"WE DON'T WANT TO FORGET WHO WE ARE" by Paulo Coelho

"In all the languages in the world there is the same proverb: 'What the eyes don't see the heart doesn't grieve over.'

Well, I say there isn't an ounce of truth to it. The further off they are the closer to the heart are all those feelings that we try to repress and forget. If we're in exile we want to store away every tiny memory of our roots. If we're far from the person we love, everyone we pass in the streets reminds us of them.

The Gospels and all the sacred texts of all religions were written in exile in search of God's understanding, of the faith that moves whole peoples, of the pilgrimage of souls wandering the face of the Earth.

Our ancestors do not know, as we do not know, what the Divinity expects from our lives-- and it is out of that doubt that books are written, pictures painted, because WE DON'T WANT TO FORGET WHO WE ARE.-- nor can we."

(From 'Eleven Minutes', A Novel by Paulo Coelho)