Paulo Coelho

Last time you told me that you believe in a life after death (as me, too). Do you have any imagination how it will be/look like if I may ask you?

I don’t think about this. But when I will be in front of this gate, I want to tell to the doorman: I lived my life fully.

In uno dei miei libri (Lo Zahir), cerco di capire per quale ragione le persone abbiano tanta paura di cambiare. Mentre mi trovavo nel bel mezzo della stesura del testo, mi è capitata fra le mani una strana intervista, di una donna che aveva appena lanciato un libro su – immaginate che cosa? – l’amore.

Il giornalista le domanda se l’unica maniera in cui l’essere umano possa raggiungere la felicití  è incontrare la persona amata. La donna risponde di no:

“L’amore cambia, e nessuno lo capisce. L’idea che l’amore conduca alla felicití  è un’invenzione moderna, della fine del XVII secolo. Da allora in poi, la gente impara a credere che l’amore debba durare per sempre e che il matrimonio sia il luogo migliore per esercitarlo. Nel passato, non c’era tanto ottimismo circa la longevití  della passione”.

“Quella di Romeo e Giulietta non è una storia felice, è una tragedia. Negli ultimi decenni, l’aspettativa riguardo al matrimonio come il cammino per la realizzazione personale è cresciuta molto. E insieme sono cresciute la delusione e l’insoddisfazione.”

Secondo le pratiche magiche degli stregoni nel nord del Messico, c’è sempre un evento nelle nostre vite che è responsabile del fatto che abbiamo cessato di progredire. Un trauma, una sconfitta particolarmente amara, una delusione d’amore, perfino una vittoria che non capiamo bene, finisce per fare sí¬ che diventiamo vigliacchi e non andiamo avanti. Lo stregone, nel processo di crescita della sua connessione con i poteri occulti, ha bisogno prima di tutto di liberarsi di questo “punto di accomodamento”, e percií² deve rivedere la propria vita e scoprire dove esso si trovi.

Quando ero piccolo, litigavo sempre, e sempre picchiavo gli altri, perché ero il pií¹ anziano della comitiva. Un giorno presi una scarica di botte da mio cugino, mi convinsi che da allora in poi non sarei mai pií¹ riuscito a prevalere in nessun litigio e cominciai ad evitare qualsiasi scontro fisico, anche se tante volte passai per vigliacco, lasciandomi umiliare davanti alle mie ragazze e agli amici. Finchè un giorno, a 22 anni, finii per trovarmi coinvolto involontariamente in una lite in un locale di Rio de Janeiro. Anche qui le presi, ma il “punto di accomodamento” sparí¬. Oggi non litigo pií¹, perché è una maniera pessima di esprimermi, e non per vigliaccheria.

Ho tentato per due anni di imparare a suonare la chitarra: all’inizio ho fatto molti progressi, finchè è arrivato un punto in cui non sono riuscito pií¹ ad andare avanti – perché ho scoperto che altri apprendevano pií¹ rapidamente di me, mi sono sentito mediocre, e giacchè non intendevo vergognarmi, ho deciso che la cosa non mi interessava pií¹. Lo stesso è accaduto con il biliardo, il calcio, il ciclismo: imparavo quanto bastava per fare tutto discretamente, ma arrivava un momento in cui non riuscivo pií¹ ad andare avanti.

Perché?

Perché, dice la storia che ci è stata raccontata, in un determinato momento della nostra vita “arriviamo al nostro limite”. Non dobbiamo pií¹ cambiare. Non riusciamo pií¹ a crescere. Tanto la professione come l’amore hanno toccato il loro punto ideale, e allora è meglio lasciare tutto come sta. Sarí  vero? La verití  è questa: possiamo sempre andare pií¹ avanti. Amare di pií¹, vivere di pií¹, rischiare di pií¹.

L’immobilití  non è mai stata la soluzione migliore. Perché tutto intorno a noi cambia (compreso l’amore) e noi abbiamo bisogno di accompagnare questo ritmo.

Io sono sposato da 28 anni con la stessa persona, ma ho cambiato “moglie” (e lei ha cambiato “marito”) varie volte durante il nostro rapporto. Se avessimo voluto continuare a essere quelli che eravamo nel 1979, non credo che saremmo arrivati cosí¬ lontano.

