Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho (born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian poet and writer.

The Alchemist (1988)

O Alquimista ISBN 0-06-112241-6

• At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.
  • p. 18

• There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe.... The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness.
  • The Old King, p. 22

• When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
  • p. 22

• "At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny."

• "If good things are coming, they will be a pleasant surprise," said the seer. "If bad things are, and you know in advance, you will suffer greatly before they even occur."
  • p. 102

• Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.
  • p. 130

• There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
  • The Alchemist, p. 141

• What happens once will never happen again. But what happens twice will surely happen a third time.
  • p. 156

• Life attracts life.
  • "The Alchemist"

• ... And that dream, day by day, became less important. May be cause it wasn't really his dream.

• The fear of suffer is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered while was chasing its own dreams.

• God is where you let Him in.

• We all get prepared to kill dragons and end up being eaten by the ants of the details, which we've never given attention.

• Don't you ever allow doubts to paralyze your actions.

• Don't think about what you've left behind.
  • "The Alchemist"

• If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.

• It's not often that money saves a person's life.

• It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.
  • p. 132

• If I am really part of your dream, you will come back one day.
  • Fatima

• May love be your guide in every moment of your life.

• As he mused about these things, he realised that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure

• The desert takes our dreams away from us, and they don't always return. We know that, and we are used to it. Those who don't return become a part of the clouds, a part of the animals that hide in the ravines and of the water that comes from the earth. They become part of everything... They become the soul of the world.
  • Fatima

• "No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.
  • pg. 158 and 159

• "Although my aim is to understand love, and although I suffer to think of people to whom I gave my heart, I see that those who touched my heart failed to arouse my body, and that those who aroused my body failed to touch my heart."
  • Maria, "Eleven Minutes"

Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

• On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had - at last! - arrived.

• She believed herself to be completely normal. Two very simple reasons lay behind her decision to die, and she was sure that, were she to leave a note explaining, many people would agree with her.
  The first reason: everything in her life was the same and, once her youth was gone,it would be downhill all the way, with old age beginning to leave irreversible marks, the onset of illness, the departure of friends. She would gain nothing by continuing to live; indeed, the likelihood of suffering only increased. The second reason was more philosophical: Veronika read the newspapers, watched TV, and she was aware of what was going on in the world.Everything was wrong, and she had no way of putting things right - that gave her a sense of complete powerlessness.

• When she opened her eyes, Veronika did not think 'this must be heaven'. Heaven would never use a fluorescent tube to light a room, and the pain - which started a fraction of a second later - was typical of the Earth. Ah, that Earth pain - unique, unmistakable.

• I'll tell everyone that the children are my reason for living, when in reality my life is their reason for living.

• Veronika brought her interior monologue to a close and made a promise to herself: she would not leave Villete alive. It was best to put an end to everything now, while she was still brave and healthy enough to die.

• "Look me in the eye and never forget what I'm about to tell you. There are only two prohibitions, one according to man's law, the other according to God's. Never force a sexual relationship on anyone, because that is considered to be rape. And never have sexual relations with children, because that is the worst of all sins. Apart from that, you're free. There's always someone who wants exactly what you want." ~ Mari to Veronika.

• The great problem with poisoning by Bitterness was that the passions - hatred, love, despair, enthusiasm, curiosity - also ceased to manifest themselves. After a while, the embittered person felt no desire at all. They lacked the will either to live or to die, that was the problem.

• You are someone who is different, but who wants to be the same as everyone else. And that in my view is a serious illness. God chose you to be different. Why are you disappointing God with this kind of attitude?

• You have two choices: to control your mind or to let your mind control you.

The Zahir

• "That is how I would have acted before my accident, but now my personal history had become unimportant. It had stopped being history and was once more becoming a legend, a search, an adventure, a journey into and away from myself. I was once more in a time which the things around me were changing and that is how I wanted it to be for the rest of my days."

• “I learned something recently: our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives..."

• “...the heart of a man or a woman can contain enough love for more than one person.. as long as one of those people doesn’t turn into..a Zahir...."

• "In my world, everything is possible and everything is relative.”

• Stop being who you were and become who you are.

• A brush with death always helps us to live our lives better.

• “That’s the problem, we do get used to things.”

By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

• The moment we begin to seek love, love begins to seek us.
  • pg. 70

The Valkyries (1988)

• The parents always insisted on telling their child that their secret friends didn't exist - perhaps because they had forgotten that they too had spoken to their angel at one time. Or, who knows, perhaps they thought they lived in a world where there was no longer any place for angels. Disenchanted, the angels had returned to God's side, knowing that they could no longer impose their presence.
  • pg.132-133
• Perhaps they needn't even believe - it was enough that they needed angels, and the angels would return gladly.
  • pg. 133