Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho de Souzais a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. His novel The Alchemist has been translated into 80 languages. The author has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 August 1947
CityRio de Janeiro, Brazil
CountryBrazil
You are free, but you have to choose. An open oven bakes no bread
I still pray but it's something automatic, and I'm not even sure I still believe in it... Because I've suffered, and God didn't listen to my prayers. because many times in my life I have tried to love with all my heart, and my love has wound up being
It (destiny) is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. 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.
Once I found this possibility to use Twitter and Facebook and my blog to connect to my readers, I'm going to use it, to connect to them and to share thoughts that I cannot use in the book.
I wanted to write when I was young, but people said it was impossible. Then my parents locked me in a mental institution - they said I was crazy and would never make a living from writing.
I can't consciously explain how people feel after reading my books. All is too personal.
I don't set out to write about spirituality; I am free to do something different every time.
The only thing that relaxes me is archery. That's why I have to have apartments with gardens.
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.
I am a Catholic because I choose to be a Catholic. And then I go to the Mass because I choose. It is out of my free will.
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.
Sometimes I catch myself stooping, and whenever I am like that, I am sure something is not quite right.
Physical elegance, which is what I am talking about here, comes from the body. This is no superficial matter, but rather the way that man found to honour the way he places his two feet on the ground.
When I write a book, I write a book for myself; the reaction is up to the reader. It's not my business whether people like or dislike it.