Quotes in 'Adultery'

I happened to pick up 'Adultery' a couple of years ago but found it an exceedingly difficult book to read. It wasn't until the recent passing of my uncle and the search for a momentary escape from reality that I decided to read ‘Adultery’ regardless of how the book missed capturing me the first time around.

If you're not familiar with Paulo Coelho, then it's best to explain that his books are wonderful guides for certain moments each one of us face throughout our lives. He has an incredible way of making you think outside of the box and I enjoy the answers he has found to some of the most asked questions during times of despair, loss, and weakness.

The following quotes are some that stood out for me:

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Naturally, I seek consolation in other people's suffering. I watch a soap or a movie and for a few minutes or hours, I forget everything. 

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 It's silly to blame it all on that writer and his interview. That was months ago. He merely took the top off a volcano that could have erupted at any moment, sowing death and destruction around it. If it hadn't been for him, it would have been a film, a book or someone else I happened to talk to. I imagine that some people spend years allowing the pressure to build up inside them without even noticing, and then one day some tiny incident triggers a crisis.

Then they say: "I've had enough, I don't want this anymore." Some commit suicide. Others get divorced. Some go to poor parts of Africa to try and save the world. 

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 I do actually believe that many illnesses are the result of repressed emotions.

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 As children, we learn that if we cry we'll receive affection, that if we show we're sad, we'll be consoled. If we can't get what we want with a smile, then we can surely do so with our tears. 

But we no longer cry, except in the bathroom when no one is listening. Nor do we smile at anyone other than our children. We don't show our feelings because people might think we're vulnerable and take advantage of us. 

Sleep is the best remedy.

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 Choose what information you listen to. Place a filter over your eyes and ears and only allow in things that won't bring you down, because we have our day-to-day life to do that. 

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 Trusting the one you love always brings good results.

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 Come on, you can do it! It's worse if you stop. This isn't just a way of getting some exercise, it's reminding you that there's a finish line and that you can't give up halfway through.

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 I hope the same happens to my life. I hope that the small things lead to great transformations.

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 Why are there so many laws trying to create new tribes instead of simply accepting that cultural differences can make our lives richer and more interesting? 

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 Inside it was a fish, swimming round and round, and I said to myself: He can't remember where he began, and he will never reach the end. That's why we like fish aquariums; they remind us of ourselves, well fed but incapable of moving beyond the glass walls.

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 Love is the force that moves the sun and all the stars. 

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 There is nothing more important we can give than the love reflected in our own lives. That is the one universal language. 

 In the Christian Bible under Corinthians, Paul tells us, that love is made of many elements, like light. We pick a prism and allow a ray of light to pass through, that ray will divide into seven colors, those of the rainbow.

 Patience: Love is patient

Kindness: ...and kind. 

Generosity: Love does not envy

Humility: ... or boast; it is not arrogant

Courtesy: ... or rude. 

Unselfishness: It does not insist on its own way. 

Good temper: It is not irritable... or resentful. 

Sincerity: It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

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 There is none so blind as the one who does not want to see. 

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 When we love someone, we're not satisfied with knowing only the person's soul - we also want to understand the person's body. Instinct encourages us.

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There is nothing else to discover, and we try to get as much pleasure as possible from the same things. This is like eating chocolate every day, without changing brands or trying new flavors: it's not a sacrifice, but isn't there anything else?

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"The aging process is more traumatic for those who think they can control the passage of time."

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 Post Tenebras Lux. After darkness, light.

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 The night with all its charms, is also a path to enlightenment. Just as a dark well has thirst-quenching water at its bottom. 

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In reference to a game of Chess:

 Do you see these players? They always have to make the next move. They can't stop in the middle, because that means accepting defeat. There comes a time when defeat is inevitable, but at least they fought until the end. 

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 It's loneliness. Even though I'm surrounded by loved ones who care about me and want only the best, it's possible they try to help only because they feel the same thing - loneliness - and why, in a gesture of solidarity, you'll find the phrase "I am useful, even if alone."...

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 Because no one can explain their loneliness to others, especially when we are always in good company.

