Quotes by Paulo Coelho

If only everyone could know and live with their inner craziness. Would the world be a worse place for it? No, people would be fairer and happier.

The smell of baking bread wafts up to my cell and reminds me of the days I walked freely in the cafes. This tears me apart more than my fear of death or the solitude in which I now find myself.

Theres nothing deeper than love. In fairy tales, the princesses kiss the frogs, and the frogs become princes. In real life,the princesses kiss princes, and the princes turn into frogs.

Its the oasis, said the camel driver.Well, why dont we go there right now? the boy asked.Because we have to sleep.

If someone isnt what others want them to be, the other become angry.

I am two women: one wants to have all the joy, passion and adventure that life can give me. The other wants to be a slave to routine, to family life, to the things that can be planned and achieved. Im a housewife and a prostitute, both of us living in the same body and doing battle with each other.

Joy is sometimes a blessing, but it is often a conquest. Our magic moment help us to change and sends us off in search of our dreams. Yes, we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and we will experience many disappointments — but all of this is transitory it leaves no permanent mark. And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken.

At any given moment in our lives, there are certain things that could have happened but didnt. The magic momentsgo unrecognized, and then suddenly, the hand of destiny changes everything.

When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, theres no need at all to understand whats happening, because everything happens within you.

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.

fanaticism is the only way to put an end to the doubts that constantly trouble the human soul.

it’s that sense of powerlessness that destroyed my soul. i cannot be as good as i would like to be.nor as bad as i think i need to be.i think you have the same doubts that your goodness was not rewarded

An artist who desires very little and achieves it has failed in life.

We can see the Divine in each speck of dust, but that doesnt stop us from wiping it away with a wet sponge. The Divine doesnt disappear; its transformed into the clean surface.

Courage is the most important spiritual quality.

So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.

...the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.

But why all these questions?Because Im in love and Im afraid of suffering.Dont be afraid, the only way to avoid that suffering would be to refuse to love.

Then 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.

There is such a thing as emotional rubbish; it is produced in the factories of the mind. It consists of pain that has long since passed and is no longer useful. It consists of precautions that were important in the past, but that serve no purpose in the present.