance of Mary in a spiritual context, portraying her as a bridge between humanity and divinity.
Paulo Coelho reflects on the Virgin Mary not merely as a figure of virginity but as a normal woman and mother who, through her unique relationship with Jesus, symbolizes the beginning of a new generation of grace. This perspective invites us to see Mary as the cosmic bride, representing Earth’s connection to the heavens, thus enriching our understanding of her role in spiritual and religious narratives.
Themes
MaryVirginGraceCosmic BrideSpiritualityNew Generation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of women in spirituality, this quote can highlight the transformative power of Mary.
More from Paulo Coelho
All quotes →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.
Paulo CoelhoRead
We need to clear our minds of bad thoughts.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Having the courage to take the steps we always wanted to take is the only way of showing that we trust in God.
Paulo CoelhoRead
The fool who loves giving advice on our garden never tends his own plants
Paulo CoelhoRead
Sometimes the Warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Similar quotes
If I didn't care about doing right and didn't feel uncomfortable doing wrong, I should get on capitally.
Louisa May AlcottRead
The most pressing question on the problem of faith is whether a man as a civilized being can believe in the divinity of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for therein rests the whole of our faith.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us good, and greed would make us saintly. And we'd live like animals or angels in the happy land that /needs/ no heroes. But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, and have to choose, to be human at all... why then perhaps we /must/ stand fast a little --even at the risk of being heroes.
Robert BoltRead
When you invest in something for so long and you stop and have nothing to fill that space, it can be more of a crisis of identity.
Maya MooreRead
Only within yourself exists that other reality for which you long.
Hermann HesseRead
Whole people see and create wholeness wherever they go; split people see and create splits in everything and everybody.
Richard RohrRead