Brian Bell
English 111 - 03H
August 29th, 2015
Critical Thinking #2
Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When he was a young
man, he was so out of hand and rambunctious that his parents had no choice, but
to commit him to an asylum three different times. In 1986 he went on a trip to Spain,
where he experienced enlightenment and went on to write about it in his first book
entitled, “The Pilgrimage” about a five hundred mile journey to Santiago de
Compostela. However, it was not until his second book, “The Alchemist” was
published that he reached critical acclaim and became a famous author. By his
own personal account he has sold roughly thirty-five million copies.
“The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”
This quote seems to be about how, not matter what your personal opinion
is, it will not change the world. It is your actions and leading people that will make
the world a better place. This quote seems to play off of the “Actions speak louder
than words.” ideal that many people have. You can tell as many people as you
want that something is wrong, but standing up and fighting against it is how you
make people follow you and truly believe it. So many horrible things have been
stopped because of the brave men and women who knew to do more than just say
how wrong something is.
During World War II, the leader of one of the most hated organizations, the
Nazi party, was Adolf Hitler. A name almost everybody around the world knows out
of infamy. He could have destroyed the world and easily taken it for his own, unless
there were brave people willing to risk their lives to bring him and his evil group
down. Not just the soldiers or armies were heroes, but everyone who snuck people
out of Germany and the other invaded nations is a hero. It is thanks to these brave
men and women that we live in the world that we do today. There will always be
greedy and corrupt people who think they know best, but it is up to the leaders of
today to set the example for future generations to be more than just opinions.
Works Cited:
"Paulo Coelho." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.biography.com/people/paulo-coelho-5524>.