Paulo Coelho’s -The Alchemist

I would like to portray here about the beautiful book that I have read in this semester holiday. It was such an inspiring book written by Paulo Coelho – a Brazilian writer, which was an international bestseller and sold over 30 million copies at that time. I started the novel thinking that it would just be the same blend mixed with romance, thriller or a slapstick kind of play, but it proved to be different with practical philosophy about life which we forget to realize at times. The book is just about dreams we have and the life’s treasure we seek elsewhere and unfortunately it lies in our own doorsteps and how to realize our dreams.

The bottom line of the story is very simple and it just goes like this…..

This is a story of a shepherd boy who dreams of travelling the world to pyramid in search of a treasure. He travels to an exotic place where Arabs live, then to the desert, to the oasis, and finally to the pyramids. Fatefully he encounters with an alchemist who explains him the worldly life and the desire each man has to find his treasure and the art of speaking or understanding to ones own heart and how coward our heart would be at times. Its truly a fabulous story that I recommend everyone should read.

In a single line the book explains of “listening to your heart and following your dreams”.

Some lines which I loved in that book…

“Maktub – which in Arab means that “it’s written”.

“Take advantage when luck is on ur side and do as much to help it as its doing to help us. It’s called principle of favourability, i.e. Beginners luck. Life wants you to achieve ur destiny”.

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

“Don’t live on your past or future. Live only with your presence”.

“Always listen to ur heart. It’s sometimes afraid to pursue your dream because u may lose things that u have won. Don’t pretend not to hear it; it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world”.

“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him. We speak oh them only to our 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 destinies and to happiness. Most people see world as a threatening place, and, they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”