The Washington Post (29 March 2019). "I was tortured by Brazil's dictatorship. Is that what Bolsonaro wants to celebrate?". The Washington Post . Retrieved 30 March 2019. A warrior of light often loses heart. He believes that nothing can stir in him the emotion he so desired. He is forced to spend many evenings and nights feeling that he is one of the vanquished, and nothing seems able to restore his enthusiasm. His friends say: 'Perhaps his fight is over.' The warrior feels pain and confusion when he hears such remarks because he knows that he has not yet reached the place he wanted to reach. But he is stubborn and refuses to relinquish his aims. Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens. Sometimes the warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once. In one of them he is obliged to do all the things he does not want to do and to fight for ideas in which he does not believe. But there is another life, and he discovers it in his dreams, in his reading and in his encounters with people who share his ideas. The warrior allows his two lives to draw near. 'There is a bridge that links what I do with what I would like to do,' he thinks. Slowly, his dreams take over his everyday life, and then he realises that he is ready for the thing he always wanted. Then all that is needed is a little daring, and his two lives become one. Each time he came over I would greet him with a quote from the book and we would meditate over it for a bit. Instead of answering your question directly I shall quote from the Indian poet Tagore: “I slept and dreamt that life was joy/ I awoke and saw that life was service/I acted and behold, service was joy.” In fact, through my work I discover life, people, and everything which happens around us.”

Manual of the Warrior of Light: Paulo Coelho: 9780007156320 Manual of the Warrior of Light: Paulo Coelho: 9780007156320

A warrior of light needs both patience and speed. The two worst strategic mistakes to make are: acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats each situation as if it were unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people's opinions. The caliph Moauiyat asked Omr Ben Al-Aas the secret of his great political skills: 'I never get involved in something without having first worked out my retreat; then again, I have never gone into a situation and immediately wanted to run straight out again,' came the answer. You can give a fool a thousand intellects, but the only one he will want is yours,' says an Arabic proverb. When the warrior of light starts planting his garden, he notices that his neighbour is there, spying. He likes to give advice on when to sow actions, when to fertilise thoughts and water conquests. If he listens to what his neighbour is saying, he will end up creating something that is not his; the garden he is tending will be his neighbour's idea. But a true warrior of light knows that every garden has its own mysteries, which only the patient hand of the gardener can unravel. That is why he prefers to concentrate on the sun, the rain and the seasons. He knows that the fool who gives advice about someone else's garden is not tending his own plants.Schaertl, Markia The Boy from Ipanema: Interview with Paulo Coelho reposted on Paulo Coelho's Blog. 20 December 2007. If the strings of an instrument are always taut, they go out of tune. Warriors who spend all their time training lose their spontaneity in battle. Horses that are always jumping fences end up breaking a leg. Bows that are bent all day no longer shoot arrows with the same force. That is why, even if he is not in the mood, the warrior of light tries to enjoy the small everyday things of life. Francisco Otaviano): Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay ► Francisco de Castro ► Martins Júnior ► Sousa Bandeira ► Hélio Lobo ► Augusto Meyer ► Francisco de Assis Barbosa ► Sérgio Paulo Rouanet ► Ruy Castro After accepting love as a stimulus, a man faces the third obstacle: the fear of the defeats he will encounter along the way. A man who fights for his dream suffers far more when something doesn’t go well, because he cannot use the famous excuse: “oh, well in fact that wasn’t exactly what I wanted anyway… ” He does want it, and knows he is putting everything into it, and also that the Personal Legend is just as difficult as any other path - the difference being that your heart is present on this journey. So, a warrior of the light must be prepared to be patient at difficult times, and know that the Universe is conspiring in his favor, even if he does not understand how.”

