Sumaia

“Marie, let’s suppose that two firemen go into a forest to put out a small fire. Afterwards, when they emerge and go over to a stream, the face of one is all smeared with black, while the other man’s face is completely clean. My question is this: which of the two will wash his face?

That’s a silly question. The one with the dirty face of course.’

No, the one with the dirty face will look at the other man and assume that he looks like him. And, vice versa, the man with the clean face will see his colleague covered in grime and say to himself: I must be dirty too. I’d better have a wash.’

What are you trying to say?’

I’m saying that, during the time I spent in the hospital, I came to realize that I was always looking for myself in the women I loved. I looked at their lovely, clean faces and saw myself reflected in them. They, on the other hand, looked at me and saw the dirt on my face and, however intelligent or self-confident they were, they ended up seeing themselves reflected in me thinking that they were worse than they were. Please, don’t let that happen to you.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

“All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step”
― Paulo Coelho, The Zahir

“المرأة والرجل وجهان لجوهر الانسان، وكلاهما يقترب من الآخر في ابتداء العمر، وفي أواخره. فالرُضّع يتقارب فيهم الذكر والانثى، ثم يبتعدان، إذا ما صارت البنت جارية، والولد صبيا. وينجذبان حين ينفصلان، ويتحرقان لِحِلِّ الذكر في الأنثى، ليكتمل باجتماعهما معنى الانسان. وقد سمي الذكر، الإحليل، من الحِلّ. فاذا شاخ أحدهما، عاد بحاله واقترب من الآخر. فتصير العجوز كالرجل وقد ينبت بوجهها الشَّعر. ويصير الشيخ حنونا كالإناث، وأموميًا مثلهن. فكأن العجوز تصير أبًا، ويغدو الشيخ أمًّا. ويكفان عندئذ، عن الاشتياق والتحرق.”
― يوسف زيدان, النبطي

“You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That's the only thing you should be trying to control.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love