Life is the main source of inspiration for Paulo Coelho's books. He faces death, overcomes madness, experiments with drugs, withstands torture, dabbles in magic and alchemy, studies philosophy and religion, reads widely, loses and regains his faith, learns the pain and pleasure of love, and searches for his place in the world . Coelho believes that we carry within us the necessary strength to discover our calling. His first novel, The Alchemist, changed the lives of millions of people. Paulo Coelho's books have been translated into 81 languages and have sold 225 million copies worldwide. He is the winner of 115 international awards, and since 2007 he has been a UN Messenger of Peace.
Here are a few living quotes that can add more meaning and insight to your days:
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And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
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The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.
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Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
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We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.
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Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.
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People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.
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Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other.
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Generally speaking, these meetings occur when we reach a limit, when we need to die and be reborn emotionally. These meetings are waiting for us, but more often than not, we avoid them happening. If we are desperate, though, if we have nothing to lose, or if we are full of enthusiasm for life, then the unknown reveals itself, and our universe changes direction.
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At every moment of our lives, we all have one foot in a fairy tale and the other in the abyss.
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All you have to do is to pay attention; lessons always arrive when you are ready, and if you can read the signs, you will learn everything you need to know in order to take the next step.
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People want to change everything and, at the same time, want it all to remain the same.
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That is why it is so important to let certain things go. To release them. To cut loose. People need to understand that no one is playing with marked cards; sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Don't expect to get anything back, don't expect recognition for your efforts, don't expect your genius to be discovered or your love to be understood. Complete the circle. Not out of pride, inability or arrogance, but simply because whatever it is no longer fits in your life. Close the door, change the record, clean the house, get rid of the dust. Stop being who you were and become who you are.
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Sometimes, we are so attached to our way of life that we turn down wonderful opportunities simply because we don't know what to do with it.
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Life takes us by surprise and orders us to move toward the unknown -even when we don't want to and when we think we don't need to.
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The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories…
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It is said that all people who are happy have God within them.
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The alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.
The alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that, one morning, he fell into the lake and drowned. At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.
But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.
He said that when Narcissus died, the goddesses of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
'Why do you weep?' the goddesses asked.
'I weep for Narcissus," the lake replied.
'Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus,' they said, 'for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand.'
'But... was Narcissus beautiful?' the lake asked.
'Who better than you to know that?' the goddesses asked in wonder. 'After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself!'
The lake was silent for some time. Finally, it said:
'I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected.'
'What a lovely story,' the alchemist thought…
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Stob, Bulgaria