Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho de Souzais a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He is the recipient of numerous international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum. His novel The Alchemist has been translated into 80 languages. The author has sold over 200 million copies worldwide and is the all-time bestselling Portuguese language author...
NationalityBrazilian
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth24 August 1947
CityRio de Janeiro, Brazil
CountryBrazil
I am a Catholic, not so committed to the church, but to the idea of the Virgin, the female face of God.
Let us be absolutely clear about one thing: we must not confuse humility with false modesty or servility.
In writing, I apply my feminine side and respect the mystery involved in creation.
I am not a self-help writer. I am a self-problem writer. When people read my books, I provoke some things. I cannot justify my work. I do my work; it is up to them to classify it, to judge.
It took me 40 years to write my first book. When I was a child, I was encouraged to go to school. I was not encouraged to follow the career of a writer because my parents thought that I was going to starve to death.
When I write a book, I write a book for myself; the reaction is up to the reader. It's not my business whether people like or dislike it.
Physical elegance, which is what I am talking about here, comes from the body. This is no superficial matter, but rather the way that man found to honour the way he places his two feet on the ground.
Sometimes I catch myself stooping, and whenever I am like that, I am sure something is not quite right.
The major religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, they deny somehow that God has a feminine face. However, if you go to the holy texts, you see there is this feminine presence.
I am a Catholic because I choose to be a Catholic. And then I go to the Mass because I choose. It is out of my free will.
Writing is a solitary experience. I'm extremely superstitious. If I talk about the book or name the title out loud before finishing, I feel the energy I need to write will be drained. It's so intimate, I can't even share it with my wife.
The only thing that relaxes me is archery. That's why I have to have apartments with gardens.
I don't set out to write about spirituality; I am free to do something different every time.
I can't consciously explain how people feel after reading my books. All is too personal.