If you have read The Alchemist then you will know Paulo Coelho, he is a man of wise words. I  bought Manuscripts Found in Accra last year but I had to read it again this year before the year ran out. Like the name says, it is a manuscript filled with words of wisdom across different topics such as; fear, change, love, betrayal, beauty, loneliness, miracles and I needed a reminder. 

I appreciated it more this time around, maybe because I paid more attention to the words or maybe because I needed to heal from life’s lessons I’ve experienced lately. A book shouldn’t be read just once, it should be revisited time and time again that’s why the words are written down. 

Anyway, I thought to share some of the beautiful words I penned down from the book with you all today;

No matter how you are feeling, get up every morning and let your light shine forth.

Never try to please everyone, if you do, you will be respected by no one.

The great wisdom of life is to realize that we can be the masters of things that try to enslave us.

What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.

When you’re going through difficult times, remember: you may have lost some major battles, but you survived and you’re still here.

We will always meet rivals in everything we do but the most dangerous are those we believe to be our friends.

In life, we need to love even when it takes us to the land where the lakes are made of tears – that secret, mysterious place, the land of tears.

And if I am alone in bed, I will go over to the window, look up at the sky and feel certain that loneliness is a lie, because the universe is there to keep me company.

The person who left us did not take the sun with them or leave darkness in their place. They simply left and with every farewell comes a hidden hope.

If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.

If we resist the temptation to allow other people to define who we are, then we will gradually be able to let the sun inside our own soul shine forth.

Avoid those who believe they are stronger than you and stay close to those who are not afraid to show vulnerability because they are confident and know that at some point we all stumble.

Allowing someone else to make us happy will make them happy too.

A true hero is not the man who was born for great deeds but the one who has managed to build a shield of loyalty around him out of many small things.

Until the wheat is in the oven, it cannot be called bread. Until the words are spoken, they cannot be called a poem. Until the threads are woven together, they cannot be called cloth.

There are so many more from where these came from and I’m glad I own this book forever. Which of these quotes resonate with you most?

Mariam Shittu