“No road is too long in the company of a friend…” – Maria da Graça Carvalho

 

“I am reading a book called Nenhum Caminho Será longo, written by the Portuguese Catholic cardinal, theologian and poet José Tolentino Mendonça. The book borrows its title from the Japanese proverb: “No road is too long in the company of a friend”. It is, of course, a book about friendship, revisiting how this connection is portrayed in the Bible and in the work of philosophers and historians throughout the ages. It shows how important friendship is, not only in individual paths but also in carving societies and influencing key historical events. Reading, for me, is a way of travelling while standing still. I started reading when I was a very young girl and never stopped.”