Ben Cardenas

Paul Coelho

          Born August 24, 1947 In Rio de Janeiro, a very successful author was born. Of course it didn’t happen over night, , but he showed aspirations of writing at a young age. His parents didn’t approve and as a result, they had him put in a mental institution. He tried to get out of the institution three times and was eventually let out at age 20. He had no resentment towards his parents, but in fact the contrary, stating that they only acted out of goodwill. For his parents sanity, he enrolled in law school in 1970 and steered away from his aspirations. However, you can't fight who you really are, after some time he left and started traveling to exotic places and experimenting with drugs. The phase eventually ended after doing a lot of other jobs before his writing career took off after he wrote, “The Pilgrimage”, released in 1987. He also went on to write other greats such as “The Alchemist” and “Warrior of light”.
          Paul Coelho once said “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion” Its no question that he definitely practiced what he preached. Especially by him taking the high road when his parents had him put in a mental institution. He didn’t hold any resentment and he still loved them like it had never happened, claiming that it was in his best interests. Also with his determination to be a writer, even though his first book wasn't a big success soon after he eventually did achieve his dream of being a very successful writer. As for me, I try to apply this quote with nearly everything I do. For example; a simple gesture like opening the door for someone can make someones day, or simply just helping out with any task no matter how big or small. I believe the world would be a better place if we would all actually do something better for the world rather than just having an thought about helping the world. Referring back to the quote, actions speak louder than words and opinions simply aren't enough. A hard concrete example in my life when this quote applied to me is when I was standing up for somebody when they were getting harassed in the locker room in senior year. While i was thinking that harassment in the locker room was not the nicest thing in the world, simply thinking it changed nothing. Its easy to have an opinion, but doing something about it is where you’re being the example/change that you want to see in the world. 

Source

“Paulo Coelho” Famousauthors.org. http://www.famousauthors.org/paulo-coelho. Date N/A. Accessed February 28. 2016