Your Comprehensive Guide to Paulo Coelho’s Best Sellers and Remarkable Quotes

Love him or hate him, Paulo Coelho is one of the top authors of the last 30 years.

While he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, he’s had some amazing success, particularly with The Alchemist. So much so that people quote him all the time. Some of the most famous quotes people repeat these days are Paulo Coelho quotes.

Today, readers will learn a little more about this profoundly soulful writer and why his quotes are so profoundly inspiring.

Famous Paulo Coelho Quotes and The Books They Come From

Whenever Paulo Coelho speaks, it seems like something deep always comes out of his mouth. If readers were to do a Google search for Paulo Coelho quotes, they’d find an abundance.

However, many of the most famous Paulo Coelho quotes about love and marriage, soulmates, destiny, and living come from his writing. In fact, when readers search on Goodreads for a juicy Paulo Coelho quote, many of them come from his second book The Alchemist. That’s amazing for a book that’s only 163 pages.

In addition to The Alchemist, read on to discover some of the best Paulo Coelho quotes from his most beloved works.

The Alchemist

What It’s About: Coelho followed up his first book, The Pilgrimage, with The Alchemist, a book that would change his writing career. It seemed like overnight he went from an obscure Brazilian writer to world-renowned author.

Though it only took Coelho two weeks to write the book, it’s been able to impact people for over 30 years. Millions of copies have been sold and it is now the most translated book in the world (by a living author).

Largely allegorical, Coelho tells the story of a shepherd boy who has a dream, which is interpreted by a Gypsy as meaning he’ll find treasure if he journeys to the Egyptian pyramids. During his travel, he finds love and, ultimately, he finds himself and his true destiny.

Memorable Paulo Coelho Quote(s): The Alchemist is all about dreaming big and encouraging people to listen to their hearts. There are several memorable, not to mention well-known, quotes from The Alchemist that people re-quote regularly.

• “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
• “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

The Alchemist also contains some famous Paulo Coelho quotes to live simply, like this one: “The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”

The Valkyries: An Encounter with Angels

 What It’s About: The Valkyries deals with the heavy subjects of fear and self-doubt. The theme that’s weaved throughout is that people tend to destroy what they love the most.  The story is told in the third person and is based on some truth. Coelho and his wife embark on a 40-day journey to undo a devastating curse: Every time he’s close to something he wants to achieve – he ends up failing.

A mysterious master tells Coelho that the curse can be undone, which sends Coelho on a journey through the Mojave Desert. There, he meets guides and finds out that he will need to overcome an angel to break the curse.

Memorable Paulo Coelho Quote(s): in Portuguese, a famous quote from this book is: “Merecemos todas as coisas boas que nos acontecem. Não se sinta clupado, aceite a bêncão.” In English, it means: “You deserve all the good things that happen to you. Don’t feel guilty and accept the blessings.”

The Zahir: A Novel of Love, Longing and Obsession

 What It’s About: Set in the beautiful landscapes of Paris and Central Asia, The Zahir is the story of a man (the narrator) who travels the world to find his estranged wife. She left without any explanation, despite having a husband who is a wealthy celebrity.

The man’s wife ran off with another man, though it’s not clear if he’s her lover. Eventually, that man approaches the narrator and tells him where his wife is. Determined to the point of obsession to get his wife back, the narrator ends up learning something important about himself.

Memorable Paulo Coelho Quote(s): Love and marriage are the themes of The Zahir. In this story, Coelho writes: “When someone leaves, it’s because someone is about to arrive.”

Brida

What It’s About: One of the themes Coelho writes about most often is spirituality. Brida is no different. It’s about a young Irish woman who wants to learn about magic and eventually become a witch. Along the way, she meets people who share spiritual wisdom and teach her how to overcome her fears. The story addresses love, passion, and finding one’s destiny.

Memorable Paulo Coelho Quote(s): On soulmates, Coelho writes the following scene:

“But how will I know who my Soulmate is?”

Brida felt that this was one of the most important questions she had ever asked in her life.

“By taking risks,” she said to Brida. “By risking failure, disappointment, disillusion, but never ceasing in your search for love. As long as you keep looking, you will triumph in the end.”

Keep Thought-Provoking Paulo Coelho Quotes Around for Inspiration

January 2020 has come and gone. Yet, many people are still gung-ho about their New Year’s resolutions. To stick to their goals, they look for ways to stay motivated. A great motivational tool is to keep some sort of vision board.

People can use a poster board to create a vision board, or they can go the digital route and create one on Pinterest. To keep things really simple, they can simply take a picture of something they want to achieve and set it as their phone wallpaper or desktop background.  

Pictures are a wonderful visual aid, but inspirational quotes are an added bonus. For readers who find Paulo Coelho quotes uplifting, they should search Pinterest for “Paulo Coelho quotes images.” They’ll find hundreds of gorgeous images and quotes that will be an awesome addition to their virtual vision board.

According to Goodreads, readers who love Paulo Coelho also enjoy the work of Khaled Hosseini. You can download Hosseini’s bestsellers, like The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, from AudioBookStore.