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Paulo Coelho Quotes
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844 Quotes for Your Inspirational Journey of Love, Life, and Fulfillment

Explore the wisdom of Paulo Coelho with his iconic quotes on love, life, and personal fulfillment. Let his words inspire your own journey of self-discovery and spiritual awakening.

Paulo Coelho de Souza is a highly acclaimed Brazilian lyricist and novelist, known for his novel "The Alchemist" which became an international best-seller. He has since published 30 more books. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Coelho attended a Jesuit school and faced struggles as he was committed to a mental institution by his parents at a young age. Despite their wishes for him to become a lawyer, Coelho dropped out of law school and lived as a hippie, traveling through various countries and experimenting with drugs.

After returning to Brazil, Coelho worked as a songwriter and gained popularity for his collaboration with Raul Seixas. However, he faced accusations of plagiarism due to the content of some songs. In 1974, he was arrested by the ruling military government for perceived left-wing activities and tortured. Coelho also dabbled in acting, journalism, and directing before finally pursuing his dream of becoming a writer full-time.

Coelho's life experiences greatly influenced his writings, particularly his spiritual awakening during a pilgrimage along the Road of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This journey inspired his autobiographical work "The Pilgrimage." In addition to his writing career, Coelho married artist Christina Oiticica in 1980 and they currently reside in Geneva, Switzerland.

A biographical film about Paulo Coelho called "The Pilgrim - Story of Paulo Coelho" was released in 2014. It portrays the story of Coelho's pursuit of his dream against various challenges he encountered throughout his life.

✵ 24. August 1947  •  Other names Pablo Coelho
Paulo Coelho photo
Paulo Coelho: 844 quotes177 likes

Paulo Coelho Quotes

“We must never forget that spiritual experience is above all a practical experience of love. And with love, there are no rules.”

Paulo Coelho

As translated by Alan R. Clarke (1996).
By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (1994)

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

Paulo Coelho book The Zahir

Source: The Zahir (2005), p. 220.

“Lao-tzu’s words, was: place all your feelings outside of yourself and you will be renewed.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“Never. We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don’t disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms. For example, I can’t see who is in the next carriage, but it contains people traveling in the same time as me, as you, as everyone. The fact that we can’t speak to them or know what’s going on in that other carriage is completely irrelevant. They are there. So what we call ‘life’ is a train with many carriages. Sometimes we’re in one, sometimes we’re in another, and sometimes we cross between them, when we dream or allow ourselves to be swept away by the extraordinary.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“If you come here, you will find a hidden treasure.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

The child in the shepherd's dream, p. 14.
The Alchemist (1988)

“Terror, terror, terror. Life was a reign o terror in the shadow of the guillotine.”

Paulo Coelho

The Devil and Miss Prym‎ [O Demônio e a srta Prym] (2000), p. 86.

“The two worst strategic mistakes to make are acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats each situation as if it were unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people's opinions.”

Paulo Coelho

As quoted in Quotes That Help You Survive (2006) by Harpreet Kaur Kapoor.

“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.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 22.

“If I were to persuade just one person to stop fighting for something they were convinced was worthwhile, I would end up persuading myself, and my whole life would be diminished.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“Every note leaves in each of us a memory, but it is the melody as a whole that tells a story, the story of someone wanting to get closer to another person and who keeps on trying, despite repeated rejections.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“God is where you let Him in.”

Paulo Coelho

This expression originates with a statement of Kotzker Rebbe, who, when he was five years old asked his father "Where is God?" to which his father answered: "God is everywhere!" Rebbe then responded "No, I think God is only where you let Him in." As quoted in Innerspace : Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy‎ (1990), by Aryeh Kaplan, p. 160.
Misattributed

“No one can learn to love by following a manual, and no one can learn to write by following a course. I’m not telling you to seek out other writers but to find people with different skills from yourself, because writing is no different from any other activity done with joy and enthusiasm.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“Don’t let yourself be destroyed by a force that was placed in our hearts in order to make everything better.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“On 11 November 1997, Veronika decided that the moment to kill herself had — at last!”

