The Fifth Mountain

by Paulo Coelho

“The best way to know and destroy an enemy is to pretend to become his friend.”

“Courage is fear that prays.”

“The brave are always stubborn”

“This was freedom: to feel what the heart desired, with no thought to the opinion of the rest.”

“Suffering has no strength to wound a weary body.”

“A child can always teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.”

“Everything will happen as was written by the Lord,” replied the prophet. “There are moments when tribulations occur in our lives, and we cannot avoid them. But they are there for some reason.”

“What reason?”

“That is a question we cannot answer before, or even during, the trials. Only when we have overcome them do we understand why they were there.”

“Every man hath the right to doubt his task, and to forsake it from time to time; but what he must not do is forget it. Whoever doubteth not himself is unworthy –for in his unquestioning belief in his ability, he commiteth the sin of pride. Blessed are they who go through moments of indecision.”

“… of all the weapons of destruction that man could invent, the most terrible –and the most powerful –was the word. Daggers and spears left traces of blood; arrows could be seen at a distance. Poisons were detected in the end and avoided… but the word managed to destroy without leaving clues.”

“His [Elijah] heart was beginning to give signs of alarm; he was enjoying being at this woman’s side. Love could be a more frightening experience than standing before Ahab’s soldier with an arrow aimed at his heart; if the arrow had struck him, he would be dead –and the rest was up to God. But if love struck him, he alone would have to take responsibility for the consequences.”

“… but the greatest wisdom is blinded by the glare of vanity.”

“Fear reaches only to the point where the unavoidable begins; from there on, it loses its meaning. And all we have left is the hope that we are making the right decision.”

“The old shepherd was right: The only solution was to forget a part of uncertainty and create a new history for oneself.”