Manuscript Found In Accra Quotes

If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.

Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them.

Love is only a word, until we decide to let it possess us with all its force. Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning. Don't give up. Remember, it's always the last key on the key ring that opens the door.

And if I'm alone in bed, I will go to the window, look up at the sky, and feel certain that loneliness is a lie, because the Universe is there to keep me company.

Don't try to be useful. Try to be yourself: that is enough & that makes all the difference.

Excessive caution destroys the soul and the heart, because living is an act of courage, and an act of courage is always an act of love.

Never miss an opportunity to show your love, especially to those close to you, because we are always at our most cautious with them for fear of being hurt.

A rose dreams of enjoying the company of bees, but none appears. The sun asks: “Aren’t you tired of waiting?” “Yes,” answers the rose, “but if I close my petals, I will wither and die.

Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honour of losing and the joy of winning I am not here to tell you that defeat is a part of life: we all know that. Only the defeated know Love. Because it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles – and generally lose. I am here to tell you that there are people who have never been defeated. They are the ones who never fought. They managed to avoid scars, humiliations, feelings of helplessness, as well as those moments when even warriors doubt the existence of God.’’ Manuscript Found In Accra – Paulo Coelho

Only he who gives up is defeated. Everyone else is victorious.

The simplest things in life are the most extraordinary. Let them reveal themselves.

Love is an act of faith in another person, not an act of surrender.

You might have lost some major battles, but you survived and you're still here.

What was broken will never be the same again.

The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.

Because we managed to keep our heart open, despite the pain. Because we realized that the person who left us did not take the sun with them or leave darkness in their place.

Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.

Avoid those who seek friends in order to maintain a certain social status or to open doors they would not otherwise be able to approach.

Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning. Don't give up. Remember, it's always the last key on the key ring that opens the door.

None of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments.

Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life.

In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat; there is only movement.

In life's most significant moments we are always alone.

When everything seems to be going well and your dream is almost within your gasp, that is when you must be more alert than ever.

Beware of anyone who tries to please you all the time.

the reward of our work is not what we get, but what we become

For those who are not frightened by the solitude, everything will have a different taste. In solitude, they will discover the love that might otherwise arrive unnoticed. In solitude, they will understand and respect the love that left them. In solitude, they will be able to decide whether it is worth asking that lost love to come back or if they should simply let it go and set off along a new path. In solitude, they will learn that saying ‘No’ does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying ‘Yes’ is not always a virtue. And those who are alone at this moment, need never be frightened by the words of the devil: ‘You’re wasting your time.’ Or by the chief demon’s even more potent words: ‘No one cares about you.’ The Divine Energy is listening to us when we speak to other people, but also when we are still and silent and able to accept solitude as a blessing. And when we achieve that harmony, we receive more than we asked for.

You will be loved and respected only if you love and respect yourself.

I fell asleep and dreamed that life was only Happiness. I woke and discovered that life was Duty. I did my Duty and discovered that life was Happiness.

Love lasts because it changes and not because it stays the same and never faces any challenges.

I'm not worried about tomorrow, because God is there already, waiting for me.

only the defeated know LOVE. because it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles - and generally lose ........

The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions.

Does a leaf, when it falls from the tree in winter, feel defeated by the cold? The tree says to the leaf: "That’s the cycle of life. You may think you’re going to die, but you live on in me. It’s thanks to you that I’m alive, because I can breathe. It’s also thanks to you that I have felt loved, because I was able to give shade to the weary traveller. Your sap is in my sap; we are one thing.

Dreaming carries no risks. The dangerous thing is trying to transform your dreams into reality.

Live the life you always wanted to live. Avoid criticizing others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams.

Love transforms, Love heals. But sometimes it lays deadly traps and ends up destroying the person who decided to surrender himself completely.

A life is never useless. Each soul that came down to Earth is here for a reason.

Do not seek to be loved at any price, because Love has no price.

If you are never alone you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.

Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end: it is a lifetime choice.

My smile is my way of saying: "You can destroy my body, but not my soul.

Scars are medals branded on the flesh, and your enemies will be frightened by them because they are proof of your long experience of battle.

No one can go back, but everyone can go forward.

No matter how you are feeling, get up every morning and prepare to let your light shine forth.

With every farewell comes a hidden hope.

Love does not to be understood. It needs only to be shown.

