Paulo Coelho

The moment I thought of starting a blog I wanted to write about this great man born on August 24, 1947 in Rio de Janerio, Brazil... "I always knew," he says, "that my Personal Legend, to use a term from alchemy, was to write." I admire this man a lot for his attitude and am sure all his fans would also accept it..

He is not only one of the most widely read, but also one of the most influential authors writing today. All his works are thought provoking , motivating and it creates in us a virtue of approaching life more optimistically.. We all know "Attitude is what makes a person", he shows us a different dimension of looking at things and changes our attitude towards life helping us in facing any situation more confidently...

Here are some of his views about life:

1] All men are different. And should do everything possible to continue to be so.

2] Each human being has been granted two courses of action: that of deed and that of contemplation. Both lead to the same place.

3] Each human being has been granted two qualities: power and gift. Power drives man to meet his destiny, his gift obliges him to share with others that which is good in him. A man must know when to use his power, and when to use his gift.

4] Each human being has been granted a virtue: the capacity to choose. For he who does not use this virtue, it becomes a curse - and others will always choose for him.

5] Each human being has the right to two blessings, which are: the blessing to do right, and the blessing to err. In the latter case, there is always a path of learning leading to the right way.

6] Each human being has his own Personal Legend to be fulfilled, and this is the reason he is in the world. The Personal Legend is manifest in his enthusiasm for what he does.
Single paragraph - the Personal Legend may be abandoned for a certain time, provided one does not forget it and returns as soon as possible.

7] Each man has a feminine side, and each woman has a masculine side. It is necessary to use discipline with intuition, and to use intuition objectively.

8] Each human being must know two languages: the language of society and the language of the omens. The first serves for communication with others. The second serves to interpret messages from God.

9] Each human being has the right to seek out joy, joy being understood as something which makes one content - not necessarily that which makes others content.

10] Each human being must keep alight within him the sacred flame of madness. And must behave like a normal person.

11] The only faults considered grave are the following: not respecting the rights of one’s neighbor, letting oneself be paralyzed by fear, feeling guilty, thinking one does not deserve the good and bad which occurs in life, and being a coward.
we shall love our adversaries, but not make alliances with them. They are placed in our way to test our sword, and deserve the respect of our fight.
we shall choose our adversaries, not the other way around.

12] All religions lead to the same God, and all deserve the same respect.
A man who chooses a religion is also choosing a collective manner of adoration and of sharing the mysteries. Nevertheless, he alone is responsible for his actions along the Way, and he has no right to transfer to religion the responsibility for his steps and his decisions.

13] Everything which is done in the present, affects the future by consequence, and the past by redemption.

14] Of every ten problems we have, nine are created by our own selves - through guilt, self-punishment, self-pity. However, from time to time a great obstacle appears in our path, which was put there by God, and which is there for a reason. The reason is: to give us the opportunity to change everything, to move forwards.

What great thoughts.... Awesome... Am sure anyone who cared to read all through this would want to know more about his works and here is a list of it.. I assure, by reading his works you are gonna gain a lot out of it...

Year	Title
1982	Hell Archives
1986	Practical Manual of Vampirism
1987	The Pilgrimage
1988	The Alchemist
1990	Brida
1991	The Greatest Gift
1992	The Valkyries
	The Diary of a Magus
1994	Maktub
	By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
1996	The Fifth Mountain
1997	Love Letters from a Prophet
	The Manual of the Warrior of Light
1998	Veronika Decides to Die
	Essential Words
2000	The Devil and Miss Prym
2001	Fathers, Sons and Grandsons
2003	Eleven Minutes
2004	The Genie and the Roses
	And on the Seventh Day (collection of three previously published novels)
2005	The Zahir
	Revived Paths
2006	Like the Flowing River
	The Witch of Portobello
2007	Life: Selected Quotations
2008	The Winner is Alone
	The Wizard (biography by Fernando Morais)

Official Site:
http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/

Blog :
http://paulocoelhoblog.com/