Friday, November 18, 2011

Gabriel Garcia Marquez


A Farewell Letter From a Genius
(known as Gabo in his native country)

Born in 1928, in the small town of Aracataca, Colombia 
(northwest corner of South America) in the banana zone of his country, 
he received the Nobel Prize in Literature on March 6, 1982.


He is recognized as a Major Colombian novelist and short story writer.

Retired from public life for reasons of health, he has a form of terminal cancer. He sends this farewell message to all his friends and colleagues...and asks that all who read this document will forward to many of their friends. Several of his comments are set against a backdrop scenery of major world cities. (Try to picture in your mind, an appropriate image to give his writing reality...and to impress upon yourself, the significance of his words!)

Here are a few of his comments:

If God, for a second, forgot what I have become
and granted me a little bit more of life,
I would use it to the best of my ability.

I would sleep less. I would dream more, because I know... that for 
every minute we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light.
I would walk while others sleep.
I would awaken while others sleep.

To all, I would say how mistaken they are 
when they think that they stop falling in love when they grow old, 
without knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love.

I would give wings to my children,
but I would leave it to them to learn how to fly by themselves.

I have learned so much with you all.
I have learned that everyone wants to live on the top of the mountain
without knowing that true happiness is obtained in the journey taken
and the form used to reach the top of the hill.

I have learned that when a newborn baby holds with his little hand
his father's finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.
I have learned that a man has the right and obligation
to look down at another man,
only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.

Say always what you feel, not what you think.
If I know that today is the last time that I am going to see you asleep,
I would hug you with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord
to let me be the guardian angel of your soul.

If I knew that these are the last moments to see you,
I would say, “I Love You!”

Nobody will know you for your secret thoughts.
Ask the Lord for wisdom and strength to express them.

The following are a few other quotes I found ~ thank you Carolyn 
for the above!

What matters in Life, is not what happens to you ~
but what you remember...and how you remember it.

It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams
because they grow old.
They grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.

The heart's memory eliminates the bad
and magnifies the good.

Merle Baird-Kerr . . . written February 10, 2010

Wish to leave a comment? ... scroll down
or e-mail ... inezkate@gmail.com

No comments:

Post a Comment