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Dans l’un de mes livres (Le Zahir) j’essaie de comprendre pour quelle raison les gens ont tellement peur de changer. Alors que je me trouvais en plein processus d’écriture du texte, m’est tombée dans les mains l’étrange interview d’une femme qui venait de lancer un livre sur – vous imaginez quoi ? – l’amour.

Le journaliste demande si le seul moyen pour l’íªtre humain d’atteindre le bonheur est de rencontrer la personne aimée. La femme dit que non :

« L’amour change, et personne ne le comprend. L’idée que l’amour mène au bonheur est une invention moderne, de la fin du XVIIe siècle. Dès lors, les gens apprennent í  croire que l’amour doit durer toujours et que le mariage est le meilleur cadre pour l’exercer. Auparavant ils n’avaient pas un tel optimisme quant í  la longévité de la passion.

« Roméo et Juliette n’est pas une histoire heureuse, c’est une tragédie. Dans les dernières décennies, l’idée que le mariage était la voie de la réalisation personnelle a beaucoup progressé. La déception et l’insatisfaction se sont accrues en míªme temps. »

D’après les pratiques magiques des sorciers dans le nord du Mexique, il existe toujours un événement dans nos vies qui est responsable du fait que nous avons cessé de progresser. Un traumatisme, une défaite particulièrement amère, une désillusion amoureuse, ou míªme une victoire que nous n’avons pas bien comprise finit par nous rendre lí¢ches, et nous n’avaní§ons plus. Le sorcier, dans le processus de développement de sa relation avec les pouvoirs occultes, doit d’abord se délivrer de ce « point d’accommodation », et pour cela il doit revoir sa vie et découvrir oí¹ il se trouve.

Quand j’étais petit, je me bagarrais tout le temps, et je battais toujours les autres parce que j’étais le plus vieux de la bande. Un jour, mon cousin m’a donné une correction, je me suis convaincu que désormais je ne gagnerais plus jamais une bagarre, et dès lors j’ai évité toute confrontation physique, míªme si très souvent je suis passé pour un lí¢che et me suis laissé humilier devant des petites copines et des amis. Et puis un jour, í  vingt-deux ans, j’ai fini par íªtre míªlé sans le vouloir í  une bagarre dans une boí®te de Rio de Janeiro. J’ai reí§u une correction, mais le « point d’accommodation » a disparu. Aujourd’hui je ne me bagarre plus parce que c’est une très mauvaise manière de m’exprimer, et non par lí¢cheté.

J’ai tenté pendant deux ans d’apprendre í  jouer du violon : j’ai fait beaucoup de progrès au début, puis est arrivé un point oí¹ je ne pouvais plus avancer ; découvrant que d’autres apprenaient plus vite que moi, je me suis senti médiocre, j’ai décidé de ne pas me laisser déshonorer et j’ai décrété que cela ne m’intéressait plus. Ce fut la míªme chose avec le billard, le football, la course cycliste : j’en apprenais assez pour faire tout raisonnablement, mais arrivait un moment oí¹ je ne pouvais pas aller plus loin.

Pourquoi ?

Parce que l’histoire que l’on nous a racontée dit qu’í  un moment déterminé de nos vies « nous atteignons notre limite ». Nous ne devons plus changer. Nous ne parvenons plus í  grandir. La profession comme l’amour ont atteint leur point idéal, et il vaut mieux tout laisser tel que c’est. Vraiment ? La vérité est la suivante : nous pouvons toujours aller plus loin. Aimer davantage, vivre davantage, risquer davantage.

L’immobilité n’est jamais la meilleure solution. Parce que tout autour de nous change (y compris l’amour) et nous devons suivre ce rythme.

Je suis marié depuis vingt-huit ans avec la míªme personne, mais j’ai changé de « femme » (et elle a changé de « mari ») plusieurs fois au cours de notre relation. Si nous avions voulu rester ce que nous étions en 1979, je ne crois pas que nous serions allés aussi loin.

