“What do you think of the human race?” asks a friend who has just graduated in sociology.
“I think it’s strange – so alike and yet so different! We are capable
of working together, of building the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall
of China, the cathedrals of Europe and the temples of Peru. We can
compose unforgettable music, work in hospitals, create new computer
programs.
“But at some moment all this loses its meaning, and we feel alone, as
if we were part of another world, different from the one we have helped
to build.”
“At times, when others need our help, we grow desperate because this
prevents us from enjoying life. At other times, when nobody needs us, we
feel useless.
“But that’s the way we are. We are complex human beings. Why despair?”
“We are what we think. All that we are comes from our thoughts.
Through thought we construct and destroy the world. Thought follows us
like a cart follows the pair of oxen. We are what we think. Your
imagination can cause you more harm than your worst enemy. But once you
control your thoughts, no one can help you as much as they can – not
even your father or mother.”
Originally posted on 20 October on
Paulo Coelho Blog
