Dear students,
Here is a wisdom passage I picked out of The Alchemist:
"I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now" (Coelho, 85).
The speaker is the camel driver, a wise elder to Santiago, the boy. I like the passage because it focuses on the idea of now being the most real part of our lives. I love to ponder the past, and I believe it helps to ponder the furutre, though I am most at home in the present, and I believe happiness grows out of training my body to remain relaxed and calm in the present.
What does wisdom mean to you, and did your passage relate to the essence of wisdom as you understand it?
Thanks,
Mr. Cummins