a.theartist

22 Times Paulo Coelho Put Into Words The Pain We Couldn't Understand Ourselves

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But knowing which to do is the worst kind of pain. 
Kirsten Corley
September 12, 2016
“Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.”
— Paulo Coelho, By The River Pedra I Sat Down And Wept
Tagged: Waiting, Forgetting, Moving On, Limbo, Suffering, Pain
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Life, Challenge, Overcoming Adversity, Change, Failure, Bouncing Back, Resilience, strength
“Human beings can withstand a week without water, two weeks without food, many years of homelessness, but not loneliness. It is the worst of all tortures, the worst of all sufferings.”
— Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes
Tagged: Loneliness, Love, Belonging, Being Alone, Pain, Grief, Loss
“However good we are, however correctly we seek to lead our lives, tragedies do occur. We can blame others, look for justification, imagine how our lives would have been different without them. But none of that matters: they have happened, and that is that. From this point on, it is necessary that we review our own lives, overcome fear, and begin the process of reconstruction.”
— Paulo Coelho, Warrior Of The Light
Tagged: Tragedy, Pain, Suffering, Overcoming Pain, Moving On
“My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Zahir
Tagged: Love, Pain, Loss, Grief, Breakups
“At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Fate, Destiny, Empowering, Self-Direction
“'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 you search for Love. As long as you keep looking, you will triumph in the end.'”
— Paulo Coelho, Brida
Tagged: Love, Dating, Relationships, soulmate
“Loneliness, when accepted, becomes a gift that will lead us to find a purpose in life.”
— Paulo Coelho, Manuscript Found in Accra
“My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure. When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive--I'll find love again.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Zahir
Tagged: Don't Go Back, heart, bruised
“It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn't matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Zahir
Tagged: Fall Out Of Love, Endings, closed door
“In the end, the most interesting people always leave.’”
— Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes: A Novel (P.S.)
Tagged: Leaving, People
“Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realise that nothing really belongs to them.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Secret, Life, Happiness, Try Again, Failing
“Life always waits for some crisis to occur before revealing itself at its most brilliant.”
— Paulo Coelho, Eleven Minutes: A Novel (P.S.)
Tagged: Life, Waiting, Crisis, Revealing, Brilliant
“Don't allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Mind, heart, Dreams, Giving Up
“No matter how you feel today, get up, dress up & show up”
— Paulo Coelho, Paulo Coelho Quotes
Tagged: Sadness, Happiness, Showing Up
“It's risky, falling in love."

"I know that," I answered. "I've been in love before. It's like a narcotic. At first it brings the euphoria of complete surrender. The next day, you want more. You're not addicted yet, but you like the sensation, and you think you can still control things. You think about the person you love for two minutes, and forget them for three hours.

"But then you get used to that person, and you begin to be completely dependent on them. Now you think about him for three hours and forget him for two minutes. If he's not there, you feel like an addict who can't get a fix. And just as addicts steal and humiliate themselves to get what they need, you're willing to do anything for love.”
— Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept: A Novel of Forgiveness
Tagged: Love, Heartbreak, Letting Go
“If you love someone, you must be prepared to set them free.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Winner Stands Alone: A Novel (P.S.)
Tagged: Love, Set Free, Letting Go
“If there is any possible consolation in the tragedy of losing someone we love very much, it's the necessary hope that perhaps it was for the best.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello: A Novel (P.S.)
Tagged: Tragedy, Love, Loss
“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Heart and Love, Suffer, Heartbreak
“Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.”
— Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Tagged: Dating, Relationship, Love
“Many people don't allow themselves to love...because there are a lot of things at risk a lot of future and a lot of past.’”
— Paulo Coelho, The Delux Collection - Paulo Coelho: Box Set
Tagged: Love, Relationships, First Love