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By Paulo Coelho

Anything that occurs once can never occur again. But, should it happen twice, it will surely happen a third time.
(The Valkyries)

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En uno de mis libros (El Zahir), procuro entender por qué todo el mundo tiene tanto miedo a cambiar. Cuando estaba en pleno proceso de escritura de este texto, cayó en mis manos una extraña entrevista a una mujer que acababa de lanzar un libro sobre -¿adivinan? – el amor.

El periodista le pregunta si la única manera de que el ser humano alcance la felicidad es encontrando a la persona amada. La mujer dice que no:

“El amor cambia, aunque nadie parece entenderlo. La idea de que el amor conduce a la felicidad es una invención moderna, de finales del siglo XVII. Partiendo de esto, aprendemos a creer que el amor debe durar para siempre, y que el matrimonio es el mejor lugar para disfrutarlo. En el pasado no se era tan optimista en lo que respecta a la longevidad de la pasión”.

“Romeo y Julieta no es una historia feliz: es una tragedia. En las últimas décadas ha crecido mucho la expectativa que se ha puesto en el matrimonio como camino para la realización personal. Y la decepción y la insatisfacción han crecido paralelamente”.

Según las prácticas mágicas de los hechiceros del norte de México, siempre hay un acontecimiento en nuestras vidas responsable porque hayamos dejado de progresar. Un trauma, una derrota especialmente amarga, una desilusión amorosa, incluso una victoria mal asimilada, pueden acobardarnos y detenernos. El hechicero, en su proceso de creciente unión con los poderes ocultos, tiene, antes de nada, que librarse de este “punto acomodador”, y para eso debe revisar toda su vida y descubrir dónde se produjo.

Cuando yo era pequeño me peleaba a menudo, y, como era el mayor del grupo, siempre era yo el que les pegaba a los otros chicos. Un dí­a, un primo mí­o me dio una buena paliza, y a partir de entonces empecé a evitar los enfrentamientos fí­sicos, puesto que me parecí­a que nunca más conseguirí­a ganar una pelea. Eso me hizo pasar varias veces por cobarde, al dejarme humillar en presencia de mis amigos o incluso de alguna novia. Hasta que un dí­a, a los veintidós años, acabé metiéndome sin querer en una pelea en una discoteca de Rí­o de Janeiro. Recibí­ de lo lindo, pero el “punto acomodador” desapareció. Hoy en dí­a no peleo porque es una pésima manera de expresarse; no por culpa de la cobardí­a.

Durante dos años intenté aprender a tocar la guitarra: progresé mucho al principio, hasta que llegó un punto en el que no conseguí­ avanzar más – al descubrir que los otros aprendí­an más rápido que yo, me sentí­ mediocre, y tomé la decisión de no volver a pasar vergüenza, convenciéndome de que aquello ya no me interesaba. Lo mismo me pasó con el billar, el fútbol, el ciclismo: aprendí­a lo suficiente como para hacerlo todo razonablemente bien, pero llegaba un punto del que no conseguí­a pasar.

¿Por qué?

Porque, según lo que nos contaron, llega un determinado momento de nuestras vidas en el que “alcanzamos nuestro lí­mite”. Ya no debemos cambiar más. Ya no conseguimos crecer más. Tanto la profesión como el amor alcanzaron su estadio ideal, y lo mejor es dejarlo todo como está. ¿No es verdad? La verdad es la siguiente: siempre podemos ir más lejos. Amar más, vivir más, arriesgar más.

Jamás la inmovilidad es la mejor de las soluciones. Porque todo a nuestro alrededor cambia (incluso el amor) y tenemos que seguir este ritmo.

Estoy casado hace veintiocho años con la misma persona, pero he cambiado de “mujer” (y ella ha cambiado de “marido”) varias veces a lo largo de nuestra relación. Si hubiéramos querido continuar como éramos en 1979, no creo que hubiésemos llegado tan lejos.

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When did you discover literature, the pleasure of reading and writing?

With the Brazilian authors for children, when I was very young. And from that moment on, I also discover that literature made me exercise my imagination, it was much more interesting than any other media, because there were a lot of space left to the reader, to create landscapes, faces, dresses.

Em um dos meus livros (O Zahir), procuro entender por que razí£o as pessoas tíªm tanto medo de mudar. Quando estava em pleno processo de escrita do texto, caiu nas minhas mí£os uma estranha entrevista, de uma mulher que acaba de laní§ar um livro sobre – imagine o quíª? – amor.