Walk neither faster nor slower than your own soul. Because it is your soul that will teach you the usefulness of each step you take.

And to those who believe that adventures are i say try routine: it kills you far more quickly.

Life will undertake to separate us, and we must each set off in search of our own path, our own destiny or our own way of facing death.

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange. Contradictions are what make love grow. Conflicts are what allow love to remain by our side.

What is success?" poses the Copt. "It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.

Love rules, but no one knows where it has its throne; in order to know that secret place, you must first submit to Love.

Elegance is accepted and admired because it makes no effort to be elegant.

solitude is not absence of love, but its complement

Respect those who grew up and learned alongside you. Respect those who taught you.

Defeat is for those who, despite their fears, live with enthusiasm and faith.

Succes doesn't not come from having one's work recognised by others. It is the fruit of a seed that you lovingly planted.

We will always meet rivals in everything we do, but the most dangerous are those we believe to be our friends.

Happiness is contagious and will always manage to find a solution.

Our soul is governed by four invisible forces: love, death, power and time.

Our task is not to leave a record of what happened on this date for those who will inherit the Earth; history will take care of that.

It is the imperfect that astonishes and attracts us.

Stay close to those who sing, tell stories, and enjoy life, and whose eyes sparkle with happiness. Because happiness is contagious and will always manage to find a solution, whereas logic can find only an explanation for the mistake made.

Outer beauty is inner beauty made visible, and it manifests itself in the light that flows in our eyes.

Without solitude, Love will not stay long by your side.

Blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge. If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.

Nature is telling us: "Change!

Elegance is not an outer quality, but a part of the soul that is visible to others.

Difficulty" is the name of an ancient tool that was created purely to help us define who we are.

Love accepts its companion unconditionally and allow each to grow in his or her own way.

Where there is loyalty, weapons are of no use.

When you are going through difficult times, remember: you might have lost some major battles, but you survived and you're still here.

Nothing in this world is useless in the eyes of God.

The great wisdom of life is to realize that we can be the master of the things that try to enslave us.

Don't let other's say "That road is better" or "That route is easier." The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions.

Elegance is achieved when, having discarded all superfluous things, we discover simplicity and concentration.

True love, is the love that seduces and will never allow itself to be seduced.

The enemy is not the person standing before you, sword in hand. It is the person standing next to you with a dagger concealed behind his back.

Because the act of surrender means: "I trust you.

You will be loved and respected only if you love and respect yourself. Never try to please everyone, if you do, you will be respected by no one.

When we are walking our chosen path, we walk elegantly, emanating light.

Fate is never unfair to anyone. We are all free to love or hate what we do.

You will only be loved and respected if you love and respect yourself. Never try to please everyone; if you do, you will be respected by no one.

Although anxiety is part of life, never let it control you.

We are always prepared to defend ourselves, because we all live with the fear and paranoia that other people don't like us.

One of Love's qualities--namely, Forgiveness.

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange.

Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honor of losing and the joy of winning.

Love appears and says: "You think you're heading towards a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal's existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little,but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you.

When you forgive, the person who insulted you feels humbled in his error and becomes loyal.

Don’t give up. Remember, it’s always the last key on the key ring that opens the door.

Love is only a word, until we decide to let it posses us with all its force. Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning.

Loving means being open to miracles, to victories and defeats, to everything that happens each day that was given us to walk upon the face of the Earth.

If we resist the temptation to allow other people to define who we are, then we will gradually be able to let the sun inside our own soul shine forth.

Friendship never forgets that its only reason for existing is to love other people.

No one can go back, but everyone ca go forward. And tomorrow, when the sun rises,all you have to say to yourself is:I am going to think this day as the first day of my life.

For most people, generosity consists only in giving, and yet receiving is also an act of love. Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy, too.

Elegance lies not in the clothes we wear, but in the way we wear them.

Only someone capable of honoring each step he takes can comprehend his own worth.

Love is an act of faith in another pesron, not an act of surrender.

People who seek only success rarely find it, because success is not an end, but a consequence.

Beauty is present in all creation, but the danger lies in the fact that we allow ourselves to be influenced by what people think. We deny our own beauty because others can't or won't recognize it. We try to imitate what we see around us. We try to be what other people think of as 'pretty' & little by little, our soul fades. We forget the world is what we imagine it to be. We stop being the sun and become, instead, the pool of water reflecting it.

