André Costa

“Most books ask you to learn.

This one asks you to see.

Do not believe what is written because it is written.

Do not reject it because it is unfamiliar.

Look.

If something seems true, do not hurry to agree.

If something seems false, do not hurry to disagree.

Reality has no need of your haste.

It only asks for your attention.

Many people read to confirm what they already know.

Others read to find something to oppose.

Neither reads freely.

To see is different.

To see is to let Reality speak before your conclusions do.

You may find that some pages comfort you.

Others may disturb you.

Receive neither comfort nor disturbance as proof.

Truth is not measured by either.

The dialogue is not asking you to admire Zero.

Nor to imitate Him.

Nor even to understand Him immediately.

It asks only this:

Look again.

If you discover that the dialogue has seen something true, do not stop there.

See it yourself.

For borrowed sight is not sight.

And if you find that it has failed to see, then leave it.

Reality is greater than every author.

Including this one.

Read slowly.

Pause often.

If a sentence remains with you, let it remain.

If a page resists you, do not force it.

Some truths are understood only after life has prepared a place for them.

The Book of Life is not completed when you finish reading it.

It is completed each time something true becomes visible.

Then the dialogue has done its work.

The rest belongs to Reality.”