Why this book: I had read it 3 times before, and chose to read it again when one of the reading groups I’m in selected it. This review augments my review of  2010, which can be read here.

Summary in 3 sentences: A type of fairy tale in which a shepherd boy in the south of Spain, maybe 100 years ago,  is challenged to expand his horizons and chase his “personal treasure,” and so decides to take the risk, and follow the omens that tell him to go to the pyramids of Egypt.  He sells his sheep, takes the boat across the straits to North Africa where he lands in a new world and faces setback after setback, but he stays the course and soldiers on.  In spite of many setbacks and seeming insurmountable obstacles, he maintains a positive attitude, continues to pursue his dream, each setback opens a door to new possibilities, and eventually indeed finds his treasure in the most unlikely of places. 

My Impressions: Loved this book again – the fourth time I’ve read it.  I am currently reading The Intention Experiment which dovetails nicely with this book, in that it presents scientific evidence that focus, will, and strong desire can indeed physically influence the world around us.  If we believe this, and the statement that occurs repeatedly in The Alchemist that “When you want something (badly enough,) all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” then most of us have three significant challenges in using this power that Paolo Cuelho and so many others tell us we have:  1. We don’t have a dream that we truly and strongly believe in and are willing to sacrifice for; 2. We are unwilling to take the risk and make the sacrifices necessary to fulfill that great dream, ie we lack sufficient courage;  3. We don’t have the persistence to stay focussed on the dream or goal, through thick and thin, in spite of what seem like dream-killing setbacks.  

Below are some of my favorite quotes from the book: Note: Unless preceded by “E” or “A”, quotes are from the impersonal narrator of The Alchemist.  E: quotes are from the Englishman. A: quotes are from the Alchemist.

Everyone believes the world’s greatest lie – that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us and our lives become controlled by fate.  p30  As time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend p24

The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy.  To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation. p24

And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.  p24

In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own Personal Legends.  p25

It’s called the Principal of Favorability. When you play cards for the first time, you are almost sure to win…Because there is a force that wants you to realize your Personal Legend; it whets your appetite with a taste of success.p31

God has prepared a path for everyone to follow.  You just have to read the omens that he left for you.p32

Don’t forget that everything is only one thing and nothing else.  And don’t forget the language of omens. p33

The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and don’t forget the drops of oil on the spoon p35

“Learn to recognize omens and follow them,” the old King had said. p44 

He had to think of himself not as a poor victim of the thief but as an adventurer on a quest in search of his treasure.p45

“Maktub … in your language it would be something like “it is written.” p61 

Making a decision was only the beginning of things. 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. p70

E:”Everything in life is an omen. There is a universal language, understood by everybody, but already forgotten.  I am in search of that universal language among other things….I have to find a man who knows that universal language.  An alchemist.” p72

E:”…luck and coincidence. It’s with those words that the universal language is written.” p73

E:”…fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand.” p79

“We make a lot of detours, but we’re always heading for the same destination.”  p80

E:”In alchemy, it’s called the Soul of the World. When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force.”  p81

E:”I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things.”  p85

E:”It’s only those who are persistent and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the Master Work.” p85

If  you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man p87

The closer he got to the realization of his dream, the more difficult things became. 92

…The language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart.  It was love.  p95

E:”To do that successfully, I must have no fear of failure. It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work.” ; 102

When you are in love, things make even more sense…p102

…people looking at what was occurring around them, could find a means of penetration to the Soul of the World.  p105

…He felt a strange sense of joy: he was about to die in pursuit of his Personal Legend….Here he was, face-to-face with this enemy, but there was no need to be concerned about dying – the Soul of the World awaited him, and he would soon be a part of it.   p 114

A: “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.” p115

A: “Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”  p119

A: “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 the love that speaks the Language of the World.” p124

A: List to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”p132  “My heart is a traitor, the boy said..”It doesn’t want me to go on…. why should I listen to my heart?” A: Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet…You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say.That way, you’ll never have to fear an unanticipated blow.” p133-134

A: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself ”  p134

All people who are happy have God within them. And that happiness could be found in a grain of sand from the desert, as the alchemist had said. p134

Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.  p135

A: Every search begins with beginner’s luck.  And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested. p137

A: “When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”  p 138

A: “If a person is living 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.” p146

A: “That’s what alchemists do.  They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.” p 155

The boy began to pray. It was a prayer that he had never said before, because it was a prayer without words or pleas. His prayer didn’t give thanks…didn’t ask…didn’t beseech…In the silence, the boy understood that the desert, the wind and the sun were also trying to understand the signs written by the hand and were seeking to follow their paths. p156

Arab proverb:  “Everything that happens once can never happen again.  But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.” 

If he hadn’t believed in the significance of recurrent dreams, he would not have met the Gypsy woman, the king, the thief, or… p 169