We were born alone, and we will die alone. But while we are on this planet, we must accept and glorify our act of faith through other people.

Our great goal in life is to love. The rest is silence.

Instead of accepting ourselves as we are, we try to imitate what we see around us.

Seek out those who think differently from you and whom you will never be able to convince that you are right.

Success does not come from having one's work recognized by others. It is the fruit of a seed that you lovingly planted.

Don’t try to be useful. Try to be yourself; that is enough, and that makes all the difference.

We are used to thinking that what we give is the same as what we receive, but people who love, expecting to be loved in return, are wasting their time. Love is an act of faith, not an exchange.

Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference.

Sometimes, when loneliness seems about to crush everything, the only way to resist is to keep on loving.

Like the sun, life spread its light in all direction.

Religion teaches that faith and transformation are the only ways of drawing near to God. Faith shows us that we are never alone. Transformation helps us to love the mystery.

Everything is permitted, if everything is accepted.

In order to hear Love's words, you must allow Love to approach.

One person's courage will help the other person to be equally brave.

The world does not divide into enemies and friends, but into the weak and strong.

Faith shows us that we are never alone. Transformation helps us to love the mystery.

Love is free and is not ruled by our will or by what we do.

What was broken will never be the same again

Those who truly want the best of us want us to be happy.

Loyalty has its roots in respects, and respect is the fruit of Love.

Anyone who does not share his moments of joy and discouragement with others will never fully know his own qualities and his own defects

Never try to please everyone; if you do, you will be respected by no one.

Woe to those who prefer to spend their lives saying: “I never had any opportunities!” Because with each day that passes, they will sink deeper into the well of their own limitations,

In desperate attempt to give meaning to life, many turn to religion, because a struggle in the name of a faith is always a justification for some grand action that could transform the world. ‘We are doing God’s work,’ they tell themselves. And they become devout followers, then evangelists and, finally, fanatics. They don’t understand that religion was created in order to share the mystery and to worship, not to oppress or convert others. The great manifestation of the miracle of God is life. Tonight, I will weep for you, O Jerusalem, because that understanding of the Divine Unity is about to disappear for the next one thousand years.

Dont try to be useful. Try to be yourself; that is enough, and that makes all the difference.

We assume (falsely) that how we feel now is how we will feel in the future.

But the great wisdom of life is to realize that we can be the masters of the things that try to enslave us

I'm not saying: "Seek out people who think the same as you." I'm saying: "Seek out those who think differently from you and whom you will never be able to convince that you are right.

Sometimes taking part in a great battle will be the thing that will help to change the course of history. But sometimes you can do that simply by smiling, for no reason, at someone you happen to pass in the street. Without intending to, you might have saved the life of a complete stranger, who also thought he was useless and might have been ready to kill himself – until a smile gave him new hope and confidence.

We are afraid to change because we think that, after so much effort and sacrifice, we know our present world. And even though that world might not be the best of all worlds, and even though we may not be entirely satisfied with it, at least it won’t give us any nasty surprises. We won’t go wrong. When necessary, we will make a few minor adjustments so that everything continues the same.

Even you, the person asking the question. ‘I’m useless’ is the answer you give yourself. Soon that answer will poison you and you will die while still alive, even though you still walk, eat, sleep and try to have a little fun whenever possible. Don’t try to be useful. Try to be yourself: that is enough, and that makes all the difference.

Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning.

Only those who fail to recognize that inner strength will say, "I lost", and be sad.

The greatest manifestation of the miracle of God is life.

Although we cannot control God's time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the things we are waiting as quickly as possible.

We are all prisoners of the sands of time, and we have no control over them.

Loyalty can never be imposed by force, fear, insecurity, or intimidation.

If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.

For example, two people might be cooking the same meal and using exactly the same ingredients, but one is pouring Love into what he does and the other is merely trying to fill his belly. The result will be completely different, even though Love is not something that can be seen or weighed. The person making the Offering is always rewarded. The more he shares out his affection, the more his affection grows.

The true lover is not the one who says: "You need to be by my side and I need to take care of you, because we are loyal to each other," but the one who realizes that loyalty must go hand in hand with freedom. And without fear of betrayal, he accepts and respects the other person's dream, trusting in the greater power of Love.

Without solitude, Love will not stay long by your side. Because Love needs to rest, so that it can journey through the heavens and reveal itself in other forms. Without solitude, no plant or animal can survive, no soil can remain productive, no child can learn about life, no artist can create, no work can grow and be transformed. Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement. Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life. Therefore, blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge. If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.

And within that cycle there are neither winners nor losers; there are only stages that must be gone through. When the human heart understands this, it is free and able to accept difficult times without being deceived by moments of glory.

Do not try to make the road shorter, but travel it in such a way that every action leaves the land more fertile and the landscape more beautiful.

Noone of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments.

The moment we place ourselves on the same level as some vile adversary, we will fighting in the dark, and the only winner will be the Lord of Darkness.

..and love is not swayed by opinions; love accepts its companion unconditionally and allows each to grow in his or her own way

The true lover is the one who realizes that loyalty must go hand in hand with freedom.

Wait patiently for the right moment to act. Do not let the next opportunity slip. Take pride in your scars. Scars are medals branded on the flesh, and your enemies will be frightened by them because they are proof of your long experience of battle. Often this will lead them to seek dialogue and avoid conflict. Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them.

The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and, like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them. So if the person looking into someone’s eyes has a dark soul, he will see only his own ugliness.

Losing a battle or losing everything we thought we possessed will bring us moments of sadness, but when those moments pass, we will discover the hidden strength that exists in each of us, a strength that will surprise us and increase our self-respect.

There is nothing wrong with anxiety. Although we cannot control God's time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible. Or to drive away whatever is causing our fear.... Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it-just as we have learned to live with storms.

It’s nice to dream that we will have plenty of time in the future to do our travelling and that, one day, we will travel. It cheers us up because we know that we are capable of doing more than we do. Dreaming carries no risks. The dangerous thing is trying to transform your dreams into reality.

In a desperate attempt to give meaning to life, many turn to religion, because a struggle in the name of a faith is always a justification for some grand action that could transform the world. “We are doing God’s work,” they tell themselves. And they become devout followers, then evangelists, and finally, fanatics. They don’t understand that religion was created in order to share the mystery and to worship, not to oppress or convert others. The greatest manifestation of the miracle of God is life.

Losing a battle or losing everything we thought we possessed will bring us moments of sadness. But when those moments pass, we will discover the hidden strength that exists in each of us, a strength that will surprise us and increase our self-respect.

Walk neither faster nor slower than your own soul, because it is your soul that will teach you the usefulness of each step you take.

ليست العزلة غيابا للرفقة ‘ بل هي اللحظة التي تتحرر فيها روحنا لتحدثنا وتساعدنا على اتخاذ قرار في شأن حياتنا

What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.

„There is no beauty in sameness, only in difference.

There is no beauty in sameness, only in difference.

The simpler the pose, the better; the more sober, the more beautiful.

Those who truly want the best of us want us to be hsppy.

Never repay hatered wit hatered, but with justice.

E, aos que se sentem oprimidos pela solidão, é preciso lembrar: nos momentos mais importantes da vida estaremos sempre sozinhos.

Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its complement.

In solitude, they will discover the love that might otherwise have arrived unnoticed. In solitude, they will understand and respect the love that left them.

But even in cases of unrequited love there is always the hope that one day it will be requited.

Joy. That is one of the main blessings of the All-Powerful. If we are happy, we are on the right road.

And to those who believe that adventures are dangerous, I say, try routine; that kills you far more quickly.

The most terrible of all weapons is the word, which can ruin a life without leaving a trace of blood, and whose wounds never heal.

Friendship is like a river; it flows around rocks, adapts itself to valleys and mountains, occasionally turns into a pool until the hollow in the ground is full and it can continue on its way. Just

Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life. Therefore, blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge. If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.

Blessed be those who say: 'I'm not brave enough.' Because they know that it is not someone else's fault. And sooner or later, they will find the necessary faith to confront solitude and it's mysteries.

We stop being the moonlight and become, instead, the pool of water reflecting it. Tomorrow, the water will evaporate in the sun. And all because, one day, someone said: 'You are ugly." Or: 'She is pretty.' With those three simple words, they stole away all our self-confidence. And we become ugly and embittered.

Love appears and says: “You think you’re heading toward a specific point, but the whole justification for the goal’s existence lies in your love for it. Rest a little, but as soon as you can, get up and carry on. Because ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you.

