Undoubtedly Paulo Coelho- the only author whose many books I've read. More than any of Sidney Sheldon or Agatha Christie or Danielle Steel or Jane Austen.
Of course, sometimes your beliefs are even contrary to what is written in his books, some times the stories are setup in a strange background too, but that's what makes them so very interesting, and on the whole they are inspirational and diverse as well.
I have read all the famous ones except for these(which I will read sooner or later :] ) : Like the flowing river, Manuscript found in Accra, Aleph, Manual of the warrior of light.
Here are few of those excerpts that seem to be really a voice of thy soul, and that I can relate to. These may or may not include the very famous of his inspiring quotes, as they are already imprinted in our minds and need not be recorded here.
P.S.- This needs to be quite a long post hence I am dividing it into volume A and B :]
THE DEVIL AND MISS PRYM
Man needs what's worst in him in order to achieve what's best in him.
...rich men never waste a penny, only poor people do that.
At the end of the tenth year, the priest realized his mistake: his search for wisdom had become pride. He was so convinced of divine justice that he had failed to balance it with the art of diplomacy. He thought he was living in a world where God was everywhere, only to find himself amongst people who often would not even let God enter their lives.
If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid. :P
...Good and Evil struggled in both of them, just as they did in every soul on the face of the earth...It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less.
BY THE RIVER PIEDRA I SAT DOWN AND WEPT
I was sitting at a table where I knew only one person, and everyone was speaking to me as if they'd known me for years. I was amazed that I could enter into the conversation, that I could drink and enjoy myself with them. I was there because life had presented me with Life....to take a risk, to do crazy things.
The wise are wise only because they love. And the foolish are foolish only because they think they can understand love.
If we are not reborn- if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood- it makes no sense to go on living.
Remember that human wisdom is madness in the eyes of God.
But other people also "invite" us to behave like victims, when they complain about the unfairness of life, for example, and ask us to agree, to offer advise, to participate.
Simply having the courage to say senseless things made me euphoric.
THE VALKYRIES
When we are young, we don't take anything too seriously. But slowly, this set of daily rituals becomes solidified, and takes us over. Once things have begun to go along pretty much as we imagined they would, we don't risk altering the ritual. We like to complain, but we are assured by the fact that each day is more or less like every other. At least there is no unexpected danger.
That way we are able to avoid any inner or outer growth, except for the kinds that are provided for within the ritual: so many children, such and such a kind of promotion, this and that kind of financial success.
Punish us because we speak of faith, and we feel hopeless. We speak of love, but we receive neither the affection nor the comfort we feel we deserve. We speak of freedom, and we are prisoners to our own guilt.
Since the beginnings of humanity, people have known that, if they wanted to enter into contact with God, they had to make room in their soul. They had to allow their spiritual energy to manifest itself, and to create a bridge between the visible and the invisible.
She had always been fearful of speaking out, of seeming ridiculous, stupid. Fearful of learning what others thought of what she said, because they always seemed more capable, more intelligent. Always seemed to have an answer for everything.
The clouds are rivers that already know the sea.
His was the gaze of boredom. He wasn't seeing anything- not the desert, not the road, and not even the two customers who had come in so early in the morning. He limited himself to the motions required....The meaning of his life appeared to have been left behind, or to have disappeared in the immensity of the treeless desert.
That's it for now. See ya in volume B. :D.
Oh and these are my top favorites:
Of course, sometimes your beliefs are even contrary to what is written in his books, some times the stories are setup in a strange background too, but that's what makes them so very interesting, and on the whole they are inspirational and diverse as well.
I have read all the famous ones except for these(which I will read sooner or later :] ) : Like the flowing river, Manuscript found in Accra, Aleph, Manual of the warrior of light.
Here are few of those excerpts that seem to be really a voice of thy soul, and that I can relate to. These may or may not include the very famous of his inspiring quotes, as they are already imprinted in our minds and need not be recorded here.
P.S.- This needs to be quite a long post hence I am dividing it into volume A and B :]
THE DEVIL AND MISS PRYM
Man needs what's worst in him in order to achieve what's best in him.
...rich men never waste a penny, only poor people do that.
At the end of the tenth year, the priest realized his mistake: his search for wisdom had become pride. He was so convinced of divine justice that he had failed to balance it with the art of diplomacy. He thought he was living in a world where God was everywhere, only to find himself amongst people who often would not even let God enter their lives.
If you want to control someone, all you have to do is to make them feel afraid. :P
...Good and Evil struggled in both of them, just as they did in every soul on the face of the earth...It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less.
BY THE RIVER PIEDRA I SAT DOWN AND WEPT
I was sitting at a table where I knew only one person, and everyone was speaking to me as if they'd known me for years. I was amazed that I could enter into the conversation, that I could drink and enjoy myself with them. I was there because life had presented me with Life....to take a risk, to do crazy things.
The wise are wise only because they love. And the foolish are foolish only because they think they can understand love.
If we are not reborn- if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood- it makes no sense to go on living.
Remember that human wisdom is madness in the eyes of God.
But other people also "invite" us to behave like victims, when they complain about the unfairness of life, for example, and ask us to agree, to offer advise, to participate.
Simply having the courage to say senseless things made me euphoric.
THE VALKYRIES
When we are young, we don't take anything too seriously. But slowly, this set of daily rituals becomes solidified, and takes us over. Once things have begun to go along pretty much as we imagined they would, we don't risk altering the ritual. We like to complain, but we are assured by the fact that each day is more or less like every other. At least there is no unexpected danger.
That way we are able to avoid any inner or outer growth, except for the kinds that are provided for within the ritual: so many children, such and such a kind of promotion, this and that kind of financial success.
Punish us because we speak of faith, and we feel hopeless. We speak of love, but we receive neither the affection nor the comfort we feel we deserve. We speak of freedom, and we are prisoners to our own guilt.
Since the beginnings of humanity, people have known that, if they wanted to enter into contact with God, they had to make room in their soul. They had to allow their spiritual energy to manifest itself, and to create a bridge between the visible and the invisible.
She had always been fearful of speaking out, of seeming ridiculous, stupid. Fearful of learning what others thought of what she said, because they always seemed more capable, more intelligent. Always seemed to have an answer for everything.
The clouds are rivers that already know the sea.
His was the gaze of boredom. He wasn't seeing anything- not the desert, not the road, and not even the two customers who had come in so early in the morning. He limited himself to the motions required....The meaning of his life appeared to have been left behind, or to have disappeared in the immensity of the treeless desert.
That's it for now. See ya in volume B. :D.
Oh and these are my top favorites:
