Quotes from Paulo Coelho

That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.

I will talk about my dances...when I was onstage I simply forgot about the woman I was and offered everything to God. That is why I was able to undress so easily. At that moment, I was nothing, not even my body. I was just movements communing with the universe.

Each movement during combat honors the movements that the previous generations tried to transmit through the Tradition.

I'll make love with them in their houses or in the woods, I'll feel a certain degree of pleasure, but the moment I reach orgasm, the feeling of emptiness will return.

He hadn't planned anything like that, and when things happen without planning or expectations they are that much more enjoyable and worthwhile—talking to a stranger without an eye to any romantic connection had allowed things to flow more naturally.

The feet of labourers, pilgrims and explorers smoothed these stones. The stones were changed and the travellers were too.

I'm tired of having such a happy, perfect life. And that can only be a sign of mental illness. That's what I fall asleep thinking. Perhaps I really do have a serious problem.

The only greatness is unselfish Love.

But tormented souls have this incredible ability to recognize and approach one another, thus compounding their grief. Why hadn't I noticed this in him? Why did I see only the superficial way he talked about politics or the pedantic way he tasted the wine?

The only things she cared about were solitude and beauty, direct communication with God, and above all a safe distance from the world that she already knew all too well and that no longer held any interest for her.

being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens.

I don't know why these things have to be transmitted by word of mouth, he thought. It wasn't exactly that they were secrets; God revealed his secrets easily to all his creatures. He had only one explanation for this fact: things have to be transmitted this way because they were made up from the pure life, and this kind of life cannot be captured in pictures or words. Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World.