Suggestions for further reading Karen Armstrong, Jerusalem; Jorge Luis Borges, Ficciones; Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha; Deepak Chopra, God: A Story of Revelation; Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet; Lawrence Kushner, Kabbalah: A Love Story; C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; Krista Tippett, Speaking of Faith; Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

4 the first time, I will avoid anything that makes me suffer, because suffering is not a virtue.. I will not complain about life, saying, "Everything is always the same and I have nothin' 2 change it". Because I'm livin' this day as if it were my first and, while it lasts, I will discover things that I didn't even know were there.

The feeling of uselessness is no respecter of age and never asks permission, but instead corrodes people’s souls, repeating over and over: ‘No one is interested in you, you’re nothing, the world doesn’t need your presence.

Não existe vitória nem derrota no ciclo da natureza: existe movimento. (...) Quando o coração do ser humano compreende isto, fica livre. Aceita sem pesar os momentos difíceis e não se deixa enganar pelos momentos de glória.

Cele mai distrugătoare arme nu sunt lancea sau berbecele - care pot răni trupul și nărui ziduri. Cea mai cumplită dintre toate armele este cuvântul - care distruge o viață fără să verse sânge și ale cărui cicatrici nu se vindecă niciodată.

Do one thing: live the live you always wanted to live. Avoid criticising others concentrate on fulfilling your dreams. This may not seem very important to you, but God, who sees all, knows that the example you give is helping Him to improve the world. And each day, He will bestow more blessings upon it.

It isn’t the absolute truth about life and death, but the thing that helps us to live and confront the challenges of day-to-day life. It isn’t what we learn from books, which serves only to fuel futile arguments about what happened or will happen; it is the knowledge that lives in the hearts of men and women of good will

The true lover is not the one who says: “You need to be by my side and I need to take care of you, because we are loyal to each other,” but the one who realizes that loyalty must go hand in hand with freedom. And without fear of betrayal, he accepts and respects the other person’s dream, trusting in the greater power of Love. The

When you realized that you would have to ask for help, you did not feel humiliated. And when you learned that someone needed help, you showed them all that you had learned without fearing that you might be revealing secrets or being used by others. To he who knocks, the door will open. He who asks will receive. He who consoles knows that he will be consoled. Even if none of these things happens when you are expecting it to, sooner or later you will see the fruits of the thing you shared with such generosity.

None of us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments. So, when you ask your questions, forget about the troops outside and the fear inside. Our task is not to leave a record of what happened on this date for those who will inherit the Earth; history will take care of that. Therefore, we will speak about our daily lives, about the difficulties we have had to face. That is all the future will be interested in, because I do not believe very much will change in the next thousand years.

I am beautiful and beauty is my reason for living.

في العزلة سيتعلمون أن قول (لا) لا يعني دوما افتقارا الى سماحة النفس وأن قول ( نعم ) ليس الفضيلة دوما

And to those who believe that adventures are dangerous I say, Try routine: that kills you far more quickly.

Success does not come from having one's work recognized by others. It is the fruit of a seed you lovingly planted. When harvest time arrives, you can say to yourself : ' I succeed

In the cycle of nature, there is no such thing as victory or defeat: there is only movement.

Therefore, although anxiety is part of life, never let it control you. If it comes too close, say: “I’m not worried about tomorrow, because God is there already, waiting for me.” If it tries to persuade you that taking on lots of jobs means having a productive life, say: “I need time to look at the stars in order to feel inspired and to be able to do my job well.

And when the Unwanted Visitor arrives, you will hear it say: “It is fair to ask: ‘Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me?’ But now, in this final second of your life on Earth, I am going to tell you what I saw: I found the house clean, the table laid, the fields plowed, the flowers smiling. I found each thing in its proper place, precisely as it should be. You understood that small things are responsible for great changes. “And for that reason, I will carry you up to Paradise.

Loyalty, love and respect perhaps have never been expounded with such agility like this one ‘Loyalty has its roots in respect and respect is the fruit of Love, and Love drives out the demons of the imagination – which distrust everything and everyone – and, instead, returns purity to our gaze’. He cites that ‘Loyalty can never be imposed by force, fear, insecurity or intimidation’. ‘And because it is a choice, it will never tolerate betrayal, but will always be generous with mistakes’.

