AUTHOR : PAULO COELHO

TITLE : LIKE THE FLOWING RIVER

(Thoughts and Reflections)
PUBLICATION DATE : 2006
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Printed and bound in Great Britain
ISBN 978-0-00-723581-0


Paulo Coelho : born August 24, 1947 is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.


Biography
Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Pedro Queima Coelho de
Souza, an engineer and his wife Lygia, a homemaker. He attended a Jesuit school. As
a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she
responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical, reasonable man
with a very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a
writer?" After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer "always wears glasses and
never combs his hair" and has a "duty and an obligation never to be understood by his
own generation," amongst other things. At 17, Coelho's introversion and opposition to
following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a mental institution from
which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. Coelho later
remarked that "It wasn't that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn't know what to do...
They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me."

At his parents' wishes, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of
becoming a writer. One year later, he dropped out and lived life as a hippie, traveling
through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and becoming immersed in
the drug culture of the 1960s. Upon his return to Brazil, Coelho worked as a songwriter,
composing lyrics for Elis Regina, Rita Lee, and Brazilian icon Raul Seixas. Composing
with Raul led to Paulo being associated with satanism and occultism, due to the content
of some songs. n 1974, Coelho was arrested for "subversive" activities by the ruling
military government, who had taken power ten years earlier and viewed his lyrics as left-
wing and dangerous. Coelho also worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director
before pursuing his writing career.
n 1986, Coelho walked the 500-plus mile Road of Santiago de Compostela in
northwestern Spain, a turning point in his life. On the path, Coelho had a spiritual
awakening, which he described autobiographically in The Pilgrimage. n an interview,
Coelho stated "I was very happy in the things I was doing. I was doing
something that gave me food and water to use the metaphor in "The Alchemist", I was
working, I had a person who I loved, I had money, but I was not fulfilling my dream. My
dream was, and still is, to be a writer." Coelho would leave his lucrative career as a
songwriter and pursue writing full-time.



Writing career
n 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives, which failed to make any kind of
impact. n 1986 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later
tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it "of bad quality." After making the
pilgrimage toSantiago de Compostela in 1986, Coelho wrote The Pilgrimage. The
following year, Coelho wrote The Alchemist and published it through a small Brazilian
publishing house who made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to
reprint. He subsequently found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his
next book Brida, The Alchemist became a Brazilian bestseller. The Alchemist has
gone on to sell more than 65 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling books in
history, and has been translated into more than 70 languages, the 71st being Maltese,
winning the Guinness World Record for most translated book by a living author.




Since the publication of The Alchemist, Coelho has generally written one novel every
two years including By The River Piedra Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain,
Veronika Decides To Die, The Devil and Miss Pyrm, Eleven Minutes, Like The Flowing
River, The Valkyries and The Witch of Portobello. This dates back to The Pilgrimage;
while trying to overcome his procrastination of launching his writing career, Coelho said:
"If I see a white feather today, that is a sign that God is giving me that I have to write a
new book." Coelho found a white feather in the window of a shop, and began writing
that day.


n total, Coelho has published 29 books. Two of them The Pilgrimage and The
Valkyries are autobiographical, while the majority of the rest are fictional, although
rooted in his life experiences. Others, like Maktub and The Manual of the Warrior of
Light, are collections of essays, newspaper columns, or selected teachings. n total,
Coelho has sold more than 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide, and his
works have been translated into 67 languages. He is the all-time bestselling Portuguese
language author.


Currently, Coelho publishes short stories for Ode Magazine. Every issue devotes a
page to Coelho for his writing pleasure.






Books
The Pilgrimage A transforming journey on the pilgrims' road to Santiago and the first
of Paulo's extraordinary books.
The Valkyries A modern-day adventure in the searing heat of the Mojave desert and
an exploration of fear and self-doubt.
By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept When two young lovers are reunited, they
discover anew the truth of what lies in their hearts.
The Fifth Mountain Paulo Coelho's brilliant telling of the story of Elijah, who was
forced to choose between love and duty.
Manual of the Warrior of Light Strategies and inspiration to help you follow your own
path in a troubled world.
Veronika Decides To Die A fundamental moral question explored as only Paulo can.
The Devil and Miss Prym The inhabitants of a small town are challenged by a
mysterious stranger to choose between good and evil.
Eleven Minutes An unflinching exploration of the lengths we go to in our search for
love, sex and spirituality.
The Zahir A sweeping story of love, loss and longing that spans the world.
The Alchemist A world-wide phenomenon; an inspiration for anyone seeking their path
in life.
Like The Flowing River Powerful tales of living and dying, destiny and choice and love
lost and found.
The Witch of Portobello A story that will transform the way we think about love, joy
and sacrifice.
Brida A moving tale of passion, mystery and spirituality.
The Winner Stands Alone An enthralling story of jealousy, death and suspense.
Paulo Coelho's Personal Life and Reputation
Coelho and his wife Christina Oiticica split their time between Europe and Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. He is a Roman Catholic and although he attends Mass, he disagrees
with the Pope on several issues, both political and social.

n 1996, Coelho founded the Paulo Coelho nstitute, which provides aid to children and
elderly people with financial problems. n September 2007, Coelho was named
a Messenger of Peace to the UN.
-Member of the Board of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace
-UNESCO special counselor for "ntercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences
-Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
-Member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
-Member of N nternational Advisory Council HARVARD NTERNATONAL
NEGOTATON NTATVE
-Member of the Board, Doha Center of Media Freedom
-Advisory Board Member, Maybach Foundation


On May 9, 2006,in Sofia, Bulgaria, Paulo Coelho was awarded by the President of
Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov the "The Honorable Award of the President of the Republic".




