I just finished one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The story is extraordinarily simple but deep and difficult to understand at the same time. Its precepts are an interesting mix of motivational theory and religion, but while I was reading it I kept finding quotes that jumped off the page and hit me like electricity. In some ways it felt like reading the Bible: I didn't understand everything, but I knew it was filled with wisdom.
When I finish reading most books I have a very clear idea of what they were about, and when people ask me about them I can summarize the basic concepts in a way that makes sense. The Alchemist is not one of those books, so all I can do is recommend reading it and let the book speak for itself. Here's a taste of what you'll find:
"It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."
"It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary."
"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."
"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."
"Fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand."
"The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."
"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
"When we love, we always strive to be better than we are."
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