The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Santiago the shepherd boy travels from Spain to Egypt to see the Pyramids, which is his dream. Along the way, he is enlightened by a gypsy, an Englishman, a "king", and an alchemist, each of which teaches him a valuable lesson. Perhaps the greatest lesson comes from Fatima, a girl he falls in love with and longs to return to once he has chased his dreams.

Coelho has written a wonderful book based on simple concepts. It's one I envision Oprah saying "see the simplicity of it," "learn from these lessons,"..and so on. And I did. Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"What's the world's greatest lie?" the boy asked, completely surprised.

"It's this: that at a certain point 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." (p.20)

"...To realize one's Personal Legend is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." (p.24)

"...people need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want. We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand." (p.78)

"You should pay more attention to the caravan," the boy said to the Englishman, after the camel driver had left. "We make a lot of detours, but we're always heading for the same destination."

"And you ought to read more about the world," answered the Englishman. "Books are like caravans in that respect." (p.79)

"...he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke - the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert." (p.94)

"Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him," his heart said. "We, people's hearts, seldom say much about those treasures, because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them - the path to their Personal Legends, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place..." (p.132)

"What's an alchemist?" he asked, finally.

"It's a man who understands nature and the world. If he wanted to, he could destroy this camp just with the force of the wind." (p.141)

"This is why alchemy exists," the boy said. "So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life...That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too." (p.151)