Enlightening Circumstances
Being an 'Exceptional Writer' Paulo Coelho's books has had a life-enhancing impact
on millions of people. Coelho's writing is beautifully poetic but his message is what
counts. He gives hope and puts a smile on everybody's face. His book is about magic,
dreams, hope, trust, love, sacrifice, spirituality, destiny, treasures and magic that we
seek elsewhere and then find on our doorstep. He gives meaning on everybody's life.

Paulo touches you with his philosophy and invites you to go on an exciting journey of
your own.

He deserve the term Publishing Phenomenon'.


Subject Matter
Like the Flowing River is intimate collection of Paulo Coelho's Reflections and short

stories. These are powerful tales of living and dying, of destiny and choice, of love lost

and found. t is sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, but always profound. This

book, like all of Coelho's work, explores what it means to be truly alive.

This is a collection of reflections from Paulo Coelho. n this riveting collection of
thoughts and stories, he offers his personal reflections on a wide range of subjects from
archery and music to elegance, travelling and the nature of good and evil. An old
woman explains to her grandson how a mere pencil can show him the path to
happiness! nstructions on how to climb a mountain reveal the secret to making your
dreams a reality.

This work presents the story of Genghis Khan and the Falcon that teaches about the
folly of anger - and the art of friendship; and a pianist who performs an example in
fulfilling your destiny. The author learns three important lessons when he goes to the
rescue of a man in the street - Paulo shows us how life has lessons for us in the
greatest, smallest and most unusual of experiences.

Like the Chinese saying, our life flow like the water in the river, the book title projected
the value of what it contains. The stories and articles are about his experience on the
road, his daily life experience, the people he met, his action when faced with God's
calling, his point of view towards certain things that happened, lesson of life that we all
could learn from things happened around us, because everything happens for a reason!

To round it up it makes me notice all God creation exist for us to realize that we should
be grateful with what we have. For the good things and bad things that ever happened,
we might just forget it with the time passing by, most people remember the bad more
than the good one. We are all so focus on the matter, the story lines, what is right and
what is wrong, mostly we put our self as the victim and we are on the right side. But we
never tell our self to ask why that certain things happened?


And the answer to your question inside your heart will be found. This is what guess my

lead to live life flowing like the water in the river and peace will be found.




Method of Organization
These are thoughts and reflections both funny and poignant, personal and universal,
sorrowful and life-affirming from the master of insight and inspiration, Paulo Coelho.

Paulo finds transcendence in everyday occurrences. Like the toast that fell the right side
up; or the man who was discovered in his pyjamas, a skeleton twenty years dead and
missed by no one; or an ordinary pencil, symbolic of life's trials and triumphs; or the
necessity of remaining open to love, even if others try to hurt you.

n this book, you will see how an old woman explains to her grandson how a mere
pencil can show him the path to happiness! nstructions on how to climb a mountain
reveal the secret to making your dreams a reality.

This work presents the story of Genghis Khan and the Falcon that teaches about the
folly of anger - and the art of friendship; and a pianist who performs an example in
fulfilling your destiny. The author learns three important lessons when he goes to the
rescue of a man in the street - Paulo shows us how life has lessons for us in the
greatest, smallest and most unusual of experiences.

"Like the Flowing River" includes jewel-like fables, packed with meaning and retold in
Coelho's inimitable style.




Main Ideas of the Book
Spiritual

nspirational

Love

Life

Mistakes


Passage

"What makes life interesting are the challenges we face."

Paulo Coelho (Like the Flowing River)


" am always amazed that so many people are concerned with wanting to be what they

are not; What is the point of making yourself look ridiculous?


You don't always have to pretend to be strong, there is no need to prove all the time that

everything is going well, you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are

thinking.


Cry if you need to, it's good to cry out all your tears, because only then you will be able

to

smile again..."

Paulo Coelho (Like the Flowing River)


Personal Insights and Learning
His books are really different. They are all about life and how we choose our path.

Some are all about love, destiny, and death. When start reading this book ''Like the

Flowing River''. t made a great impact on the way think of life. t showed me that life

has a bright side that no one ever looks at. Coelho's books aren't silly stories, they are

stories with meanings. This book has short stories about many different people that

Coelho met during his life. They are either family, friends, or strangers. t talks about the

incidents and problems that happened with these people and how it taught them a

lesson.


''These days people think a lot of their future and forget to live their present.'' This

sentence really touched me. t has so many meanings and it's in every person's life. t

made me more optimistic and now always keep in mind that at the end no one is

taking anything with them, therefore enjoy your life to the fullest and make the best of

each second.



The story of the pencil was so interesting and 've been reflecting throughout these

days. We are humans who aren't perfect at all; we are capable of committing mistakes

and the story taught me to learn how to dwell with it. You have to correct what you just

did and do what is right.


You'll be experiencing pain and downfalls but in the end after all those obstacles you'll

be able to see the light facing your soul.








TANAUAN NSTTUTE
TANAUAN CTY, BATANGAS



ASSESSMENT OF LEARNNG 1

LKE THE FLOWNG RVER
(Paulo Coelho)


Submitted by:
HWATG, MARA KARZE A.
BEED Submitted to:
MR. RONALD RAMLO
PROFESSOR