O jornalista pergunta se a única maneira do ser humano atingir a felicidade é encontrando a pessoa amada. A mulher diz que ní£o:

“O amor muda, e ninguém entende isso. A idéia de que o amor leva í  felicidade é uma invení§í£o moderna, do final do século XVII. A partir daí­, a gente aprende a acreditar que o amor deve durar para sempre e que o casamento é o melhor lugar para exercíª-lo. No passado ní£o havia tanto otimismo quanto í  longevidade da paixí£o”.

“Romeu e Julieta ní£o é uma história feliz, é uma tragédia. Nas últimas décadas, a expectativa quanto ao casamento como o caminho para a realizaí§í£o pessoal cresceu muito. A decepí§í£o e a insatisfaí§í£o cresceram junto.”

Segundo as práticas mágicas dos feiticeiros no norte do México, existe sempre um evento em nossas vidas que é responsável pelo fato de termos parado de progredir. Um trauma, uma derrota especialmente amarga, uma desilusí£o amorosa, até mesmo uma vitória que ní£o entendemos direito, termina fazendo com que nos acovardemos, e ní£o sigamos adiante. O feiticeiro, no processo de crescimento de sua conexí£o com os poderes ocultos, precisa primeiro livrar-se deste “ponto acomodador”, e para isso tem que rever sua vida, e descobrir onde está.

Quando era pequeno, sempre brigava, e sempre batia nos outros, porque era o mais velho da turma. Um dia levei uma surra do meu primo, fiquei convencido que a partir daí­ nunca mais ia conseguir ganhar qualquer briga, e passei a evitar qualquer confronto fí­sico, embora muitas vezes tenha passado por covarde, deixando-me humilhar diante de namoradas e amigos. Até que um dia, aos 22 anos, terminei entrando sem querer em uma briga numa boate do Rio de Janeiro. Levei uma surra, mas o “ponto acomodador” foi embora. Hoje ní£o brigo porque é uma péssima maneira de expressar-me, e ní£o por covardia.

Tentei durante dois anos aprender a tocar violí£o: progredi muito no comeí§o, até que chegou um ponto onde ní£o consegui avaní§ar mais – porque descobri que outros aprendiam mais rápido que eu, me senti medí­ocre, resolvi ní£o passar vergonha, e decidi que aquilo ní£o me interessava mais.  O mesmo aconteceu com jogo de sinuca, futebol, corrida de bicicleta: aprendia o bastante para fazer tudo razoavelmente, mas chegava um momento em que ní£o conseguia seguir adiante.

Por qu�

Porque, diz a história que nos foi contada, em um determinando momento de nossas vidas “chegamos ao nosso limite”. Ní£o devemos mais mudar. Ní£o conseguimos mais crescer. Tanto a profissí£o como o amor atingiram seu ponto ideal, e é melhor deixar tudo como está. Verdade? A verdade é a seguinte: sempre podemos ir mais longe. Amar mais, viver mais, arriscar mais.

Nunca a imobilidade é a melhor soluí§í£o. Porque tudo í  nossa volta muda (inclusive o amor) e precisamos acompanhar este ritmo.

Estou casado a 28 anos com a mesma pessoa, mas mudei de “mulher” (e ela mudou de “marido”) várias vezes durante nossa relaí§í£o. Se quiséssemos continuar como éramos em 1979, ní£o creio que tivéssemos chegado tí£o longe.

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In one of my books (The Zahir), I try to understand why people are so afraid of changing. When I was right in the middle of writing the text, I came across an odd interview with a woman who had just written a book on – guess what? – love.

The journalist asks whether the only way a human being can become happy is to find their beloved. The woman says no:

“Love changes, and nobody understands that. The idea that love leads to happiness is a modern invention, dating from the late 17th century. From that time on, people have learned to believe that love should last for ever and that marriage is the best way to exercise love. In the past there was not so much optimism about the longevity of passion.

“Romeo and Juliet isn’t a happy story, it’s a tragedy. In the last few decades, expectation has grown a lot regarding marriage being the path towards personal accomplishment. Disappointment and dissatisfaction have also grown at the same time.”

