The Alchemist

I have just read the book “The Alchemist” – a fable about following one’s dream – written by Paulo Coelho.

This is a story of a shepherd boy, who was travelling different places in pursuit of his dream. More than the story, I was fascinated by the simple thoughts spread throughout the book which are worth contemplating. Truth remains the same, in whatever language it is written.

Here are a few such thoughts:

• “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes the life interesting”.
• “it’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them”.
• “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own”.
• “At certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie”.
• “Better be alone with one’s books. They tell their incredible stories at the time when you want to hear them. But when you are talking to people, they say some things that are so strange that you don’t know how to continue the conversation”.
• “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”.
• “If you start out by promising what you don’t even have yet, you will lose your desire to work toward getting it”.
• “Sometimes it’s better to leave things as they are”.
• “People fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises”.
• “There is a force that wants you to realize your destiny; it whets your appetite with a taste of success”.
• “God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you”.
• “If you can, try to make your own decisions”.
• “Don’t forget that everything you deal with is only one thing and nothing else. And don’t forget the language of omens. And, above all, don’t forget to follow your destiny through to its conclusion”.
• “The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon”.
• “A shepherd may like to travel, but he should never forget about his sheep”.
• “Whoever has money is never really alone”.
• “I am like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does”.
• “There must be a language that doesn’t depend on words. If I can learn to understand this language without words, I can learn to understand the world”.
• “And both you and I needed to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts”.
• “I have been told that beauty is the great seducer of men”.
• “Every blessing ignored is a curse”.
• “Never stop dreaming – Follow the omens”.
• “Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision”.
• “People need not fear the unknown, if they are capable of achieving what they need and want”.
• “We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it’s our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand”.
• “Everything on the face of the earth had a soul, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal – or even just a simple thought”.
• “All things are the manifestation of one thing only”.
• “Everyone has his or her own way of learning things”.
• “I don’t live in either my past or my future. I am interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you will be a happy man”.
• “Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment, we are living right now”.
• “Don’t’ be impatient. Eat when it’s time to eat. And move along when it’s time to move along”.
• “When you are in love, things make even more sense”.
• “He tried to deal with the concept of love as distinct from possession, and could not separate them”.
• “Each day, in itself, brings with it an eternity”.
• “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the language of the world”.
• “It’s not what enters men’s mouth that’s evil. It’s what comes out of their mouths that is”. “You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it was not true love ….. the love that speaks the Language of the World”.
• “Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there”.
• “All people who are happy have God within them”.
• “Very few follow the path laid out for them – the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed to be a threatening place”.
• “Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested”.
• “The darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn”.
• “Your eyes show the strength of your soul”.
• “Men have never understood the words of the wise”.
• “When something evolves, everything around that thing evolves as well”.
• “It’s not often that money saves a person’s life”.
• “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure”.
• “Usually the threat of death makes people a lot more aware of their lives”.
• “The world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse”.
• “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are”.
• “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time”.
• “It’s true; life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny”.