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Carlos Castaneda was certainly the
most important writer of the hippie generation, although he was
never accepted in intellectual circles - not that this worried him
very much. Just as I did last year, I am dedicating an issue of
Warrior of the Light Online to his work, and transcribe a few excerpts
from his books:
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A warrior accepts the responsibility
for his actions - even the most trivial ones. A common man never
admits his mistakes, but claims any victory, even if it is that
of another man. He is a winner or a loser, can become a persecutor
or victim, but will never achieve the condition of warrior, for
he does not deserve it.
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Sometimes a warrior must be available,
and at others he must remain hidden. It is useless for a warrior
to be available all the time, just as it is useless hiding when
all know where has hidden. By alternating availability and unavailability,
he does not tire easily, and does not tire those around him.
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For the common man, the world is
strange because when he isn't tired of living, he is suffering because
of things he believes he doesn't deserve. To a warrior, the world
is strange because it is stupendous, frightening, mysterious, unfathomable.
The art of the warrior consists of balancing the terror of being
a man, with the wonder of being a man.
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Acts have power. Especially when
the warrior knows that each fight might be his last battle. There
is a strange joy in acting fully in the knowledge that we might
die at any moment.
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The most difficult thing in this
world is to adopt the posture of a warrior. Being sad and complaining
is no use, nor is claiming someone does us wrong. No one is doing
anything to anyone, and much less to a warrior.
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The confidence of a warrior is not
the confidence of a common man. A common man seeks approval in the
eyes of the spectator, and calls this certainty. The warrior seeks
to be impeccable in his own eyes, and calls this humility. The common
man is tied to his neighbors, the warrior is in contact with infinity.
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There are many things that a warrior
can do at any given moment, and which he could not do some years
ago. It is not that things have changed; what has changed is the
idea the warrior has about himself.
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Power always places the warrior within
reach of a cubic centimeter of luck. The art of the warrior consists
of being permanently fluid, in order to use it.
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Everyone has at his disposal enough
power to achieve things. The warrior's secret consists of capturing
the energy which was before dedicated to his weaknesses, and using
it in his favor in this life.
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