According to the magical practices of the witchdoctors in the North of Mexico, there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for our having stopped making progress. A trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, disappointment in love, even a victory that we fail to quite understand, ends up making us act cowardly and incapable of moving ahead. The witchdoctor, trying to connect with the occult powers, first of all needs to get rid of this “accommodating point”. To do so, he has to review our life and discover where this point lies.

When I was young, I was always fighting, always hitting the others, because I was the oldest in the gang. One day my cousin gave me a beating. That convinced me that I would never again manage to win a fight, and I began to avoid any physical confrontation, even though this meant that I was often taken for a coward, and let myself be humiliated in front of girlfriends and companions. Until one day, when I was 22, I ended up unwillingly getting into a fight in a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro. I got beaten up, but the “accommodating point” went away. Nowadays I no longer fight, not out of cowardice but rather because it’s a terrible way of expressing oneself.

For two years I tried to learn to play the guitar: I made a lot of progress in the beginning, until I reached the point where I could advance no further. Because I discovered that others learned faster than I did, I felt mediocre and decided that instead of feeling ashamed I was no longer interested in playing the guitar. The same happened with snooker, football, cycling: I learned enough to do everything fairly well, but then reached a point where I could go no further.

Why?

Because, according to the story that we were told, at a certain moment in our lives “we reach our limit”. There are no more changes to be made. We won’t grow any more. Both professionally and in love, we have reached the ideal point, and it’s best to leave things as they are. But the truth is that we can always go further. Love more, live more, risk more.

Immobility is never the best solution. Because everything around us changes (including love) and we must accompany that rhythm.

I have been married to the same person for 28 years, but I have changed “wives” (and she has changed “husbands”) several times during our relationship. If we wanted to keep on as we were in 1979, I don’t think we would have come so far.

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By Paulo Coelho

We all live in our own world. But if you look up at the starry sky, you will see that all the different worlds up there combine to form constellations, solar systems, galaxies.
(Veronika Decides to Die)

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By Paulo Coelho

I was married to Cecí­lia MacDowell and – at a period in my life when I had decided to give up everything for which I no longer felt any enthusiasm – we went to live in London. We stayed in a small, second-floor flat in Palace Street and we were having great difficulty making new friends. However, every night, a young couple would leave the pub next door and walk past our window waving and calling to us to come down.

I was extremely worried about bothering the neighbours, and so I never went down, pretending, instead, that it had nothing to do with me. But the couple kept calling up to us, even when there was no one at the window.

One night, I did go down to complain about the noise. Their laughter immediately turned to sadness; they apologised and went away. That night, I realised that, although we very much wanted to make new friends, I was far more concerned about ‘what the neighbours would say’.

I decided that the next time, I would invite the couple up to have a drink with us. I waited all week at the window, at the time they usually passed, but they never came back. I started going to the pub in the hope of seeing them, but the owner of the pub claimed not to know them.

I placed a notice in the window saying: ‘Call again’. All this achieved was that, one night, a group of drunks began hurling every swearword under the sun at our window, and our neighbour – the one I had been so worried about – ended up complaining to the landlord.

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Many contemporary writers say literature doesn’t go along very well with journalism. You have a column in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo. How difficult is to write it?
 
It is the way of sharing my experience. If fact, it has little to do with journalist, and a lot to do with a kind of personal diary that everybody can read.

By Paulo Coelho

Everything on the face of the earth is constantly being transformed because the Earth is alive and has a soul.
(The Alchemist)

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By Paulo Coelho

In ancient China, around the year 250 B.C., a certain prince of the region of Thing-Zda was about to be crowned emperor; however, according to the law, he first had to get married.

Since this meant choosing the future empress, the prince needed to find a young woman whom he could trust absolutely. On the advice of a wise man, he decided to summon all the young women of the region in order to find the most worthy candidate.

An old lady, who had served in the palace for many years, heard about the preparations for this gathering and felt very sad, for her daughter nurtured a secret love for the prince.

When the old lady got home, she told her daughter and was horrified to learn that her daughter intended going to the palace.

The old lady was desperate.

‘But, daughter, what on earth will you do there? All the richest and most beautiful girls from the court will be present. It’s a ridiculous idea! I know you must be suffering, but don’t turn that suffering into madness.’

