Carlos Castaneda Quote
You feel like a leaf at the mercy of the wind, don’t you? he finally said, staring at me. That was exactly the way I felt. He seemed to empathize with me. He said that my mood reminded him of a song and began to sing in a low tone; his singing voice was very pleasing and the lyrics carried me away: I’m so far away from the sky where I was born. Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts. Now that I am so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind, sometimes I want to weep, sometimes I want to laugh with longing. (Que lejos estoy del cielo donde he nacido. Immensa nostalgia invade mi pensamiento. Ahora que estoy tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento, quisiera llorar, quisiera reir de sentimiento.) We did not speak for a long while. He finally broke the silence. Since the day you were born, one way or another, someone has been doing something to you, he said. That’s correct, I said. And they have been doing something to you against your will. True. And by now you’re helpless, like a leaf in the wind. That’s correct. That’s the way it is. I said that the circumstances of my life had sometimes been devastating. He listened attentively but I could not figure out whether he was just being agreeable or genuinely concerned until I noticed that he was trying to hide a smile. No matter how much you like to feel sorry for yourself, you have to change that, he said in a soft tone. It doesn’t jibe with the life of a warrior.
You feel like a leaf at the mercy of the wind, don’t you? he finally said, staring at me. That was exactly the way I felt. He seemed to empathize with me. He said that my mood reminded him of a song and began to sing in a low tone; his singing voice was very pleasing and the lyrics carried me away: I’m so far away from the sky where I was born. Immense nostalgia invades my thoughts. Now that I am so alone and sad like a leaf in the wind, sometimes I want to weep, sometimes I want to laugh with longing. (Que lejos estoy del cielo donde he nacido. Immensa nostalgia invade mi pensamiento. Ahora que estoy tan solo y triste cual hoja al viento, quisiera llorar, quisiera reir de sentimiento.) We did not speak for a long while. He finally broke the silence. Since the day you were born, one way or another, someone has been doing something to you, he said. That’s correct, I said. And they have been doing something to you against your will. True. And by now you’re helpless, like a leaf in the wind. That’s correct. That’s the way it is. I said that the circumstances of my life had sometimes been devastating. He listened attentively but I could not figure out whether he was just being agreeable or genuinely concerned until I noticed that he was trying to hide a smile. No matter how much you like to feel sorry for yourself, you have to change that, he said in a soft tone. It doesn’t jibe with the life of a warrior.
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About Carlos Castaneda
The first three books—The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, A Separate Reality, and Journey to Ixtlan—were written while he was an anthropology student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Castaneda was awarded his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles based on the work he described in these books.
At the time of his death in 1998, Castaneda's books had sold more than eight million copies and had been published in 17 languages.