25 Paulo Coelho Quotes Filled with Life-Changing Lessons

Paulo Coelho is one of the best-selling contemporary novelists. The Alchemist, the book that brought him worldwide fame, is one the few novels to be translated across the globe, with readers from all backgrounds praising it as a life-changing, inspiring piece of literature.

Coelho had a very unique way of thinking even as a child, and constantly opposed the traditional ways and the restrictions they impose. Yet his rebelliousness came with a price. A son of highly rigorous parents, Coelho’s behavior was rarely tolerated, his parents ending up committing him into a mental institution -- from which he managed to escape three times. No, he wasn’t crazy and his parents never meant him harm. As we’re already painfully aware, people can be quite rigid to less conventional ways of thinking, and sometimes, the more different your ideas are, the harder will be for others to accept them.

Confident and charming, Coelho is an author who rejects the self-help label and writes for his own heart. Written with a touch of madness, here are 25 Paulo Coelho quotes filled with life changing lessons.

Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.

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

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

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.

Love is a trap. When it appears, we see only its light, not its shadows.

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

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

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

It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.

The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream.

Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.

When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.

Tears are words that need to be written.

Now that she had nothing to lose, she was free.

You are what you believe yourself to be.

I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life.

Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.

No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.