The Manual of the Warrior of Light : Paulo Coelho : Free

The warrior of light remembers a passage from John Bunyan: 'Although I have been through all that I have, I do not regret the many hardships I met, because it was they who brought me to the place I wished to reach. Now all I have is this sword and I give it to whomever wishes to continue his pilgrimage. I carry with me the marks and scars of battles - they are the witnesses of what I suffered and the rewards of what I conquered. These are the beloved marks and scars that will open the gates of Paradise to me. There was a time when I used to listen to tales of bravery. There was a time when I lived only because I needed to live. But now I live because I am a warrior and because I wish one day to be in the company of Him for whom I have fought so hard.' The warrior of light knows when an enemy is stronger than he is. If he decides to confront him, he will be destroyed instantly. If he responds to his provocations, he will fall into a trap. So he uses diplomacy to resolve the difficult situation in which he finds himself. When the enemy behaves like a baby, he does the same. When he challenges him to a fight, he pretends not to understand. His friends say: 'He's a coward.' But the warrior pays no attention; he knows that all the rage and courage of a little bird are as nothing to a cat. In such situations, the warrior remains patient; the enemy will soon go off in search of others to provoke. The warrior hears someone say: 'I need to understand everything before I can make a decision. I want to have the freedom to change my mind.' The warrior regards these words suspiciously. He too can enjoy that freedom, but this does not prevent him from taking on a commitment, even if he does not know quite why he does so. A warrior of light makes decisions. His soul is as free as the clouds in the sky, but he is committed to his dream. On his freely chosen path, he often has to get up earlier than he would like, speak to people from whom he learns nothing, make certain sacrifices. His friends say: 'You're not free.' The warrior is free. But he knows that an open oven bakes no bread.

The Latin root of the word 'responsibility' reveals its true meaning: the capacity to respond, to react. A responsible warrior is one who has proved able to observe and to learn. He is even capable of being 'irresponsible'. Sometimes, he has allowed himself to be carried along by a situation, without responding or reacting. But he always learned his lesson; he took a stance, listened to advice and was humble enough to accept help. A responsible warrior is not someone who takes the weight of the world on his shoulders, but someone who has learned to deal with the challenges of the moment. The friends of the warrior of light ask him where he draws his energy from. He says: 'From the hidden enemy.' His friends ask who that is. The warrior responds: 'Someone we can no longer hurt.' It might be a boy who beat him in a childhood scrap, the girlfriend who left him when he was eleven, the teacher who said he was stupid. When he is tired, the warrior reminds himself that these enemies have still not seen his courage. He does not consider revenge, because the hidden enemy is no longer part of his story. He thinks only of improving his skills so that his deeds will be known throughout the world and reach the ears of those who have hurt him in the past. Yesterday's pain is the warrior of light's strength. However good we are, however correctly we seek to lead our lives, tragedies do occur. We can blame others, look for justification, imagine how our lives would have been different without them. But none of that matters: they have happened, and that is that. From this point on, it is necessary that we review our own lives, overcome fear, and begin the process of reconstruction.” Every warrior of light has felt afraid of going into battle. Every warrior of light has, at some time in the past, lied or betrayed someone. Every warrior of light has trodden a path that was not his. Every warrior of light has suffered for the most trivial of reasons. Every warrior of light has, at least once, believed that he was not a warrior of light. Every warrior of light has failed in his spiritual duties. Every warrior of light has said 'yes' when he wanted to say 'no'. Every warrior of light has hurt someone he loved. That is why he is a warrior of light, because he has been through all this and yet has never lost hope of being better than he is. A warrior of light does not postpone making decisions. He thinks a good deal before he acts; he considers his training, as well as his responsibilities and duties as a teacher. He tries to remain calm and to analyse each step as if it were of supreme importance. However, as soon as he has made a decision, the warrior proceeds: he has no doubts about his chosen action nor does he change direction if circumstances turn out differently from how he had imagined them. If his decision is correct, he will win the battle, even if it lasts longer than expected. If his decision is wrong, he will be defeated and he will have to start all over again - only this time with more wisdom. But once he has started, a warrior of light perseveres until the end.