Quotes from ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho.
Everyone seems to have a clear idea at how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.
“What’s the world’s greatest lie?”
“It’s this: that at a 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.”
People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.
Everything in life has its price.
When each day is 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.
There was nothing to hold him back except himself.
The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.
“I’m like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”
“He’s doing it because it’s what he wants to do.”
This wasn’t a strange place; it was a new one.
There was a moment of silence so profound that it seemed the city was asleep.
You’re different from me, because you want to realize your dreams.
Sometimes, there’s just no way to hold back the river.
Before long, the news spread, and a great many people began to climb the hill to see the shop that was doing something new in a trade that was so old.
Never stop dreaming.
Just as he had conquered this place, he could conquer the world.
The hills of Andalusia were only two hours away, but there was an entire desert between him and the Pyramids. Yet the boy felt there was another way to regard his situation – he was actually two hours closer to his treasure… the fact that the two hours had stretched into an entire year didn’t matter.
If I don’t find it, I can always go home.
He suddenly felt tremendously happy. He could always go back to being a shepherd. He could always become a crystal salesman again. Maybe the world had other hidden treasures, but he had a dream, and he had met with a king. That doesn’t happen to just anyone!
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.
But the desert is so huge, and the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent.
Creatures like the sheep, that are used to travelling, know about moving on.
People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of acheiving what they need and want.
Language without words… the universal language.
Everyone has his or her own way of learning things. His way isn’t the same as mine, nor mine as his. But, we’re both in search of our destinies, and I respect him for that.
Someday this morning would just be a memory.
Someone in the world awaits you, whether it’s in the middle of the desert or in some great city.
It’s not a battle of good against evil. It’s a war between forces that are fighting for the balance of power, and, when that type of battle begins, it lasts longer than others – because Allah is on both sides.
I am a part of your dream, a part of your destiny.
The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes. That’s the way it will be with our love for each other.
She is a treasure greater than anything else I have won.
It’s not what enters men’s mouth that’s evil.
It’s what comes out of their mouths that is.
Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.
I’ve discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve.
And above all for his having met a woman of the desert who had told him that love would never keep a man from his destiny.
Quotes from ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho.
(Translated by Alan R. Clarke).