Paulo Coelho: Aleph

To live is to experience things, not sit around pondering the meaning of life.

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If you want to see a rainbow you have to learn to like the rain.

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There’s no point explaining that all we achieve by exacting revenge is to make ourselves the equals of our enemies, whereas by forgiving we show wisdom and intelligence.

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They say that in the second before our death, each of us understands the real reason for our existence, and out of that moment, Heaven or Hell is born. Hell is when we look back during that fraction of a second and know that we wasted an opportunity to dignify the miracle of life. Paradise is being able to say at that moment: "I made some mistakes, but I wasn`t a coward. I lived my life and did what I had to do."

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It isn`t what you did in the past that will affect the present. It`s what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future.

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