This Stuck With Me

This is a passage from "The Valkyries" by Paulo Coelho, my favorite author.

Punish us because we are different. Because we have dared to dream, and to believe in the things no one else any longer believes in.

Punish us because we challenged what exists, what everyone else accepts, what most others want to remain unchanged.

Punish us because we speak of faith, and we feel hopeless. We speak of love, but we receive neither the affection nor the comfort we feel we deserve. We speak of freedom, and we are prisoners to our own guilt.