Eloquent Paulo Coelho

Recently I am so addicted to read the books by Paulo Coelho. I find it so interesting and lively about the stories he wrote. And most importantly I find the answer of life which I’ve been seeking of and in fact his books feed my soul and the meaning of living on. The author is considered by some as the most influential author of the present century, seen by some as an alchemist of words and the ideas, philosophy and subject matter covered in his books touch the aspirations of readers searching for their own path and new ways of understanding the world. I encourage some people around me to read his books. It inspires me to think and question about myself and what to do with my life which I believe everyone would. I strongly recommend the book of the Pilgrimage which describes his experience during the pilgrimage and his discovery that the extraordinary occurs in the lives of ordinary people. Other good books are the alchemist which is a highly symbolic book, a metaphor of life, which reflected his eleven years spent studying alchemy. From my research, even Madonna said in an interview in the German magazine Sontag-Aktuell: “The Alchemist is beautiful book about magic, dreams and the treasures we seek elsewhere and then find on our doorstep.”

Another great book worth to read is the Zahir, a novel of obsession.

When I had nothing more to lose, I was given everything. When I ceased to be who I am, I found myself. When I experienced humiliation and yet kept on walking, I understood that I was free to choose my destiny.

Believe in signs, what we need to learn is always there before us, we just have to look around us with respect and attention in order to discover where God is leading us and which step we should take next.

Einstein: " God does not play dice with the universe; everything is interconnected and has a meaning.That meaning may remain hidden nearly all the time, but we always know we are close to our true mission on earth what we are doing is touched with the energy of enthusiasm."


In 1994, Paulo wrote By the River Piedra I sat down and wept which explored his feminine side. Personally I really like this book. It said true love is an act of total surrender and the importance of that surrender. The story illustrates that we rarely realize miracles occur all around us, paying little attention to signs from God and angels plead because we’ve been taught that we must follow certain rules and formulas if we want to find God. And all of us have had this experience at some point we wept and said that we’re suffering from the love that’s not worth it and we suffer because we feel we’re giving more than we receive, etc. However, you will find that for in every love lies the seed of our growth.

Here’s the starting of the story which touch my heart to read on:

By the river Piedra I sat down and wept. There is a legend that everything that falls into the waters of this river – leaves, insects, the feathers of birds – is transformed into the rocks that make the riverbed. If only I could tear out my heart and hurl it into the current, then my pain and longing would be over, and I could finally forget.

By the river Piedra I sat down and wept. The winter air chills the tears on my cheeks, and my tears fall into the cold waters that course past me. Somewhere, this river joins another, then another, until far from my heart and sight all of them merge with the sea.

May my tears run just as far, that my love might never know that one day I cried for him. May my tears run just as far, that I might forget the River Piedra, the monastery, the church in the Pyrenees, the mists, and the paths we walked together.

I shall forget the roads, the mountains, and the fields of my dreams that will never come true.

I remember my “magic moment” that instant when a “yes” or “no” can change one life forever. It seems so long ago now. It is hard to believe it was only last week that I had found my love once again, and then lost him.

I’m writing this story on the bank of the River Piedra. My hands are freezing, my legs are numb and every minute I want to stop.

“Seek to live. Remembrance is for the old,” he said.

Perhaps love makes us old before our time or young, if youth has passed. But how can I not recall those moments? That is why I write to try to turn sadness into longing, solitude into remembrance. So that when I finish telling myself the story, I can toss it into the Piedra. That’s what the woman who has given me shelter told me to do. Only then in the words of one of the saints will the water extinguish what the flames have written.

All love stories are the same.



Some momentous quote from the book:

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

Everyday, God gives us the sun and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day, we try to pretend that we haven't perceived that moment, that it doesn't exist - that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will discover that magic moment. It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. But that moment exists - a moment when all the power of the stars become a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.

Joy, is sometimes a blessing but it is often a conquest. Our magic moment helps us to change and sends us off in search of our dreams. Yes, we are going to suffer, we will have difficult times, and we will experience many disappointments - but all of this is transitory; it leaves no permanent mark. And one day we will look back with pride and faith at the journey we have taken.

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 that person looks back - and at some point everyone looks back - she will hear her heart saying "What have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? What have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So this is your heritage: the certainty that you wasted your life"

Pitiful are the people who must realize this. Because when they are finally able to believe in miracles, their life magic moments will have already passed them by.