Carlos Castañeda Quotes

Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you're about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you're wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, 'I haven't touched you yet.

Denying oneself is an indulgence. The indulgence of denying is by far the worst; it forces us to believe that we are doing great things, when in effect we are only fixed within ourselves.

For an instant I think I saw. I saw the loneliness of man as a gigantic wave which had been frozen in front of me, held back by the invisible wall of a metaphor.

Маги говорят, что мы находимся внутри пузыря. Это тот пузырь, в который мы были помещены в момент своего рождения. Сначала пузырь открыт, но затем он начинает закрываться, пока не запаяет нас внутри себя. Этот пузырь является нашим восприятием. Мы живем внутри этого пузыря всю свою жизнь. А то, что мы видим на его круглых стенах, является нашим собственным отражением.

The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That's the warrior's way.

Bez obzira na to jesmo li ratnici, svi se mi s vremena na vrijeme suočavamo s kubnim
centimetrom mogućnosti. Razlika između prosječnog čovjeka i ratnika jest u tome što je ratnik
toga svjestan, ostaje svjestan i budno čeka kako bi taj kubni centimetar uhvatio čim se pojavi.

You don't have any time, and yet you're surrounded by eternity. What a paradox for your reason!

The average man also examines the past. But it's his personal past he examines, for personal reasons. He measures himself against the past, whether his personal past or the past knowledge of his time, in order to find justifications for his present or future behavior, or to establish a model for himself.

When a man embarks on the warriors' path he becomes aware, in a gradual manner, that ordinary life has been left forever behind. The means of the ordinary world are no longer a buffer for him; and he must adopt a new way of life if he is going to survive.

What distinguishes normal people is that we share a metaphorical dagger; the concerns of our self - reflection. With this dagger, we cut ourselves and bleed; and the job of our chains of self - reflection is to give us the feeling that we are bleeding together, that we are sharing something wonderful; our humanity. But if we were to examine it, we would discover that we are bleeding alone; that we are not sharing anything; that all we are doing is toying with our manageable, unreal, man-made reflection. Sorcerers are no longer in the world of daily affairs, because they are no longer prey to their self - reflection.

Our will operates in spite of our indulgence. For example, your will is already opening your gap, little by little.” “What gap are you talking about?” “There is a gap in us; like the soft spot on the head of a child which closes with age, this gap opens as one develops one’s will.

Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions....

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

Dreaming requires every bit of our available energy,' he replied. 'If there is a deep preoccupation in our life, there is no possibility of dreaming.

Each man is different. Each man must follow his own path. Each man is the same. Each man must follow his own path.

A warrior knows that he is only a man. His only regret is that his life is so short that he can't grab onto all the things that he would like to. But for him, this is not an issue; it's only a pity. Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.