The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

• Santiago receives two stones, indicating yes and no, that would provide him an answer to any truly objective question. He asks, “Am I going to find my treasure?” And the stones fall in a whole through his pocket so he cannot grab one.
  • This question is not objective (is any?). But, perhaps more importantly, we’re more motivated to fight for something when we don’t know the outcome, win or lose.
• “‘Well, why don’t you go to Mecca now?’ asked the boy. ‘Because it’s the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive…I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living.’”
• “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.”
  • You will never be able to escape suffering. So it’s better to suffer. That way, you’ll never have to fear an unanticipated blow.
• “Fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself.”
• “Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”
• On the Sun and the Earth: “So we contemplate each other, and we want each other, and I give it life and warmth, and it gives me my reason for living.”
  • But if the Sun drifted any closer to the earth, it would burn that which it loved. When we love ourselves or others too much and drown ourselves/our loved ones in indulgence, we/they get burnt.
• “That’s what alchemists do, they show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
• “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are.”