35. the ALCHEMIST

Paulo Coelho 1988

Once in a while I need to read a simple fable like this: a little boy is looking for the pot of gold, and on the way, he meets the alchemist and learns some life lessons. It also affirms my belief in destiny.

"It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path."

"Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him."

"The past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one’s dreams would have no meaning."

"Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."

"When someone sees the same people every day, as had happened with him at the seminary, they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change. If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

"But maybe people who felt that way had never learned the universal language. Because, when you know that language, it’s easy to understand that someone in the world awaits you, whether it’s in the middle of the desert or in some great city. And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant."

"The boy didn't know what a Personal Legend was. "It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.""

"We are travelers on a cosmic journey,stardust,swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity."

"The simple things are also the most extraordinary things,and only the wise can see them."

"I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now."

"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation."

"No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it."