And the daughter replied:

‘My dear mother, I am not suffering and I certainly haven’t gone mad. I know that I won’t be chosen, but it’s my one chance to spend at least a few moments close to the prince, and that makes me happy, even though I know that a quite different fate awaits me.’

That night, when the young woman reached the palace, all the most beautiful girls were indeed there, wearing the most beautiful clothes and the most beautiful jewellery, and prepared to do anything to seize the opportunity on offer.

Surrounded by the members of his court, the prince announced a challenge.

‘I will give each of you a seed. In six months’ time, the young woman who brings me the loveliest flower will be the future empress of China.’

The girl took her seed and planted it in a pot, and since she was not very skilled in the art of gardening, she prepared the soil with great patience and tenderness, for she believed that if the flowers grew as large as her love, then she need not worry about the results.

Three months passed and no shoots had appeared. The young woman tried everything; she consulted farmers and peasants, who showed her the most varied methods of cultivation, but all to no avail. Each day she felt that her dream had moved farther off, although her love was as alive as ever.

At last, the six months were up, and still nothing had grown in her pot. Even though she had nothing to show, she knew how much effort and dedication she had put in during that time, and so she told her mother that she would go back to the palace on the agreed date and at the agreed hour. Inside she knew that this would be her last meeting with her true love and she would not have missed it for the world.

The day of the audience arrived. The girl appeared with her plantless pot, and saw that all the other candidates had achieved wonderful results: each girl bore a flower lovelier than the last, in the most varied forms and colours.

Finally, the longed-for moment came. The prince entered and he studied each of the candidates with great care and attention. Having inspected them all, he announced the result and chose the servant’s daughter as his new wife.

All the other girls present began to protest, saying that he had chosen the only one of them who had not managed to grow anything at all.

Then the prince calmly explained the reasoning behind the challenge:

‘This young woman was the only one who cultivated the flower that made her worthy of becoming the empress: the flower of honesty. All the seeds I handed out were sterile, and nothing could ever have grown from them.’

(Adapted from a story sent in by Maria Emilia Voss)

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Do you still write songs?

No, but I can do it someday, if I feel motivated. However, it helped me a lot, because I thought me how to be direct – in a line, you have to express all your feelings.

Dear Readers,

yesterday we got seriously attacked by hackers. Even though this is not the first time (and certainly not the last) something about the sheer magnitude led me to think that we got attacked because of the existence of my blog Pirate Coelho. Indeed malicious hackers from the Evil Forces attacked with all their ammunition and corrupted all the php and apache files of my blog www.paulocoelhoblog.com and of the Experimental Witch subscription page.
Because of this somehow expected attack (we are not naive…) we were forced to re-create the blog in another server and make back-ups.
I felt the need to share with you this event since it is common – when we are discussing free copyright and free contents in internet – that the Empire strikes back. There is an industry that is fighting to keep its privileges on information, and away from the people (unless you pay for it). In this wild sea that is the Internet, when we position ourselves in such a way that does not please these decaying powers, sometimes we may get attacked and face great tempests.
But, of course, we are stronger than them. Quoting the I Ching, “patience brings good luck” and attacks sharpen our skill to counter-attack and to leave this battle stronger than before.
Finally my Team managed to reestablish the blog and I thank you for your wonderful support during the day. I received many messages from readers backing us up and it certainly made a difference.
I wish then to welcome you all to a pirate’s life: Adventurous, unexpected and exciting!
Love
Paulo

By Paulo Coelho

There are moments in life when the only possible option is to loose control.
(Brida)

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By Paulo Coelho

A king gathered together a group of wise men to decide which was the most important part of the body. The endocrinologist declared that it was the glands because they regulated all the bodily functions; the neurologist said it was the heart because, without it, the glands would not work. The nutritionists assured him it was the stomach because, without food, the heart would not have the strength to beat.

The wisest of all the wise men listened in silence. Since they could not reach an agreement, they asked his opinion.

‘All those parts are essential for life,’ he said. ‘If one of them is lacking, then the body dies. But the most important part does not actually exist: that is the imaginary channel that links the ear and the tongue. If there are any problems with this channel, the man starts saying things he did not hear and then, not only the body dies, but the soul is condemned for ever.’

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