While reading through The Alchemist for the first time in a few years, I am immediately reminded of why I was so inspired by the book the first time I read it. I know I will not have the same original feelings and "a-ha moments" that were there the first time, but I am still moved by Coelho's words. It seems with the turning of the pages and the distance of Santiago's journey, the author instills these little bits of wisdom throughout the text. As you read, keep note of quotations that are particularly inspirational or eye-opening for you.
Here are a few of my favorites. Feel free to comment on these, or add your own quotations with a brief explanation as to why you selected the passage.
Pg. 10 "I couldn't have found God in the seminary, he thought, as he looked at the sunrise."
Pg. 11 "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."
Pg. 15 "It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only the wise men are able to understand them."
Pg. 16 "Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."
Pg 18 " 'What 's the world's greatest lie?' the boy asked, completely surprised.
'It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become contolled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie.' "
Pg 27 "He was sure that it made no difference to her on which day he appeared: for her, every day was the same, and when each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite passages. It's one of the many times in the book that truly makes someone rethink their life.
Pg 120 "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..."
ReplyDeleteThis comment really made me stop and think, because what it was saying is so true. No one should hold you back from your dreams, because if they do it is selfish and they do not wish to see you be happy. It just opens a person's eyes.
The quote listed above on page ten really confused me at first. However, I found it to be very ironic. People tend to believe that religion is the only way to become close to God. Yet, Santiago, by fulfilling his personal legend, becomes closer to God then before.
ReplyDeleteI liked Ms. Adams quote on pg 15 because its so true. Normal people will go through life and only really notice the bad things and overlook the good things; where as wise men won't take for granted the good things in life and they will know what they really have.
ReplyDeletePg 32 "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."
ReplyDeleteI liked this quote because to me it says that in life you need to live a happy life and notice all of the little things but you shouldn't forget your goal along the way.
I love the quote on page 16 ("Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.") I think that this is very important in everyday life. If people were half as worried about themselves than other people life would be less dramatic and even more importantly more successful because our goals would have a higher percentage of being reached.
ReplyDeleteAlso I like the quote Kenzie chose..Pg 120 "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..."
ReplyDeleteBecause to me it says that the people and things in your life that are trully important will be there for you and with you while you follow your dreams, they wont hold you back if they trully care.
I agree with Kristina's first post. I rather enjoyed many of the quotes throughout the book but I especially liked that one on pg 27. It made me remember that good things happen every single day of our lives and that we shouldn't let them be overshadowed by all of the bad things. There is a balance and good can outweigh bad if people are willing to live that way. Also, it's a great way of stating that all the little good things in life should be enjoyed/noticed and not taken for granted.
ReplyDeleteI loved this book and I could say so many things about all of the great quotes that helped to make it quite an inspiring novel, but my favorite part of the book was probably at the very end when he reached the pyramids to find that his treasure was back home and he commented (pg165-166): "You old sorcerer! You knew the whole story...Couldn't you have saved me from that?" And was thus replied: "No. If I told you, you wouldn't have seen the Pyramids. They're beautiful, aren't they?" In the end, he had gotten to travel like he originally planned to when he became a shepherd, except this time it was mapped out and in the hands of God. The point of the journey wasn't the treasure that awaited at home, it was the adventure and experiences that Santiago always wanted :)
ReplyDeleteThere's always been a table for me there
ReplyDeleteSo you can try to forget, or say it's the past
You know you'll always end up right back where you left.
"Coffee Eyes" by The Wonder Years
I think it sums up Santiago's journey. He went on a long quest, and ultimately just returned home. Also, an English class discussion wouldn't be complete without me referencing a song, so I thought this was necessary.
People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them. – page 130 I liked this quote because it explains how goals and dreams are similar that you have to believe and work hard for some of those dreams to come true. This sorta ties in with Ms. Adams because dreams or goals being completed make life interesting.
ReplyDeletePg. 11 "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting." is my favorite because I believe that dreams are worthing to strive for and have a purpose in everybodys life.
ReplyDeleteYour quote: "Pg. 15 "It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only the wise men are able to understand them."" I think this is what really gave me such an amazing feeling when I finished the book. There were a lot of lessons in it, but I think this struck me the most. I felt like the book reminded me that I don't really have to go to the pyramids, just like the boy didn't really have to. Wonders are all around me. I just have to learn how to recognize the extraordinary inside of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteI know I said this at the meeting, but I still love that candy-selling guy. Pg 43: "This candy merchant... [is] doing it because it's what he wants to do." "...He realized that, while they were erecting the stall, one of them had spoken Arabic and the other one Spanish. And they had understood each other perfectly well." This struck me in two ways. One was that it showed people could transcend language barriers because we are all human. They both spoke the 'Language of the World.' This shows us that we can all put aside our differences. So they spoke different languages. So people have different religions and colors and ways of living. It doesn't have to matter at all. The second way is that I was so happy this man realized his Personal Legend. Unlike other people he didn't prefer to just dream about it or have to go all the way to the pyramids for it. It showed me that I don't have to go to Egypt, find an alchemist, and turn into the wind to achieve my own goals in life. I just have to do what I love to be happy!
ReplyDeleteI liked the quote on page 15 about how simple things in life are extraordinary and only wise men can understand them. I'm not totally sure what drew me to it but it just stuck out to me. It is very inspiring. I thought of it as saying that it doesn't matter about all the big things that you do to help other people. The small things are what people look at and base their impression of you on. The small things are what people really look at. For example, if you donate an abundance of money to a charity, but treat someone or something like crap...people won't care for you very much.
ReplyDeletei agree with Kyle, dreams aren't going to be achieved unless you have "faith" in them.
ReplyDeleteTheres alot one could say about this book and it reminds me of last years lit. class. its full of philosophies and wisdom, which make one really think about life in a whole new way.
ReplyDeleteI also found the quote "Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living right now." That ends the second paragraph on page 85. The camel driver said this to the boy. I believe he meant that we should live our lives to the fullest potential. Life can be kind of like a party now but when we die, it's like we return to the time when we wait for the next party to begin.
ReplyDeleteThis book is about faith. Faith is what drove Santiago the entire journey, and everytime he started to lose it he was lucky enought to catch the omens that reminded him he had a place to be. He followed his dreams, just to find out that "There's no place like home."
ReplyDeleteBut I do indeed agree with Kyle's quote, without dreams there is almost no purpose in life. We would only have the instinct of survival, which would take the human aspect out of our lives. Faith is apart of being human.
p. 70 "If I could, I'd write a huge encyclopedia just about the words luck and coincidence. It's with these words that the universal language is written." (the Englishman)
ReplyDeleteIn the book, all things seem to be luck or coincidence because, "when you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it." Everything that happens to Santiago is to help him achieve his Personal Legend of finding to treasure. Being robbed, and meeting the Englishman were no accidents. If meetings like that wouldn't have happened, Santiago wouldn't have been able to achieve his Personal Legend.
I like what kenzie said about faith, that without faith, all we have is the instinct of survival. It illustrates that everyone has to have faith in something, however small or silly it might be, and that faith keeps people motivated to fulfill their daily goals. This book touches on alot of big philosophical issues like this one and relates it to people in their everyday lives, which makes the book so appealing.
ReplyDelete