Paulo Coelho is a novelist born on August 24, 1947, in Brazil. From the very beginning, he had always wanted to be a writer until he decided to follow his parents wishes and enroll in law school, a pursuit in which he later dropped out from becoming a songwriter instead. Later in his life, he had an awakening that turned him back to wanting to be a writer. He has since written 33 novels and has become the all-time bestselling Portuguese writer. During his earlier adult years, he spoke out against the military dictatorship that was in power at the time and, as a result, was thrown in prison where he began thinking and writing. One of his quotes “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion” is rather well said. I'm certain what he meant exactly when he stated this was that opinions which are really nothing more than thoughts or words mostly have no effect on the people around them, instead you must act or set an example for others to follow or respond to. For example, you can have the opinion that something is wrong but unless you make an act or create some sort of following that can convince others to do the same nothing will change. His quote is overall a lot like the whole “actions speak louder than words” statement that is commonly repeated. Now personally, I don't have any direct experience in a person to person standpoint that really relates to this quote aside from a few minor occurrences that only loosely relate. But as someone who often hangs out on internet forums I personally see a great deal of opinions be thrown around to absolutely no avail solely on the fact that sharing your opinion alone will never convince someone to see it your way, you need examples, you need proof that what you say is the right way, and then you might get somebody else to take up your side.
"Paulo Coehlo." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Coelho>.