Veronika Decides to Die

Image source: Bombay Reads

Veronika Decides to Die is a novel written by Paulo Coelho. It tells the story of Veronika, a 24-year-old Slovenian girl, who decides to take her own life. 

She has a number of reasons for doing so, but in the end, she realizes that life is still worth living.  

The book was written based on some real experiences Coelho had, having spent time in mental institutions. 

This book is a great reminder that we all have the power to choose how we want to live our lives. 

In this article you will be reading 20 best quotes from the book Veronika Decides To Die by Paulo Coelho. You can take notes (or bookmark this page to comeback later) while you read them in order to have a better understanding of each quote's.

A. Emotional Quotes From Veronika Decides To Die

"Anyone who lives in her own world is crazy. Like schizophrenics, psychopaths, maniacs. I mean people who are different from others."

1. "Anyone who lives in her own world is crazy. Like schizophrenics, psychopaths, maniacs. I mean people who are different from others."

2. "That's awful, inhuman," Veronika said. "People struggle to get out of a coma, not to go into one."

"People struggle to live, not to commit suicide," replied the nurse…

3. "And all of us, one way or another, are insane."

"Be crazy! But learn how to be crazy without being the center of attention. Be brave enough to live different."

4. "Be crazy! But learn how to be crazy without being the center of attention. Be brave enough to live different."

5. "What makes a person hate themselves?"

"Cowardice, perhaps. Or the eternal fear of being wrong, of not doing what others expect. A few moments ago I was happy, I forgot I was under sentence of death; then, when I remembered the situation I’m in, I felt frightened."

6. "Haven’t you learned anything, not even with the approach of death? Stop thinking all the time that you’re in the way, that you’re bothering the person next to you. If people don’t like it, they can complain. And if they don’t have the courage to complain, that’s their problem."

7. "What is the real 'I'?" asked Veronika.

"It’s what you are, not what others make of you."

"I don’t believe in you, God, but please, help me."

8. "I don’t believe in you, God, but please, help me."

9. "When I came here, I was deeply depressed. Now I'm proud to say I'm insane. Outside I'll behave exactly like everyone else. I'll go shopping at the supermarket, I'll exchange trivialities with my friends, I'll waste precious time watching television. But I know that my soul is free and that I can dream and talk with other worlds that, before I came here, I didn't even imagine existed.


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10. "Life inside is exactly the same as life outside. Both there and here, people gather together in groups; they build their walls and allow nothing strange to trouble their mediocre existences. They do things because they’re used to doing them, they study useless subjects, they have fun because they’re supposed to have fun…"

B. Quotes To Live By From Veronika Decides To Die

"People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves."

11. "People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves."

12. "She would consider each day a miracle - which indeed it is, when you consider the number of unexpected things that could happen in each second of our fragile existences."

13. "The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort."

14. "I wanted to...feel hatred and love, despair and tedium-- all those simple, yet foolish things that make up everyday life but that give pleasure to your existence. If one day I could get out of here, I would allow myself to be crazy, Everyone is indeed crazy, but the craziest are the ones who don't know they are crazy; they just keep repeating what others tell them to."

"You can't spend the whole day waiting for night to come."

15. "You can't spend the whole day waiting for night to come."

16. "Veronica hated everything, but mainly she hated the way she had lived her life, never bothering to discover the hundreds of other Veronicas who lived inside her and who were interesting, crazy, curious, brave, bold."

17. "Stay insane, but behave like normal people. Run the risk of being different, but learn to do so without attracting attention. Concentrate on this flower and allow the real "I" to reveal itself."

C. Motivational Quotes From Veronika Decides To Die

"I want to continue being crazy ... living my life the way I dream it, and not the way the other people want it to be."

18. "I want to continue being crazy ... living my life the way I dream it, and not the way the other people want it to be."

19. "Death frees from the fear of dying."

20. "Each human being is unique, each with their own qualities, instincts, forms of pleasure, and desire for adventure. 

However, society always imposed on us a collective way of behaving, and people never stop to wonder why they should behave like that. They just accept it ... You're someone who is different, but who wants to be the same as everyone else. And that, in my view, is a serious illness ..."

FAQs:

What happens in the end of Veronica Decides to Die?

She takes up playing the piano again, a former passion, and her sonata attracts Eduard. They fall in love and she leaves the institution to start a new life with him.

Conclusion: 

Like most people Veronika was right; you do need someone. 

In this big world there is no place for loneliness and isolation. Being alone can be quite depressing. So, it is always a good idea to get some backup and to build a strong relationship with someone that you know for sure that you can count on. 

Being alone means having nothing to hold on to and relying on yourself way too much. The problem is that we get used to relying on ourselves until the point where we forget the value of love and friendship.