3/00 - Notes from The Alchemist - A Fable about Following Your Dream,
by Paulo Coelho


It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

People always seem to have a clear idea of how others should live their lives, but none about his or her own.

Rich's idea, inspired by this book: Ask a child periodically as s/he grows: "What makes you happy?" "What do you want to be when you grow up?" "What have you always wanted to do/experience/achieve?" (Record these in a notebook for when the child is an adult; give it to him/her when s/he can't remember who they are or what they want to do with their life.)

World's Greatest Lie: At a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.

One Great Truth: Whoever you are, or whatever it is you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the Soul of the Universe. It's your mission on Earth.

The Soul of the Universe is nourished by people's happiness and also by unhappiness, jealousy and envy.

To realize one's Personal Legend is a person's only real obligation.  All things are one.
 

"Even though I complain sometimes, it's because I'm the heart of a person, and people's hearts are that way. 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. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or moments that could have been good but weren't, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly."

"My heart is afraid it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

"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 eternity."
 

Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream. That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one 'dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'
 

Every search begins with beginners luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested.
 

Your eyes show the strength of your soul.
 

Anyone who interferes with the Personal Legend of another thing will never discover his own.
 

If a person is carrying out his Personal Legend, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.
 

The world is only the visible aspect of God. And what alchemy does is to bring spiritual perfection into contact with the material plane.

When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.

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.

Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to konw everything, because it's all written there.

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 right now.

Every day is there to be lived or to mark one's departure from this world.

Courage is the quality most essential in understanding the Language of the World.

You must not let up, even after having come so far. You must love the desert, but never trust it completely. Because the desert tests all men: it challenges every step, and kills those who become distracted.

It isn't what enters men's mouths that's evil. It's what comes out of their mouths that is.

Remember that wherever you heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you've learned along the way can make sense.

You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his Personal Legend. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love...the Love that speaks the Language of the World.

All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand and you will know all the marvels of creation. Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.

When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.



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