The Wounded by Love Agreement

The convention on the wounded by love

General Provision:

Considering that it’s absolutely correct the saying that states that “all is fair in love and war”;

Considering that in war we have the Geneva Convention, adopted in August 22nd of 1864, that determines the fate of the wounded in battlefields whereas there is no convention that was promulgated until this day that deals with the wounded of love, who are much more populous;

It is here declared that:

Art. 1 – all lovers, male or female, are now being notified that love, besides being a blessing, is also something very dangerous, unpredictable and able to cause serious damages. Consequently the one who decides to love has to know that his or her body and soul are exposed to many types of wounds and will not be able to blame the partner in any moment, since the risk is equal to both.


Art. 2- Once a lost arrow from the bow of Cupid hits a person, that person has to immediately ask the archer to dart another arrow in the opposite direction, so that one will not fall prey to the wound famously known as “non-reciprocal love”. In case Cupid refuses such act, the Convention here promulgated demands that the wounded immediately retrieve the arrow from his heart and throw it in the bin.

In order to achieve this effect, the wounded has to avoid phone calls, internet messages, flower deliveries, or any other act of seduction, since these acts only achieve short term results and are inevitably erased by time. The convention declares that the wounded has to quickly seek the company of other people in order to control the obsessive thought “it’s still worth fighting for this person”.

Art. 3 – In case the wound comes from third parties, meaning, the loved one is interested by someone else who was not expected in the pre-established plans, it is hereby expressly forbidden any act of revenge. In this case, it is permitted the profuse use of tears, some punches on the wall or pillow, talks with friends where the wounded can freely insult the ex-partner, allege his or her complete lack of good taste, but refraining to lessen the partner’s honor.

The convention determines that art. 2 can also be applied: the wounded may seek the company of other people, preferably in places where the partner does not dwell.

Art. 4 – In case of light wounds, hereby classified as small betrayals, fulminating passions that do not last long, transitory sexual disinterest, one has to quickly and abundantly apply a medicine called Forgiveness. Once this medicine is applied, one must never look back and the subject must be completely forgotten, never being mentioned as an argument in occasional fights or moments of hate.

Art. 5 – In the case of definitive wounds, also called “break-ups”, the only medicine capable of truly healing one’s heart is Time. It’s pointless and ineffective to find consolation with fortune-tellers (who will always claim that the lost love will return), romantic books (in which the endings are always happy ones), TV soap operas or other similar things. One has to suffer with intensity, completely avoiding the use of drugs, painkillers, prayers. Alcohol is only allowed in moderation, never surpassing more than two glasses of wine a day.

Final Provision: the wounded of love, contrary to the wounded of armed conflicts, are neither victims nor torturers. They have chosen something that is part of life and therefore they have to face the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

And for those that were never wounded by love, they will never be able to say: “I lived”. Because they haven’t.

This text was written in Geneva, June 25th, 2007

@Paulo Coelho

Secretary-General Designates Brazilian Author Paulo Coelho as Messenger of Peace

On Friday, 21 September – the International Day of Peace – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will honour Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and Her Royal Highness Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan by designating them as United Nations Messengers of Peace. They will join four other Messengers of Peace, individuals who possess widely recognized talents in the fields of art, literature, music and sports, in helping to raise worldwide awareness of the ideals and activities of the United Nations.


Paulo Coelho, world renowned author of “The Alchemist”, uses his universal appeal to help underprivileged members of Brazilian society through his Paulo Coelho Institute, which he founded with his wife, Christina Oiticica. He is also an advocate of multiculturalism through his work with UNESCO as a Special Counselor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences.


A political activist since his youth, Mr. Coelho will continue to promote intercultural dialogue and focus on the needs of children around the world as a Messenger of Peace. The native of Rio de Janeiro has enchanted readers from around the world for years and gathered numerous international awards for his works, which have been translated into more than 65 languages.


In selecting Mr. Coelho for this designation, the Secretary-General said, “Mr. Coelho’s “talent as a writer and his exceptional ability to touch the lives of men and women across boundaries and cultures would make him a powerful Messenger”.


While previously scheduled commitments will preclude his attendance at the International Day of Peace Observance, Mr. Coelho said he was honoured by the designation. “I gladly accept this responsibility and am committed to do my best to work towards a better future for the current and next generations”.


The other Messengers of Peace and their areas of focus are: Ms. Jane Goodall, the environment; Michael Douglas, disarmament and peace and security; Yo-Yo Ma, youth; and Elie Wiesel, human rights and the Holocaust. Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotii was a Messenger of Peace for nearly a decade before his death in Modena, Italy on 6 September 2007. Mr. Douglas, Ms. Goodall and Mr. Wiesel also will attend the International Day of Peace Observance.

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Today's Answer by Paulo Coelho

Question: In your book Pilrimage you described 3 possible different meaning for love: Eros, Philos and agape. Does eternal love exist according to you?


