Alchemy

Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist changed my life.  And I thank my friend Bek for introducing it to me during my senior year of college.  After re-reading excerpts during the dog days of Swing Semester, it brought me to big alligator tears.  The path I had followed since college was the path of my heart, and while there had been many detours, just like the book's hero, it was incredibly affirming to know the lessons had got into the marrow of my bones.

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  “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

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

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  “Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.”

   

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  “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."

   

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  “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

   

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  “Every search begins with beginner's luck and ends with the victor being severely tested.”

   

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  “When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

   

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  “The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.”

   

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  “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.”

   

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  “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World."

   

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  “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”

   

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  “I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now."

   

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  “When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.”

   

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  “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.  And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity."

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  "When you are in love, things make even more sense, he thought."

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  "Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense."

   

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  “All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation. Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.”

   

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  “The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves.”

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  “I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher’s Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these things are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald.” 

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  “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. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.”