The Story of The Pencil – By Paulo Coelho
Written on July 11, 2007 by Tezza
The story is excerpted from the book written by Paulo Coelho “Like The Flowing River”. A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked:
‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’
‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’
‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’
‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.’
‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice’
‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’
‘Finally, the pencils fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’
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great siad
but what names of this book??
Amal, The book was: “Like the Flowing River”, a collection of short stories by Paulo. A wonderful read if you are a fan of his books.
I have read this book and it let me reflect.
nice book
I am sociologue &poet. My son who is living in CANADA, send me” the story of the pencil”. Really I like it so much. The five points are excellent The Fourth quality is exactly like I´ll feel when I write…Some times I ask me: Who tell me suddenly that ideas…and sometimes I feel the inspiration flow inside my self. Sometimes I hear like a dictation inside.
I´ll try to find the book “Like the flowing river”. I live in Caracas, Venezuela.
(Excuse muy english, is not so well. I am a french/spanish teacher. <Soy sociólogo, y poeta. Mi hijo que vive en Canadá me envió la "historia del lápiz" y lee mucho a Paulo Coelho. Yo también lo he leido. Tiene cosas que aprecio muchísimo.)
Muchas gracias por la portunidad de expresarme a este respecto. Estoy segura que entenderá mi castellano o mi incipiente inglés.
Kisses
Samedi, 17 juillet 2010
&my first book is spanish/one poem in french.The name "El otro lado de lo real"-Poesía venezolana.