Paulo Coelho

arrived.
Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

“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.”

Paulo Coelho

Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

“It's true that everything has its Personal Legend, but one day that Personal Legend will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new Personal Legend, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 156.

“You want to know if the heart of a man or a woman can contain enough love for more than one person? … I think it's perfectly possible as long as one of those people doesn’t turn into … a Zahir.”

Paulo Coelho book The Zahir

Source: The Zahir (2005), p. 128.

“You feel that nothing you have learned has put down roots, that while you’re capable of entering the magical universe, you cannot remain submerged in it. You feel that all of this may be nothing but a fantasy dreamed up by people to fend off their fear of death.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“I told you that your dream was a difficult one. It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

This has sometimes been paraphrased: "The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them."
Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 15.

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

Paulo Coelho

Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

“you discover that your old “I,” along with everything you ever learned, is absolutely no use at all in the face of those new challenges, and you begin to realize that buried deep in your unconscious mind there is someone much more interesting and adventurous and more open to the world and to new experiences.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

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

Paulo Coelho book The Zahir

Source: The Zahir (2005), p. 226.

“When I knocked, the door opened. When I looked, I found.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“If someone is giving us something, that’s because we’re incapable of getting it for ourselves.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“So, in my relationships with men, I’ve always sought suffering, conflict, and despair.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“What can’t be cured must be endured.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“What did I do to deserve this?”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“May love be your guide in every moment of your life.”

Paulo Coelho

Though widely attributed to Coelho on the internet, and originally added here within the section for The Alchemist, this specific form has not been located in any editions available in online searches. The directive "Let love be your guide" is a very old one, and did not originate with Coelho.
Misattributed

“Even if loving meant leaving, or solitude, or sorrow, love was worth every penny of its price.”

Paulo Coelho

By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (1994)

“The weak are wicked. Goodness can only be expected from the strong.”

Paulo Coelho

(15 July 2013) https://twitter.com/paulocoelho <br class="br">Twitter

“Love is the only thing that will save us, independent of any mistakes we may make. Love is always stronger.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“I forgive the tears I was made to shed”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“I am not a foreigner, because I haven’t been praying to return safely home. I haven’t wasted my time imagining my house, my desk, my side of the bed. I am not a foreigner, because we are all traveling, we are all full of the same questions, the same tiredness, the same fears, the same selfishness, and the same generosity. I am not a foreigner, because, when I asked, I received.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“I can’t tell someone that their dreams are impossible.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“Lovers need to know how to lose themselves and then how to find themselves again.”

Paulo Coelho

By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (1994)

“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.”

Paulo Coelho

Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

“That’s because, like everyone else on the planet, you believed that time would teach you to grow closer to God. But time doesn’t teach; it merely brings us a sense of weariness and of growing older.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“You think that you exist because you’re unhappy. Other people exist merely as a function of their problems and spend all their time talking compulsively about their children, their wives and husbands, school, work, friends. They never stop to think: I’m here. I am the result of everything that happened and will happen, but I’m here. If I did something wrong, I can put it right or at least ask forgiveness. If I did something right, that leaves me happier and more connected with the now.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“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.”

Paulo Coelho

Veronika Decides to Die (1998)

“Lord, preserve me from tragedy and I will follow your desires.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“What we aim to do is calm the spirit and get in touch with the source from which everything comes, removing any trace of malice or egotism. If you spend too much time trying to find out what is good or bad about someone else, you’ll forget your own soul and end up exhausted and defeated by the energy you have wasted in judging others.”

Paulo Coelho book Aleph

Aleph (2011)

“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn’t have the courage to say “yes” to life?”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

“Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other. 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.”

Paulo Coelho book Eleven Minutes

“Never be ashamed. Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle. How will I know which is which? By the taste. You can only know a good wine if you have first tasted a bad one.”

Paulo Coelho book Brida

“Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony.”

Paulo Coelho

“I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.”

Paulo Coelho

“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.”

Paulo Coelho