Paulo Coelho

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

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

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

“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...”

“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 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 kno...”

“Writers are lampposts and critics are dogs. Ask lampposts what they think about dogs. Does the dog hurt the lamppost?”

“I believe enlightenment or revelation comes in daily life. I look for joy, the peace of action. You need action. I'd have stopped writing years ago if it were for the money.”

“I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil...”

“No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone's eyes.”

“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.”

“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 s...”

“You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.”

“With all due respect, the Mona Lisa is overrated.”

“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 th...”

“My readers - and I get 400 emails for a day, my readers normally they say, well, you understand me, and I answer, you do understand me also. We are in the same level.”

“It took me 40 years to write my first book. When I was a child, I was encouraged to go to school. I was not encouraged to follow the career of a writer because my parents thought that I was...”

“When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It's very simple.”

“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.”

“I don't set out to write about spirituality; I am free to do something different every time.”