10 Lessons I Learned from The Alchemist

Number One – Appreciate the ordinary in everyday life

Each day may become monotonous and boring, but there are so many things to be grateful for each and every single day. By taking the time to recognise the good, life becomes just that little bit sweeter. Here are some of the quotes that highlight this in The Alchemist –

“…for her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to recognise the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises.”

“It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men are able to understand them.”
“Every blessing ignored becomes a curse,”
“You don’t even have to understand the desert: all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation.”
“Because a grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe has taken millions of years to create it.”

Number Two – Look at the world and the opportunities it gives you with the same wide-eyed optimism as a child

“The boy didn’t know what a person’s “Personal Legend” was.
“It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend 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 in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realise their Personal Legend.”

Number Three – Don’t think you aren’t capable of achieving your goals. You are.

“He never realised that people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”
“The boy felt jealous of the freedom of the wind, and saw that he could have the same freedom. There was nothing to hold him back except himself.”

Number Four – The most rewarding things often come at great risk and difficulty (but don’t let this scare you)

“A shepherd always takes his chances with wolves and with draught, and that’s what makes his life exciting.”
“Don’t give into your fears,” said the alchemist, in a strangely gentle voice. “If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.”
“In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient.”
“Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested.”
The boy remembered an old proverb from his country. It said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.”
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

Number Five – Don’t be afraid of change

“Here I am, between my flock and my treasure, the boy thought. He had to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something he wanted to have.”
“Now, I can see that it hasn’t been too bad. The shop is exactly the size I always wanted it to be. 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.”
“I don’t want anything else in life. But you are forcing me to look at wealth and at horizons I have never known. Now that I have seen them, and now that I see how immense my possibilities are, I’m going to feel worse than I did before you arrived. Because I know the things I should be able to accomplish, and I don’t want to do so.’

Number Six – When something feels heavy and burdensome, don’t forget when it was also helpful and light

“It was the time of day when all of Spain slept during the summer. The heat lasted until nightfall, and all that time he had to carry his jacket. But when he thought to complain about the burden of its weight, he remembered that, because he had the jacket, he had withstood the cold of the dawn.”

Number Seven – Know yourself and know your heart

“He had worked for an entire year to make a dream come true, and that dream, minute by minute, was becoming less important. Maybe because that wasn’t really his dream.”
“Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. 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 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.”
“The boy continued to listen to his heart as they crossed the desert. He came to understand its dodges and tricks, and to accept it as it was.”
“The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.”
“Where you treasure is, there also will be your heart,” the alchemist had told him.”

“From then on, the boy understood his heart. He asked it, please, never top stop speaking to him. He asked that, when he wandered far from his dreams, his heart press him and sound the alarm. The boy swore that, every time he heard the alarm, he would heed its message.”

Number Eight – The way you talk to yourself is important

“When I had my sheep, I was happy, and I made those around me happy. People saw me coming and welcomed me, he thought. But now I’m sad and alone. I’m going to become bitter and distrustful of people because one person betrayed me. I’m going to hate those who have found their treasure because I never found mine. And I’m going to hold on to what little I have, because I’m too insignificant to conquer the world.”
“…he realised that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure.”
“I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure,” he said to himself.”

Number Nine – Your perspective on the world is important too

“I’m like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”
“This wasn’t a strange place, it was a new one.”
“Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.”
“Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”
“…when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too”

Number Ten – The Importance of Real Love

“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 true love… the love that speaks the Language of the World.”
“One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”
“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.”
“If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back. If what you found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return.”
“When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand you, and even men can turn themselves into the wind. As long as the wind helps, of course.”