Paulo Coelho Quotes

The art of listening needs its highest development in listening to oneself; our most important task is to develop an ear that can really hear what we're saying.

Sometimes it seems like we're closer to our manicurists than we are our own souls. We have to find ways to get in touch with that and to listen to it and to hear it.

I use solitude as a judge and as a person - a lot.

There are moments when the inner life actually 'pays,' when years of self-scrutiny, conducted for no ulterior motive, are suddenly of practical use.

The only way to do something truly important every day is to seek to understand yourself every day.

The necessary thing is after all but this; solitude, great inner solitude. Going into oneself for hours meeting no one - this one must be able to attain.

when asked, most folks will gladly tell us about ourselves, who we are, what we're feeling, and where we should be heading. And if we don't honor ourselves by listening to our lives, we'll believe them.

Learning to cultivate an awareness of the known and unknown within one's being often leads to a healthier and more realistic sense of self.

Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.

Learn to know yourself... to search realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings.

Train yourself to listen to that small voice that tells us what's important and what's not.

The whole problem is to establish communication with ones self.

If you spend enough time with yourself in silence, you'll be surprised what goes through your head.

The object of studying philosophy is to know one's own mind, not other people's.

I noticed every time I spent a lot of time in the bathtub, I would just get fantastic realizations about myself, and they were so valuable and liberating.

I just want to live each moment, but it's kind of hard to do that when you are asked to analyze yourself constantly. But it's also good in that you are forced to think about things that you don't ordinarily think about. I think it's strange.

Enjoy the fashions, read the good articles, and when you feel threatened, turn your mental gaze inward, but keep your eyes on the road, or you won't know where you are going. Have a practice or discipline that lets you be in touch with your inner self, your soul.

Learn to be quiet enough to hear the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in others.

You can know what's in your life when you know what's in your heart.

We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly - spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.

People talk about this 'bucket list': 'I need to go to this country, I need to skydive.' Whereas I need to think as much as I can, to feel as much as I can, to be conscious and observe and understand me and the people around me as much as I can.

When you walk 10 hours, 11 hours a day by yourself, you are doing a walking meditation.

The starting point of discovering who you are, your gifts, your talents, your dreams, is being comfortable with yourself. Spend time alone. Write in a journal. Take long walks in the woods.

Well, I was passionately curious about what my body was doing, and when I got the lessons on how to meditate, it seemed really solid to me. It seemed real.

I try not to listen to the shoulds or coulds, and try to get beyond expectations, peer pressure, or trying to please - and just listen. I believe all the answers are ultimately within us.