The Zahir Quotes & Sayings

We must at all costs avoid saying no because people prefer those who say yes, and this allows us to survive in hostile territory. — Paulo Coelho

We don't always choose the best solution but we carry on regardless, trying to remain upright and decent in order to do honor not to the walls or the doors or the windows but to the empty space inside, the space where we worship and venerate what is dearest and most important to us. — Paulo Coelho

A lot of people recoil from the word "drugs" - which is understandable given today's noxious street drugs and their uninspiring medical counterparts. Yet even academics and intellectuals in our society typically take the prototypical dumb drug, ethyl alcohol. If it's socially acceptable to take a drug that makes you temporarily happy and stupid, then why not rationally design drugs to make people perpetually happier and smarter? Presumably, in order to limit abuse-potential, one would want any ideal pleasure drug to be akin - in one limited but important sense - to nicotine, where the smoker's brain finely calibrates its optimal level: there is no uncontrolled dose-escalation. — David Pearce

He had all the self-preservation instincts of a bug near a shiny windshield. — Karen Chance

He that would fish, must venture his bait. — Benjamin Franklin

The person who's in the Zen monastery, who's doing a kind of poor job at meditating and a half-ass job cleaning the gardens is not doing very good yoga. — Frederick Lenz

Life is both dreadful and wonderful. To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Don't judge me for escaping the stresses and cruelty of the world differently than you do. — Dan Pearce

It is only when someone cannot defend his opinion, and is not interested in believing the truth, that he will attempt to stifle discussion with good manners. Those who take religion, politics and sex seriously do not adhere to the general prohibition on discussing these topics. And they do not take offence when they are shown to be wrong.
If you start to feel during a discussion, that you are not so much incorrect as insensitive, then you are probably dealing with a respectable bigot. — Jamie Whyte

In our quest to prove ourselves, we forget that there is a life beyond those corporate walls — Zahir Chauhan

In the world of my imagination, Esther was still my companion, and her love gave me the strength to go forward and explore all my frontiers.
In the real world, she was pure obsession, sapping my energy, taking up all the available space, and obliging me to make an enormous effort just to continue with my life.
How was it possible that, even after two years, I had still not managed to forget her? I could not bear having to think about it anymore, analyzing all the possibilities, and trying
various ways out: deciding simply to accept the situation, writing a book, practicing yoga, doing some charity work, seeing friends, seducing women, going out to supper, to the cinema (always avoiding adaptations of books, of course, and seeking out films that had been specially written for the screen), to the theater, the ballet, to soccer games. The Zahir always won, though; it was always there, making me think, I wish she was here with me. — Paulo Coelho

It's better to be hungry than to be lonely - and i'm not talking about the loneliness that we choose but the loneliness that we are forced to accept - , it's like you don't belong to this world anymore! — Paulo Coelho

Universities are very clarifying places of power, because everyone is focused on trying to figure out exactly what to do with their lives. — Frederick Lenz

You don't need to go that far in the future, you just have to go 2000 years ago, — Paulo Coelho

You want to know if the heart of a man or a woman can contain enough love for more than one person? ... I think it's perfectly possible as long as one of those people doesn't turn into ... a Zahir. — Paulo Coelho

The movie business has always been like the wild-catting oil business. Everyone wants a gusher. — Michael Eisner

The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don't talk anymore, they don't sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories. — Paulo Coelho

People, even crazy, evil people, tended to believe they have a good reason for doing what they do. Though some consider religion the opiate of the masses, others use it to further their obsessions, or rationalize their crimes. — J.A. Konrath

Come along inside ... We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place. — Kenneth Grahame

The acomodador or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappointment in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first free himself from that giving-up point and, to do so, he must review his while life and find out where it occured. — Paulo Coelho

Always keep Ithaca in your mind. To arrive there is your ultimate goal. But do not hurry the voyage at all. It is better to let it last for many years; and to anchor at the island when you are old, rich with all you have gained on the way, not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches. Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage. Without her you would never have set out on the road. She has nothing more to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you. Wise as you have become, with so much experience, you must already have understood what Ithacas mean. — Paulo Coelho

Don't lose yourself just because you found somebody. — Emma Hewitt

She has a beautiful heart that plays a euphonious symphony. She is the Zahir that touches your Soul. — Avijeet Das

What we need to learn is always there before us, we just have to look around us with respect and attention in order to discover where God is leading us and which step we should take next. — Paulo Coelho

Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable of going unnoticed. It is someone or something which, once we have come into contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness. — Paulo Coelho

Pakistan's ruler Pervez Musharraf predicted the Taliban will fall for hiding Osama bin Laden. Ex-king Zahir Shah is standing by to replace Mullah Mohammed Omar. And the most ominous sign of all, President Bush has learned all their names. — Argus Hamilton