wisdom from the alchemist

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.

Destiny is what you have always wanted to accomplish. 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. It's a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your destiny. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is on great truth on this planet: 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 World is nourished by people's happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one's destiny 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.

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

Don't forget that everything you deal with is only one thing and nothing else. And don't forget the language of the omens. And, above all, don't forget to follow your destiny through to its conclusion.

If God leads sheep so well, he will also lead a man, he thought, and that made him feel better.

He realized: If I can learn to understand this language without words, I can learn to understand the world.

Sometimes there's just no way to hold back the river.

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.

The boy was beginning to understand that 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 know everything, because it's all written there.

People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want.

Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive...and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us.

If you can always concentrate on the present, you'll be a happy man. You'll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now.

I'm going away, he said. And I want you to know that I'm coming back. I love you because...
Don't say anything, she interrupted. One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving. So I loved you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.

B: My heart is a traitor, it doesn't want me to go on.
A: That makes sense. Naturally it's afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won.
B: Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?
A: 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.
B: You mean I should listen even if it's treasonous?
A: Treason is blow that comes unexpectidly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you'll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.
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. And tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of that search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.
B: Why don't people's hearts tell them to continue to follow their dreams?
A: Because that's what makes a heart suffer most, and hearts don't like to suffer.

Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart. If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everyting he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to acheive: the fear of failure.

Because it's not love to be static like the desert, nor is it love to roam like the wind. And it's not love to see everything from a distance, like you do, Sun. Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World. When I first reached through to it, I thought the Soul of the World was perfect. But later, I could see that it was like other aspects of creation, and had its own passions and wars. It was we who nourish the Soul of the World, and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in.