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Always in life an idea starts small, it is only a sapling idea, but the vines will come and they will try to choke your idea so it cannot grow, and it will die and you will never know you had a big idea, an idea so big it could have grown thirty meters through the dark canopy of leaves and touched the face of the sky. The vines are people who are afraid of originality, of new thinking. Most people you encounter will be vines; when you are a young plant they are very dangerous. Always listen to yourself, Peekay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow convention. If you are wrong, no matter, you have learned something and you grow stronger. If you are right, you have taken another step toward a fulfilling life.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
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Your brain, Peekay, has two functions; it is a place for original thought, but also it is a reference library. Use it to tell you where to look, and then you will have for yourself all the brains that have ever been
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
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Peekay, if not now it will be never again.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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And if you should be there and you see this beautiful cactus blossom painted silver by the moon and laughing up at the stars, this, Peekay, is heaven.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
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in Mexico there is a cactus that even sometimes you would think God forgets. But no, my friends, this is not so. On a full moon in the desert every one hundred years He remembers and opens a single flower to bloom. And If you would be there and you see this beautiful cactus blossom painted silver by the moon and laughing up at the stars, this, Peekay, is heaven β¦ This is the faith in God the cactus has.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (SparkNotes Literature Guide))
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Hoppie squeezed my hand and laughed softly. βI reckon that was worth at least another two rounds, Peekay.β Pausing in the dark outside the tent, he took me by the shoulders. βNever forget, Peekay, sometimes, very occasionally, you do your best boxing with your mouth.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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No offence, Peekay, but next time first the facts and then the trust.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Everything fits, Peekay. Nothing is unexplained. Nature is a chain reaction. One thing follows the other, everything is dependent on something else. The
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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You see I am also Doctor of Music, it is all the same thing. I am too old and you are too young for Mister this or Professor that. You and me will not hide behind such a small importance. Just Peekay and Doc. I think this is a goot plan?
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Then I will learn to hate also,β I said with conviction. Big Hettie rocked with laughter. βPlenty of time for that, Peekay. Better still to concentrate on love, there is already too much hate in this land of ours. This country has been starved of love too long.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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In Mexico there is a cactus that even sometimes you would think God forgets. But no, my friends, this is not so. On a full moon in the desert every one hundred years He remembers and opens a single flower to bloom. And If you would be there and you see this beautiful cactus blossom painted silver by the moon and laughing up at the stars, this, Peekay, is heaven β¦ This is the faith in God the cactus has.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
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But to play black, the music must come from your soul not out from your head, Peekay.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Peekay, you donβt understand, when the banks do it itβs business, when a Jew does it, itβs exploitation!
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Itβs time to get out, Peekay. There are two important rules of business, knowing when to get in and when to get out. Of the two, knowing when to get out is the most important. Weβve got bigger fish to fry.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Your brain, Peekay, has two functions; it is a place for original thought, but also it is a reference library, use it to tell you where to look and then you will have for yourself all the brains that have ever been.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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The more you know, the more you can control your destiny. Man is the only animal who can store knowledge outside his body. This has made him greater than the creatures around him. Everything has happened before, if you know what comes before then you know what happens now. Your brain, Peekay, has two functions; it is a place for original thought, but also it is a reference library, use it to tell you where to look and then you will have for yourself all the brains that have ever been.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Hymie, listen! Picking up a dozen punters in the shit house is one thing; taking on a whole bloody Afrikaans school is another. You donβt know these buggers like I do, these guys donβt gamble, the Afrikaans are very religious, you know.β βGreed, my dear Peekay, transcends religion.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)
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Not long after I'd first met Doc, we were sitting on our rock on the hill behind the rose garden and I had asked him why I was a sinner and what I had done to be condemned to eternal hellfire unless I was born again. He sat for a long time looking over the valley and then he said, "Peekay, God is too busy making the sun come and and go down and watching so the moon floats just right in the sky to be concerned with such rubbish. Only man wants always God should be there to condemn this one and save that one. Always it is man who wants to make Heaven and Hell. God is too busy training the bees to make honey and everyday opening up all the new flowers for business.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One (The Power of One, #1))
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Not long after I'd first met Doc, we were sitting on our rock on the hill behind the rose garden and I had asked him why I was a sinner and what I had done to be condemned to eternal hell fire unless I was born again.
He sat for a long time looking over the valley, and then he said, :Peekay, God is too busy making the sun come up and go down and watching so the moon floats just right in the sky to be concerned with such rubbish. Only man ants always God should be there to condemn this on and save that one. Always it is man who wants to make heaven and hell. God is too busy training the bees to make honey and every morning opening up all the new flowers for business."He paused and smiled "In Mexico there is a cactus that even sometimes you would think God forgets. But no, my friend, this is not so. On a full moon in the desert every one hundred years he remembers and he opens up a single flower to bloom. And if you should be there and you see this beautiful cactus blossom painted silver by the moon and laughing up at the stars, this, Peekay, is heaven.: He looked at me, his deep blue eyes sharp and penetrating. "This is the faith in God the cactus has". We had sat for a while before he spoke again. "it is better just to get on with the business living and minding your own business and maybe, if God likes the way you do things, he may just let you flower for a day or a night. But don't go pestering and begging and telling him all your stupid little sins, that way you will spoil his day. Absoloodle.
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Bruce Courtenay
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He would often use an analogy from nature. βJa, Peekay, always in life an idea starts small, it is only a sapling idea, but the vines will come and they will try to choke your idea so it cannot grow and it will die and you will never know you had a big idea, an idea so big it could have grown thirty metres through the dark canopy of leaves and touched the face of the sky.
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Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One)