It All Seems So Obvious – Spiritual Story by Paulo Coelho

Rabbi Ben Zoma was asked:

“Who is wise?”

“He who always finds something to learn from others,” said the Rabbi.

“Who is strong?”

“The man who is capable of dominating himself,” responded the Rabbi.

“Who is wealthy?”

“He who knows the treasure he has: his days and hours of life, which can change everything which goes on around him.”

“Who deserves respect?”

“He who respects himself and his neighbor.”

“These things are all so obvious,” commented one of those present. The Rabbi concluded by saying:

“That is why they are so difficult to observe.”

Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author who has sold more than 100 million books, which include 14 short story collections and the novel “The Alchemist.” He has been a fan of the Internet since the early 1990s. He spends at least three hours a day online, writing e-mails back and forth with his readers and posting photos on Flickr, MySpace and a blog.

Coelho's online activities also include promoting pirated copies of his own books. Since 2005 he's been directing his readers to an online site where they can download his books, in languages from German to Japanese, for free. “I always thought that when, at the beginning of your career, you strive to be read, you can't change your mind later and become greedy about it.”