Paulo Coelho : Love itself is eternal – we are made of Love. However, the manifestations may be ephemerous – it is like a tree, that may have some different leaves in this summer, and totally different leaves in the next summer. Love is the tree, the manifestation of love are the leaves

A Prayer

Every night, before going to sleep, I always pray the same prayer: I ask God to make me see only the good side of things, and not the bad. Then, I figure, things will be more good than bad.

I was inspired by what Paulo Coelho wrote: "You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it".

That got me thinking - you can choose to wallow in your misery, keeping yourself submerged in that river, thinking only the bad side of everything. But you can also choose another path, by trying to find something positive in times of misfortune.

Who is the Coelho lesser known?

In Veronika decides to Die , you talk of a young girl who wants to end her life even though she practically has everything that would define a 'good life'. This story well portrays the life of many today. So how must one get away from the troubles of one's daily grind without getting away from a practical day-to-day life itself?

There’s a motto in Alchemy : “Concentrate and dissolve”. As you may know alchemists would, through laboratory studies, try to distill the mercury from the sulphur and then refine the mercury until it converted into gold. This quest would lead them to the Philosopher Stone (which was the solid component) and the Long Life Elixir. All the process of distilling is based on this very simple motto: concentrate – meaning extracting the essence – and dissolve – meaning mixing the essence with something else.

Through this routine, alchemists were also training their patience and thus transforming their perception of the world. I think you can apply this same motto to life and love: in order to preserve love’s freedom, one has to be able at the same time to dive into its essence and to share it others.

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Writing helped me connect with my soul: Paulo Coelho

How difficult was it to write Eleven Minutes , for it was your first book that dealt with a subject as harsh as prostitution? How difficult was it to bring out the soul in a character immersed in such a life? Have you ever experienced such sexual awakening yourself?

I was in Switzerland during a book signing and met a reader that started to talk to me about the relation between body and soul. We talk a lot and the next day I invited her for a coffee. When we met at this café I had the feeling that I was in front of a story. Her story, and the story of other prostitutes that I interviewed during the writing process, gave me the background against which I created Maria.

It’s curious how I start the book saying, “Once upon a time there was a prostitute called Maria”. It’s a contradiction because I’m juxtaposing a child’s tale with the harshness of an adult theme – prostitution. But I believe this is a true reflection of our lives. We always have a foot in the abyss and another in paradise. To know how to walk along the razor’s edge is a challenge. Sex is all about this fragile equilibrium.

Reflections of the Warrior of the Light

The warrior of the light sometimes behaves like water, flowing around the many obstacles he encounters.
At certain times, resistance means to be destroyed. At such times, he adapts to circumstances. He accepts, without complaint, that the rocks along the way forge his path down the mountains.
Such is the force of water: it can never be broken by a hammer, or wounded by a knife. The most powerful sword in the world is incapable of leaving a scar on its surface.
The water of a river adapts to the path which is possible, without forgetting its objective: the sea. Fragile at its spring, it gradually acquires the strength of the other rivers it encounters.
And, after a while, its power is absolute.

@Paulo Coelho

Quote of the day on Paulo Coelho's blog

Love is looking at the same mountains
from different angles.

Today's Answer by Paulo Coelho

Question: Some consider that Portuguese language as a grave for literature, as it is so difficult and not widely used in world. But through translation your novels are widely read in many languages. So what is your relation with translation from Portuguese, its positive and negative effects on your native language and its aesthetic values?
Paulo Coelho : Portuguese is my mother tongue, and it is a beautiful language. A translator cannot create a book- and good translators are able to understand the deepness of Portuguese.

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Warrior of The Light :: Changing sound into color

“Let’s stop for a bit. I can’t stand this orange color!”

Where is the orange color? We are at the Trastevere in Rome, and all that I can see are the bars, the people in the streets in this early frozen spring, all this to the sound of church bells ringing. It’s almost night-time on a cloudy day, so we can’t even blame the sun for the optical illusion.

I am strolling with an actress I have known for some time, but we have never had the chance to have a proper conversation. I stop as she requested, but only out of politeness, since this well-balanced professional woman must be crazier than I thought.

We go into a restaurant to have dinner. We order risotto with truffles, and a good wine. We chat about life, and once again she comes out with an absurd comment:

“This food is rectangular!”

She noticed the alarmed expression on my face. Rectangular food?

“You must think I’m crazy; I’m not. At a certain moment in my life I thought that I was color-blind, that I got colors all mixed up. I went to the doctor and discovered that I have a common neurological disorder.”

When I got back home I immediately started to research on the computer and was surprised to find out something that I had never heard of before in my life: synesthesia. A condition in which the stimulus of a certain sense provokes perception in another. Those who suffer from this type of disorder confuse sounds with smells, sights with taste, colors with touch (not necessarily in that logical order).

Some scientific studies claim that the vision of auras in human beings was born there; I disagree with these studies, for I believe that all of us really have an astral body that can be seen when we alter perception. But what fascinated me most in my research was to find out that what we perceive through our five senses is not an absolute truth. Synesthetic people have a notion of the world completely different from ours, though this does not prevent them from leading a relatively normal life. My actress friend works on Italian TV every day, and says that she eventually became used to it.

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Copyright @ 2007 by Paulo Coelho
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