The Alchemist (book)
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- For similarly-named works, see The Alchemist (disambiguation)
Many have compared The Alchemist to Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, a children's book about another boy, the Prince, who leaves his home in search of greater things, learning valuable lessons about life and love on the way. It is also interesting to note that much of The Little Prince also takes place in the desert.
Originally written in Portuguese, it has, as of 2004, been translated into over 40 languages and sold over 50 million copies in more than 150 countries.
In the foreward, Coelho explains that this is a symbolic version of his experience described in The Pilgrimage.
A motion picture version is in development at Warner Brothers with Robert Schwartz and Stephen Storer producing.
Summary
The novel tells the tale of Santiago, a young Andalusian (a region of Spain) shepherd who has a repeating dream that leads him to Northern Africa on a quest of discovery. This story speaks of the "Soul of the World" and that the Earth itself wants us to be happy, and to realize one's Personal Legend, their deepest desire, is one's only real obligation. This story tells how each of us have a single mission or goal in life, a Personal Legend, though most of us don't realize it. But most importantly it speaks of how doing good deeds for others is eventually rewarded and though we don't know what our treasure will be, or where and how we will receive it, if we follow our heart, we will find it.Quotes from the book
- "When you want something, all the world conspires in helping you to achieve it."
- "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." (Melchizedek, The Old King)
- "At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fates. That's the world's greatest lie. Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." (the Old King)
- "As he mused about these things, he realised that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure"
- "There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe... The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness." (The Old King)
- "The desert takes our dreams away from us, and they don't always return. We know that, and we are used to it. Those who don't return become a part of the clouds, a part of the animals that hide in the ravines and of the water that comes from the earth. They become part of everything... They become the soul of the world." (Fatima)
- "Life attracts life"
- "Don't think about what you've left behind" (The Alchemist)
- "If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."
- "It's not often that money saves a person's life." (The Alchemist)
- "It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."
- "What happens once will never happen again. But what happens twice will surely happen a third time."
- "The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."
- "If I am really part of your dream, you will come back one day." (Fatima)
- "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon." (The Old King)
- "Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure." (The Alchemist)
See also
- Veronika Decides to Die also by Paulo Coelho
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
- The Kingdom of God is Within You by Leo Tolstoy
- The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Reference
- The Alchemist (1995) ISBN 0062502182
External links
- [Paulo Coelho's appearance on Desert Island Discs, BBC-Radio 4, 3rd July 2005]
- [The Alchemist Motion Picture]
- [Legend of the Pedlar of Swaffam]
- [Libros, audiolibros de Paulo Coelho]
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