Quotes from Paulo Coelho

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.

The wise are wise only because they love.

Only mediocrity is sure of itself, so take risks, and do what you really want to do.

Dont let yourself be destroyed by a force that was placed in our hearts in order to make everything better.

Thats because, like everyone else on the planet, you believed that time would teach you to grow closer to God. But time doesnt teach; it merely brings us a sense of weariness and of growing older.

What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.

Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan. They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories, things, other people's ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams.

We must never forget that spiritual experience is above all a practical experience of love. And with love, there are no rules.

Wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure.

At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.

Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won't suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when the person looks back-she will hear her heart.

First develop a strategy that utilizes everything around you. The best way to prepare for a challenge is to cultivate the ability to call on an infinite variety of responses.

Its always easy to blame others. You can spend your entire life blaming the world, but your successes or failures are entirely your own responsibility. You can try to stop time, but its a complete waste of energy.

Time neither moves nor is stationary. Time changes.

If someone is giving us something, thats because were incapable of getting it for ourselves.

If I had to give you one piece of advice, it would be this: dont be intimidated by other peoples opinions.

Life has been very hard on me, but, at the same time, it has taught me a great deal.

If I were to persuade just one person to stop fighting for something they were convinced was worthwhile, I would end up persuading myself, and my whole life would be diminished.

Past and future exist only in our memory. The present moment, though, is outside of time, its Eternity. In India, they use the word karma, for lack of any better term. It isnt what you did in the past that will affect the present. Its what you do in the present that will redeem the past and thereby change the future.

Life takes us by surprise and orders us to move toward the unknown even when we don't want to and when we think we don't need to.

But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for.

The two worst strategic mistakes to make are acting prematurely and letting an opportunity slip; to avoid this, the warrior treats each situation as if it were unique and never resorts to formulae, recipes or other people's opinions.

You discover that your old I, along with everything you ever learned, is absolutely no use at all in the face of those new challenges, and you begin to realize that buried deep in your unconscious mind there is someone much more interesting and adventurous and more open to the world and to new experiences.

I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.