Carlos Castaneda citations

“Pour un sorcier la réalité, c’est-à-dire le monde tel que nous le connaissons, n’est qu’une description.”

“- Ma seule raison, c'est de vouloir vraiment apprendre, juste pour savoir. Je vous assure, Don Juan, que mes intentions ne sont pas mauvaises.
- Je vous crois, je vous ai fumé.
- Je vous demande pardon?
- C'est sans importance. Je connais vos motifs.
- Vous voulez dire que vous voyez à travers moi?
- Si vous voulez.
- Alors vous m'apprendrez?
- Non.
- Parce que je ne suis pas Indien?
- Non. Parce que vous ne connaissez pas votre cœur. Ce qui est important, c'est que vous sachiez exactement pourquoi vous voulez entreprendre cette étude. Etudier le "Mescalito"; c'est une chose très sérieuse. Si vous étiez Indien, le seul fait de souhaiter l'étudier suffirait. Car très peu d'Indiens expriment un tel désir.”

“We hardly ever realize that we can cut anything out of our lives, anytime, in the blink of an eye.”

“Man lives only to learn. And if he learns it is because it is the nature of his lot, for good or bad.”

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

“In a world where death is the hunter, my friend, there is no time for regrets or doubts. There is only time for decisions.”

“Nobody knows who I am or what I do. Not even I.

Don Juan Matus”

“Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't then it is of no use to us.”

“For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length--and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”

“Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete.”

“To worry is to become accessible, unwittingly accessible. And once you worry you cling to anything out of desperation; and once you cling you are bound to get exhausted or to exhaust whoever or whatever you are clinging to.”

“A warrior thinks of his death when things become unclear. The idea of death is the only thing that tempers our spirit.”

“The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.”

“Think about it: what weakens us is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of our fellow men. Our self-importance requires that we spend most of our lives offended by someone.”

“You have little time left, and none of it for crap. A fine state. I would say that the best of us always comes out when we are against the wall, when we feel the sword dangling overhead. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way.”

“You say you need help. Help for what? You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life.”

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow, you must not stay with it under any circumstances.”

“Beware of those who weep with realization, for they have realized nothing.”

“To ask me to verify my life by giving you my statistics is like using science to validate sorcery. It robs the world of its magic and makes milestones out of us all.”

“A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war, wide awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance.”

“For a warrior, to be inaccessible means that he touches the world around him sparingly. And above all, he deliberately avoids exhausting himself and others. He doesn’t use and squeeze people until they have shriveled to nothing, especially the people he loves.”

“Dissipating a mood through overanalyzing it wastes our power.”

“A warrior knows that he is waiting and knows also what he is waiting for, and while he waits he feasts his eyes on the world. The ultimate accomplishment of a warrior is joy.”

“Shamanism is a journey of return. A warrior returns victorious to the spirit, having descended into hell. And from hell he brings trophies. Understanding is one of his trophies.”

“A warrior doesn't need personal history. One day, he finds it is no longer necessary for him, and he drops it.”

“The aim is to balance the terror of being alive with the wonder of being alive.”

“A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it”

“Forget the self and you will fear nothing, in whatever level or awareness you find yourself to be.”

“Only as a warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.”

“The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.”

“Seek and see all the marvels around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else. - Don Juan”