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 But we insist, every morning, on showing only the rose that blooms, and keep the thorny stem that hurts us and makes us bleed hidden within.

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Women. 

They are much more sensitive to the spiritual and emotional world, and this makes them prone to crises that doctors used to call 'hysteria' and today are called 'bipolar' - the tendency to go from absolute euphoria to profound sadness several times a day. For the Cuban man, the spirits are much more inclined to speak with women than with men, because they better understand a language that is not expressed in words.

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Love isn't just a feeling; it's an art. And like any art, it takes not only inspiration, but also a lot of work. 

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Once upon a time... 

...there was a beautiful princess who was admired by all, but no one dared to ask for her hand in marriage. In despair, the king consulted the god Apollo. He told him that Psyche should be dressed in mourning and left alone on top of a mountain. Before daybreak, a serpent would come to meet and marry her. The king obeyed and all night the princess waited for her husband to appear, deathly afraid and freezing cold. Finally, she slept. 

When she awoke, she found herself crowned a queen in a beautiful palace. Every night her husband came to her and they made love, but he had imposed one condition: Psyche could have all she desired, but she had to trust him completely and could never see his face. 

The young woman lived happily for a long time. She had comfort, affection, joy and she was in love with the man who visited her every night. However, occasionally she was afraid that she was married to a hideous serpent. Early one morning, while her husband slept, she lit a lantern and saw Eros, a man of incredible beauty, lying by her side. The light woke him, and seeing that the woman he loved was unable to fulfill his one request, Eros vanished. Desperate to get her lover back, Psyche submitted to a series of tasks given to her by Aphrodite, Eros's mother. Needless to say, her mother-in-law was incredibly jealous of Psyche's beauty and she did everything she could to thwart the couple's reconciliation. In one of the tasks, Psyche opened a box that makes her fall into a deep sleep. 

Eros was also in love and regretted not having been more lenient with his wife. He managed to enter the castle and wake her with the tip of his arrow. 'You nearly died because of your curiosity', he told her. 'You sought security in knowledge and destroyed our relationship.' But in love, nothing is destroyed forever. Imbued with this conviction, they go to Zeus, the god of gods, and beg that their union never be undone. Zeus passionately pleaded the cause of the love with strong arguments and threats until he gained Aphrodite's support.  

From that day on, Psyche (our unconscious but logical side) and Eros (love) were together forever.

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Everyone has days when they say: "Well, my life isn't exactly lining up with my expectations.' But if life asked you what you had done for it, what would you say?"

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"Nothing happens without effort. You have to have faith. And for that, you have to break down the barriers of prejudice, which requires courage. To have courage, you must conquer your fears. And so on and so forth. Let's make peace with our days. We can't forget that life is on our side. It also wants to get better. Let's help it out!"

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Dreaming isn't as simple as it seems. On the contrary, it can be quite dangerous. When we dream, we put powerful engines in motion and can no longer hide the true meaning of our life from ourselves. When we dream, we also make a choice of what price to pay.

Going after a dream has a price. It may mean abandoning our habits, it may make us go through hardships, or it may lead us to disappointment, et cetera. But however costly it may be, it is never as high as the price paid by people who didn't live. Because one day they will look back and hear their own heart say: 'I wasted my life.'

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I controlled the jealousy I feel because of you, and I'm happy with that. You know why?

Because I always have to show you I'm worthy of your love. I have to fight for our marriage, for our union, in ways that have nothing to do with our children. I love you. I would endure anything, absolutely anything, to always have you by my side. But I can't stop you from leaving one day. So if that day comes, you are free to leave and seek your happiness. My love for you is stronger than anything, and I would never stop you from being happy."

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When you love each other, you have to be ready for anything. Because love is like a kaleidoscope, the kind we used to play with when we were kids. It's in constant movement and never repeats itself. If you don't understand this, you are condemned to suffer for something that really only exists to make us happy.

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Optimism is contagious. 

No. What is really contagious is fear, the constant fear of never finding someone to accompany us to the end of our days. 

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