Quotes from Paulo Coelho

I don't know why we human beings are so obsessed with making rules about everything.

In war, the key to victory is the ability to surprise one's opponent.

good or bad, an idea only exists when someone tries to put it into practice.

The wind began to blow again. It was the levanter, the wind that came from Africa. It didn't bring with it the smell of the desert, nor the threat of Moorish invasion. Instead, it brought the scent of a perfume he knew well, and the touch of a kiss—a kiss that came from far away, slowly, slowly, until it rested on his lips. The boy smiled. It was the first time she had done that. I'm coming, Fatima, he said.

The world is unfathomable and mysterious, just as we all are. The art of the warrior consists of reconciling the terror of being a man with the wonder of being a man.

So goes the world: people talk as if they knew everything, and when you dare to ask, they do not know anything.

You were in paradise, but you didn't recognize it. It's the same with most people in this world; they seek suffering in the most joyous of places because they think they are unworthy of happiness.

Well, it's a choice like any other, even though it's stupid to believe we can control the world and to allow ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security that leaves us totally unprepared for life; because then, when you least expect it, an earthquake throws up a range of mountains, a bolt of lightning kills a tree that was preparing for its summer rebirth, or a hunting accident puts paid to the life of an honest man.

I'm afraid of committing myself," she thought to herself. She wanted to follow all possible paths and so ended up following none.

We have been taught that we must follow certain formulas and rules if we want to find god. We do not recognize that god is wherever we allow him/her to enter.

Every atom of her body was touching the air, and the air was generous; it brought with it, from afar, secrets and perfumes to clothe her from head to toe.

At times, when loneliness seems to crush all beauty, the only way to resist is to remain open.

We're surrounded by Universal Desire. It's not happiness; it's desire. And desires are never satisfied, because once they are, they cease to be desires

There must be a language that doesn't depend on words, the boy thought… He was learning lots of new things. Some of them were things that he had already experienced, and weren't really new, but that he had never perceived before. And he hadn't perceived them because he had become accustomed to them…

For years, I had fought against my heart, because I was afraid of sadness, suffering, and abandonment. But now I knew that true love was above all that and that it would be better to die than to fail to love. I had thought that only others had the courage to love. But now I discovered that I too was capable of loving. Even if loving meant leaving, or solitude, or sorrow, love was worth every penny of its price.

Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.

Whenever she sat still, just looking at something, she got the feeling that she was wasting precious time when she should be doing things to meet people. She could be spending her time so much better, because there was still so much to learn.

Saímos pelo mundo em busca de nossos sonhos e ideais. Muitas vezes colocamos nos lugares inacessíveis o que está ao alcance das mãos.

what you brought from your past, is of no use in your present. When you must choose a new path, do not bring old experiences with you. Those who strike out afresh, but who attempt to retain a little of the old life, end up torn apart by their own memories.

Alchemist is like getting up at dawn and seeing the sun rise when other are asleep

The words of the Lord are written in the word around us. Merely be attentive to what happens in your life and you will discover where.

In the lives of individuals, just as in society at large, the profoundest changes take place within a very reduced time frame. When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready... The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.

Everything that could happen, but it never happened, eventually was taken away by the wind and leaves no trace.The life - this is our actions.

Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart, the alchemist had told him.