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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Recently I went through this book: - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s just a simple fable highlighting one main point: - Follow your dreams. It has full of inspiring thoughts which suggests how one can learn new things from whatever one has got. Learning is an ongoing process and at every juncture, one gets to learn something new.

** Some excerpt from the book that’s pretty thought provoking **
Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should leave their lives, but none about his or her own

That at a certain pointy 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.

Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny 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 destiny.

If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it.

It's called the principle of favorability. When you play cards the first time, you are almost sure to win. Beginner's luck.

Because there is a force that wants you to realize your destiny; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.

The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon.

When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

Both you and I needed to cleanse our minds of negative thoughts.

I don't want to change anything, because I don't know how to deal with change. I'm used to the way I am.

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.

Imagine if everyone went around transforming lead into gold. Gold would lose its value.

Because 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 right now.

When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke - the language that everyone on the earth was capable to understanding in their heart. It was love.

When you are in love, things make ever more sense, he thought.

Actually, it wasn't that those things, in themselves, revealed anything at all; it was just that people, looking at what was occurring around them, could find a means of penetration to the Soul of the World.

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

You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it was true love ... the love that speaks the Language of the World.

Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?
Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. Even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you're thinking about life and about the world.

Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor’s is severely tested.

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

Men have never understood the words of the wise. So gold, instead of being seen as a symbol of evolution, became the basis for conflict.

Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.

No project is completed until its objective has been achieved.

It's true; life is generous to those who pursue their destiny.

Grab a copy today. Get enthused and enlightened!!!

3 comments:

SRISHA said...

Now that you have enjoyed The Alchemist, I would sincerely urge you to read 'Like the Flowing River' from Paulo Coelho. Its very refreshing and peaceful. Really lifts your spirits if you are down.

Also, there is another book from Paulo, Eleven Minutes, which is a great story of a little girl's journey from her childhood to adulthood, who dares to go after her dreams.
But caution: read it only if you dont mind adult stuff in graphical detail.

Anonymous said...

Hey great post. Thought I'm not sure I agree with you 100%. Keep em coming. Are you interested in having anyone guest post opposing views?

Anonymous said...

Il semble que vous soyez un expert dans ce domaine, vos remarques sont tres interessantes, merci.

- Daniel