INSPIRATIONS by Paulo Coelho

`Anthology` comes from the Greek word that stands for garlands - a bouquet of flowers. An anthology then, should be a small token of something much larger. In the case of flowers, they bring to mind the colour & fragrance of the fields, of a season. Coelho`s anthology, therefore, is not only a collection of texts or poems, but a gift, something arranged according to his sensitivities, to give to others. The selection of books presented in this volume have been chosen as if from a vast field of flowers, stretching infinitely into time`s horizon. Coelho`s selection is ordered in to the four elements, symbolizing both our world on all its directions, and the way we dwell in it, the way we say it. In `Earth` we find writers as diverse as Oscar Wilde and D H Lawrence; in `Air` Nelson Mandela and Gabriel Garcia Marques; in `Fire` Rumi and Mary Shelley; and, in `Water` Hans Christian Anderson and Machiavelli.