Statutes for Life
By Paulo Coelho
Brazilian Author and Poet
All men are different, and they must try hard do carry on being so.
Each of us faces two roads: action and contemplation; both lead to the same point.
Each of us was given two qualities: power and talent.
Power leads us to meet our destiny.
Talent obliges us to share with others what is best in ourselves.
We mus know when to use the one and when the other.
To each of us a virtue was given: the capacity for choice.
Those who do not exercise it turn it into a curse, and others will always choose in their stead.
Each of us is entitled to two blessings, the blessing of being right and the blessin of beind mistaken
If we are mistaken we can always learn how to find the right road.
Each of us has their own sexual profile and must enjoy it without any feelings of guilt - provided we do not force others to share it.
Each of us has their own Personal Legend to be fulfilled, and that is the reason for our being in the world. It shows through in our enthusiasm for what we do.
Special paragraph: We are allowed to give up our Personal Legend for a while, provided it is not forgotten and we return to it as soon as possible.
Each man has his femine side and each woman her masculine side. It is necessary to use discipline with intuition, and intuition with objectivity.
Each of us must understand two languages: the language of society and the language of signs.
The one is there to communicate with others, the other to understand the messages that God sends us.
Each of us is entitled to look out for joy being what makes us happy, not what makes others happy.
Each of us must keep alight the sacred flame of madness, and yet behave as any normal person.
Only the following must be considered serious faults: not to respect the rights of others, to let oneself be paralysed by fear, to feel guilty, to believe that we do not deserve the food and the bad that befall us, and to be cowardly.
Paragraph 1: We shall love our enemies, but not set up alliances with them.
They were put in our way to test our sword, and they deserve the respect of our fight.
Paragraph 2: We shall choose our enemies.
All religions lead to the same God, and all deserve equal respect.
Special paragraph: A person who chooses a particular religion is also making a choice about a collective way of performing its rites and sharing its mysteries.
All the same, it is that person who is responsible for his or her action along the Way.and has no right to pass on to that creed the responsibility for his or her own steps and decisions.
An end has been decreed to the wall that separates the sacred from the profane: from now on everything is sacred.
Everything that is done presently affects the future by way of consequence, and the past by way of redemption.
Everything to the contrary is revoked.
