Paulo Coelho

Your writing is enriched by your journeys across the globe. What places on the planet have fascinated you the most? Where do you feel most at home?

I am first and foremost a Pilgrim. When I say this is because to me all wanderings are important since you can extract from anything in life a teaching, something that will make sense to you.

You have to look at life itself is a pilgrimage. Every day is different, every day can have a magic moment, but we don’t see the opportunity, because we think: ‘Oh this is boring I’m just commuting to work.’ But we are all on a pilgrimage whether we like it or not and the target, or goal, the real Santiago, if you like, is death. You must get as much as you can from the journey, because – in the end – the journey is all you have. It doesn’t matter what you accumulate in terms of material wealth, because you are going to die anyway, so why not live? When you realize that you can be brave and that is the first tenant of any spiritual quest – to take risks.