Thy will be done, my Lord. Because you know the weakness in the heart of your children, and you assign each of them only the burden they can bear. May you understand my love–because it is the only thing I have that is really mine, the only thing that I will be able to take with me into the next life. Please allow it to be courageous and pure; please make it capable of surviving the snares of the world.

One year later he dropped out and lived life as a hippie traveling through South America North Africa Mexico and Europe and started drugs in the 1960s. Paulo Coelho (Portuguese: [ˈpawlu kuˈeʎu]; born August 24 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. As a teenager Coelho wanted to become a writer.

He has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. He is the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Légion d'honneur.