The Alchemist

I finished reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho yesterday. It was about a shepherd boy named Santiago in a small town of Spain who has a recurring dream about a hidden treasure waiting for him at the Pyramids of Egypt. After being encouraged by a Gypsy woman and primarily by a king, he ventures out to follow his dream. He meets several interesting people during his journey including a thief who robs him of all he has begun with; a crystal merchant; an Englishman who wants to be an alchemist and turn lead to gold; the alchemist himself; his lady love Fatima at an oasis in the desert and the warring tribes which test him severely before he's able to make it to the treasure. Rich with symbolic language and signs and omens, the main premise and the best part of the novel is its philosophy "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it! " So very positive and soul nourishing !!

Some of my favourite lines from the book (food for the soul)-

* The alchemist says to the monk when he says that the gold he gave to him is more than what he deserves "Dont say that again, life is listening ,next time life will give you less than what you deserve"

* People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them.

* Love never keeps you from pursuing your destiny; if someone abandons that pursuit then it is not true love.

* When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

* "My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy confides to the alchemist one night as they look up at a moonless night.
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself," the alchemist replies. "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."

* Every search begins with a Beginner's Luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested.

* The greatest lie we tell ourselves is that at some point in our lives we lose the ability to control our lives.

* It is we who nourish the Soul of the World, and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on weather we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.

It sure pepped me up !