Walk neither faster nor slower than your own soul, because it is your soul that will teach you the usefulness of each step you take. Sometimes taking part in a great battle will be the thing that will help to change the course of history. But sometimes you can do that simply by smiling, for no reason, at someone you happen to pass on the street. Without intending to, you might have saved the life of a complete stranger, who also thought he was useless and might have been ready to kill himself until a smile gave him new hope and confidence.

papyruses began to appear on the black market. The Egyptian government tried to prevent the manuscripts from leaving the country. After the 1952 revolution, most of the material was handed over to the Coptic Museum in Cairo and declared part of the national heritage. Only one text eluded them, and this had turned up in an antiquarian shop in Belgium. After vain attempts to sell it in New York and Paris, it was finally acquired by the Carl Jung Institute in 1951. On the death of the famous psychoanalyst, the papyrus, now known as Jung Codex, returned to Cairo, where the

The defeated are those who never fail. Defeat means that we lose a particular battle or war. Failure does not allow us to go on fighting. Defeat comes when we fail to get something we very much want. Failure does not allow us to dream. Its motto is: ‘Expect nothing and you won’t be disappointed.’ Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end: it is a lifetime choice. Defeat is for those who, despite their fears, live with enthusiasm and faith. Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honour of losing and the joy of winning. I am not here to tell you that defeat is part of life: we all know that. Only the defeated know Love. Because it is in the realm of love that we fight our first battles – and generally lose. I am here to tell you that there are people who have never been defeated. They are the ones who never fought.

And within that cycle there are neither winners nor losers, there are only stages that must be gone through. When the human heart understands this, it is free, able to accept difficult times and not be deceived by moments of glory. Both will pass. One will succeed the other. And the cycle will continue until we liberate ourselves from the flesh and find the Divine Energy. Therefore, when the fighter is in the ring – whether by his own choice or because unfathomable destiny has placed him there – may his spirit be filled with joy at the prospect of the fight ahead. If he holds on to his dignity and his honour, then, even if he loses the fight, he will never be defeated, because his soul will remain intact. And he will blame no one for what is happening to him. Ever since he fell in love for the first time and was rejected, he has known that this did not put paid to his ability to love. What is true in love is also true in war.

Describe the defeated ones,” said a merchant, when he saw that the Copt had finished speaking. And he answered: The defeated are those who never fail. Defeat means that we lose a particular battle or war. Failure does not allow us to go on fighting. Defeat comes when we fail to get something we very much want. Failure does not allow us to dream. Its motto is: “Expect nothing and you won’t be disappointed.” Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end; it is a lifetime choice. Defeat is for those who, despite their fears, live with enthusiasm and faith. Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honor of losing and the joy of winning. I am not here to tell you that defeat is part of life; we all know that. Only the defeated know Love. Because it is in the realm of Love that we fight our first battles—and generally lose. I am here to tell you that there are people who have never been defeated. They are the ones who never fought. They managed to avoid scars, humiliations, and feelings of helplessness, as well as those moments when even warriors doubt the existence of God. Such people can say with pride: “I never lost a battle.” On the other hand, they will never be able to say: “I won a battle.” Not that they care. They live in a universe in which they believe they are invulnerable; they close their eyes to injustices and to suffering; they feel safe because they do not have to deal with the daily challenges faced by those who risk stepping out beyond their own boundaries. They have never heard the words “good-bye” or “I’ve come back. Embrace me with the fervor of someone who, having lost me, has found me again.” Those who were never defeated seem happy and superior, masters of a truth they never had to lift a finger to achieve. They are always on the side of the strong. They’re like hyenas, who eat only the leavings of lions. They teach their children: “Don’t get involved in conflicts; you’ll only lose. Keep your doubts to yourself and you’ll never have any problems. If someone attacks you, don’t get offended or demean yourself by hitting back. There are more important things in life.” In the silence of the night, they fight their imaginary battles: their unrealized dreams, the injustices to which they turned a blind eye, the moments of cowardice they managed to conceal from other people—but not from themselves—and the love that crossed their path with a sparkle in its eyes, the love God had intended for them, but which they lacked the courage to embrace. And they promise themselves: “Tomorrow will be different.” But tomorrow comes and the paralyzing question surfaces in their mind: “What if it doesn’t work out?” And so they do nothing. Woe to those who were never beaten! They will never be winners in this life.