Quotes from Paulo Coelho

It is bound to come a moment when what seems close is still very far away.

Tomorrow, sell our camel and buy a horse. Camels are traitorous: they walk thousands of paces and never seem to tire. Then suddenly, they kneel and die. But horses tire bit by bit. You always know how much you know you can ask of them, and when it is that they are about to die.

I want to believe that it is wonderful to be free. Free again. Ready to find my one true love, who is waiting for me and who will never allow e to experience such humiliation again.

She wasn't afraid of difficulties what frightened her was being forced to choose one particular path. Choosing a path meant having to miss out on others. She had a whole life to live and she was thinking that, in future, she might regret the choices she made now. "I am afraid of committing myself" she thought to herself she wanted to follow all possible paths and ended up following none.

You will only be loved and respected if you love and respect yourself. Never try to please everyone; if you do, you will be respected by no one.

Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honor of losing and the joy of winning.

Love always triumphs over what we call death. That's why there's no need to grieve for our loved ones, because they continue to be loved and remain by our side.

How can one set these opposite states in harmony? There is only one way: through giving oneself completely. How does one give oneself? By forgetting the traumas of the past, and by not forming expectations about the future - in other words, the orgasm. How can one do this? Very simply: by not being afraid to err.

They say that in the second before our death, each of us understands the real reason for our existence, and out of that moment, Heaven or Hell is born. Hell is when we look back during that fraction of a second and know that we wasted an opportunity to dignify the miracle of life. Paradise is being able to say at that moment: I made some mistakes, but I wasn`t a coward. I lived my life and did what I had to do.

Nous ne choisissons pas nos vies, mais nous décidons quoi faire des joies et des tristesses que nous recevons.

the best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us. This doesn't mean that we should do what others expect us to do, but it helps us to understand ourselves better.

I hate knowing about illness. Whenever I read a medical book, I immediately start to get all the symptoms.

Item one: the law of the will. We just talked about this: one should only do that which truly fills our hearts with enthusiasm. If we brush this aside, if we put off the moment to live that which we dream of, we lose the energy necessary for any important transformation in our lives. Someone once put this most succinctly: "I don't know the secret of success - but the secret of failure is to always try to follow the will of others.

Love is an act of faith, not an exchange.

There's nothing deeper than love. In fairytales , the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life, the princesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.

What we need to learn is always there before us, we just have to look around us with respect and attention in order to discover where God is leading us and which step we should take next.

And when I think about it, I guess it is true that people always arrive at the right moment at the place where someone awaits them.

She hated the love she had been given, because it had asked for nothing in return, which was absurd, unreal, against the laws of nature

And although you have mastered the words, you haven't yet mastered the blank spaces.

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

When I had all the answers the questions changed

But never hold back from firing the arrow if all that paralyses you is fear of making a mistake. If you have made the right movements, open your hand and release the string. Even if the arrow fails to hit the target, you will learn how to improve your aim next time.

Serenity comes from the heart. Although the heart is often tormented by thoughts of insecurity, it knows that - through correct posture - it will be able to do its best.

Un guerriero della luce presta attenzione agli occhi di un bambino. Perché quegli occhi sanno vedere il mondo senza amarezza.