The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho
sheepherd travelling around with his sheep, father wanted him to become a priest but he wanted to travel. Became a sheepherd, met a girl, daughter of merchant and he felt something in his heart
it’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting
simple things in life that are most extraordinary, only the wise are able to understand them
when someone sees the same people everyday, they wind up becoming a part of that persons life
worlds greatest lie: it’s at certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate
sheepherd went to old lady to talk about his dreams of going to Egyptian pyramids and finding treasure, then met old man that knows more about the sheepherd’s life
how to realize your personal legend — when you really want something it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe, it is nourished by happiness and unhappiness
if you start promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work toward getting it
if everyday was the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives everyday that the sun rises
the secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon
sheepherd sees old man again and talk about giving up his sheep to find the gold, old man gives 2 stones ‘yes and no’ but want the boy to make own decisions
when you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favour
I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does
boy sets out on to find the treasure, a new area in Spain, meets another boy and trusted him with his money, ended up getting robbed and no money left — either he felt sorry for himself as a victim of a thief or an explorer looking for treasure
seek adventures and new challenges
if you understand the language without words, you can understand the world
boy meets crystal merchant that he cleans up for and get people in the door, boy just wanted some food in return and money to travel, merchant offered the boy a place to work. But he told him about the adventure and merchant said that it won’t happen, boy decided to work for the man
keep striving for more: the boy stayed with the merchant for a month, working everyday
principle of favourability, take advantage when luck is on our side, do as much to help it as it’s doing to help us
merchant had a dream of going to Mecca, but wants to keep it a dream as he is afraid that if his dream is realized, then no reason to keep living
boy stayed for another 2 months and made much more money and can double his sheep back in Spain
merchant doesn’t want change because he doesn’t know how to deal with change, use to the way he is living
every blessing ignored is a curse
merchant took advice from boy and they started selling tea at the shop for customers in the glass after long hike up
boy made enough money after 11months, leaving the shop but merchant not going to Mecca and told the boy he’s not going to buy the sheep, ‘it is written’
a language that is known to the world, it’s the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and part of a search for something they believe in and desire
boy started to head home, but realized he could always go back as a shepherd or a crystal salesman but when can he have a chance like this again
Decided to go to the pyramids
an alchemist: a person who knows the universal language
luck and coincidence, with these words the universal language is written
boy starts adventure in warehouse to take caravan to Egypt, meets Englishman that has the same stones looking for an alchemist in Egypt
a disaster taught the camel driver to understand the word allah: people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want
afraid of losing what we have, this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand
language without words is the universal language
boy leaves warehouse to desert riding camels, talks with the camels drivers and has a lot of unknown adventures ahead. Rumours of tribal wars going on, but caravan must keep moving forward, boy and Englishman chat about they’re lives and take each other advice
everyone one has there own way of learning, in search of our personal legend
the war is picking up, boy lives in the moment and understand how the world speaks many languages
arrives at palm trees and they have made it to the land, language of the world
at the oasis the boy and the Englishman tries to find the alchemist and asks around from the people, most brushed them off. The boy asks a young women, he’s in love
this was a omen, without such love ones dream would have no meaning
she tells them where to find the alchemist and Englishman goes, the boy waits for girl next day, ‘go try’ alchemist tells Englishman
after a month, the boy keeps meeting up with the girl and they talk. Leader of caravan has meeting to tell everyone they can’t move forward as the war may take longer
if you pay attention to the present you can improve upon it
boy has vision about the tribes coming to attack, will go tell others
the boy tells the tribal men and they take into consideration but as he was leaving back to his tent, he gets stopped by a man with a horse. He was the alchemist testing the boys courage
the next day, 2000 men arrive to take over the oasis, but the tribal men were prepared and killed all but the commander. Hung him after asked why they came, rewarded the boy after
love never keeps a man from pursuing his personal legend, if abandons that pursuit it’s because it wasn’t true love the love that speaks the language of the world
boy and alchemist journey to the desert for personal legend and treasure but boy has second thoughts because he wants to stay and live a content life but decides to go for it and immediately felt at peace
one last goodbye to Fatima, hope that the boy returns
don’t think about what you left behind, everything is written in the soul of the world, there it will stay forever
one way to learn and that’s through action
boy and alchemist goes into desert for 1 week, getting close to personal legend, Emarald tablet, listen to your heart
you will never be able to escape from your heart. So better listen to what is has to say. That way, you’ll never have to fear the unanticipated blow
if you see the world as a threatening place then it will be a threatening place
every search begins with beginners luck, and every search ends with the victory severely tested
the boy and alchemist journey through the desert, boy finds peace with heart and the meaning it has. Eye shows the strength of your soul. Soul of the world
2 days until the pyramids
both gets captured by tribesmen and in for questioning, alchemist tells them that the boy is an alchemist
don’t give unto your fears, if you do you won’t be able to talk to your heart, only one thing that makes your dreams impossible to achieve; fear of failure
the threat of death usually makes more people aware of their lives
the tribesmen gave the boy and alchemist 3 days to turn into wind and took all belongings, boy didn’t know how to do it, but alchemist did
first day passed, many thoughts from the boy, second day boy on the edge of the cliff looking into the desert, 3rd day the tribesman watched the boy, talking to the desert and wind, wind can’t turn a man into wind?
when you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening because everything happens within you and even man can turn themselves into wind
now talking with the sun, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too
when we love, we always strive to become better than we are
sun has its limitations, can’t turn boy into wind so speak to the hand that wrote it all
boy reached through the soul of the world and saw that it was part of the soul of god
the tribesman was shocked, only the alchemist and the chief had a smile on. Chief let boy and alchemist go — stopped at a monk and created lead to gold
everything that happens once can never happen again, but everything that happens twice will surely happen a third
every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world
the boy and alchemist goes their separate ways, finally the boy finds the pyramids and sees a beetle — sign from god “to dig where his tears fell”
kept digging but nothing, tribal men came and asked what he was doing, beat him to a pulp and took his gold. Leader said that he also once had recurrent dreams about gold but wasn’t stupid enough to go through it. Boy looked at the pyramids and smile and knew where the treasure was.
church near by with the sycamore growing of the ruins of the sacristy, started to dig at that spot, found the treasure
life is generous to those who pursue their personal legend
boy felt the wind on his face and knew it was from Fatima — a kiss