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The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Free Literature Study Guides
The Great Gatsby
Hamlet

Paulo Coelho Quotes

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.

– Paulo Coelho

I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature.

– Paulo Coelho

What interests me in life is curiosity, challenges, the good fight with its victories and defeats.

– Paulo Coelho

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 was not encouraged to follow the career of a writer because my parents thought that I was going to starve to death. They thought nobody can make a living from being a writer in Brazil. They were not wrong.

– Paulo Coelho

I walk every day, and I look at the mountains and the fields and the small city, and I say: ‘Oh my God, what a blessing.’ Then you realise it’s important to put it in a context beyond this woman, this man, this city, this country, this universe.

– Paulo Coelho

I’m not a person that socializes very well.

– Paulo Coelho

The more violent the storm, the quicker it passes.

– 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

I was arrested three times and tortured once.

– Paulo Coelho

I hate to be smart.

– Paulo Coelho

You’re always learning. The problem is, sometimes you stop and think you understand the world. This is not correct. The world is always moving. You never reach the point you can stop making an effort.

– Paulo Coelho

It’s not difficult for me to put my feelings into written form. I try to be concise and to go direct to the subject. This is what people like about my work, and what the critics hate.

– Paulo Coelho

We have lost contact with reality, the simplicity of life.

– Paulo Coelho

In writing, I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation.

– Paulo Coelho

I cry very easily. It can be a movie, a phone conversation, a sunset – tears are words waiting to be written.

– Paulo Coelho

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

– Paulo Coelho

I love almost everything about my work except conferences. I am too shy in front of an audience. But I love signings and having eye contact with a reader who already knows my soul.

– Paulo Coelho

I’m not saying that love always takes you to heaven. Your life can become a nightmare. But that said, it is worth taking the risk.

– Paulo Coelho

There is an afterlife. I am convinced of this.

– Paulo Coelho

When you write an article about anything, trolls use the comments to attack. They feel frustrated – but haters are losers. It’s not good to feed this aspect. It’s more intelligent to be constructive.

– Paulo Coelho

Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.

– Paulo Coelho

The major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, they deny somehow that God has a feminine face. However, if you go to the holy texts, you see there is this feminine presence.

– Paulo Coelho

Publishing is in a kind of Jurassic age.

– Paulo Coelho

Writing is a solitary experience. I’m extremely superstitious. If I talk about the book or name the title out loud before finishing, I feel the energy I need to write will be drained. It’s so intimate, I can’t even share it with my wife.

– Paulo Coelho

I tweet in the morning and the evening. To write 12 hours a day, there is a moment when you’re really tired. It’s my relaxing time.

– Paulo Coelho

The only thing that relaxes me is archery. That’s why I have to have apartments with gardens.

– Paulo Coelho

Music for me, it demands full concentration.

– Paulo Coelho

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

– Paulo Coelho

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.

– Paulo Coelho

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