I first read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho entering freshman year of college as part of the honors program. I remember liking it very much, and the second reading held up to my expectations! The Alchemist is somewhat hard to classify as it’s both a quest/adventure and a philosophical story of self-discovery. Most people either love or hate it, but it’s a quick read worth a look.
Book Stats
- Title: The Alchemist
- Author: Paulo Coelho
- Genre: Quest/Adventure, Philosophy
- Origin Country: Brazil
- Origin Language: Portuguese
- Publication Date: 1988
- Pages: 171
- Est. Reading Time: Approx. 5 hours
- My Rating: 5/5 Stars
- Brooke’s Rating: 4/5 Stars
- Buy Now: Amazon
The Alchemist: Plot Summary
The Alchemist follows Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, on his quest for treasure. Encouraged by a recurring dream, a fortune teller, and a king, Santiago sells his sheep to travel to the Egyptian pyramids in search of a treasure he believes he’ll find there. This quest for treasure is identified as Santiago’s Personal Legend:
“To realize one’s Personal Legend is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
The journey to the pyramids proves much harder than he originally expects. Along the way, he gets robbed, works for a crystal merchant, travels with an Englishman, falls in love, and is guided by a wise alchemist. Each of these experiences and people teach him something new and help him realize his true self.
Just before reaching the pyramids, the alchemist leaves Santiago to complete the journey on his own. Will he get the treasure he’s come so far to find? Or was the treasure just a dream all along? Either way, Santiago is happy to have come, learning much along the way!
The Alchemist: Wisdom Throughout
Told in a fable-like manner, both the advice Santiago is given and his thoughts often convey wisdom to the reader. While pursuing your dream is the main theme, I’ll start with some of the other lessons I found. Likely my favorite quote from The Alchemist, being funny, factual, and wise, is:
“Tomorrow, sell your camel and buy a horse. Camels are traitorous: they walk thousands of paces and never seem to tire. Then suddenly, they kneel and die. But horses tire bit by bit. You always know how much you can ask of them, and when it is that they are about to die.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
In case you never find yourself needing to choose between a horse and camel, I think this advice can apply to people too. I take the quote to mean that we shouldn’t wait to ask for help in life until we are overwhelmed. This can be especially true for the workplace, where employees are fired for overpromising (dead camel) rather than establishing realistic expectations with their boss (horse).
“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
This quote rings especially true for me. I’ve both given and received advice, and it always seems lost on those receiving. Experience is often the best teacher and most find it difficult to believe something new without experiencing it for themselves.
Finding Happiness
“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.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Not every day can be special, so learning to find happiness in everyday life is crucial. Try to find something to enjoy or be thankful for each day. Often, it’s the small things that bring the most joy, like a text from your significant other or a joke with a friend.
“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Because 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.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
While perhaps oversimplified, living in the moment is one way to find happiness. For me, I’ve never been able to fully embrace a YOLO, “You Only Live Once,” lifestyle without worrying about the future. However, to avoid dwelling on the past is certainly a good goal. Even better, avoid regrets entirely:
“Today, I understand something I didn’t see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
To me, this means not to ignore opportunities or you’ll come to regret them. Some chances come up once in a lifetime, like accepting a new job, dating someone “out of your league,” or taking your dream vacation. Don’t let comfort with the status quo lead you to wonder what-if for the rest of your life. If you aren’t happy with your current path, you can always make a change!
“That at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
The Power of Perspective
“I’m like everyone else – I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
This quote comes after Santiago arrives in Africa and gets robbed. Even though he was worried about the possibility of theft, he was eager to get to the pyramids and carelessly placed his trust in the first person he found that spoke Spanish. I think we are all guilty of this at times, ignoring our instincts and seeing what we want to. However, it’s how we move on and learn from these mistakes that make the difference.
“He realized 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.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Similar to seeing what you want to happen, people often also see what they fear. This viewpoint can lead to avoiding things you might otherwise enjoy. Or, even worse, treating the world unfairly and causing your fears to be realized. Be mindful of your perspective to see the world as close to reality as possible, neither colored too much by what you want or fear.
“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
With an outside perspective, it can be easy to look at other people’s situations and give advice. However, this viewpoint is based on your past experiences, which differ from theirs. On the contrary, you can be lost looking at your own life until you gain the necessary experience to learn for yourself.
Pursuing Your Dream
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
This is the main theme throughout the book. Santiago is constantly pursuing his dream, or Personal Legend, to travel and find treasure at the pyramids. I agree that you need to have a dream/goal to make life interesting. When you’re just going through the motions with nothing to work towards, life can be pretty boring.
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
This is a vital lesson for everyone to realize. Too often, we are afraid to pursue our dreams for fear we won’t achieve them. Never trying or giving up is the only thing that can guarantee your dream won’t come true. Keeping with this idea, as Santiago gets closer to his dream, his heart begins to fear he’ll only find disappointment:
“Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Similarly, you need to have a plan for future goals to keep life interesting once you achieve one. The crystal merchant fell into this trap, saying, “I’m afraid that if my dream is realized, I’ll have no reason to go on living.” You don’t want to miss out on realizing a dream because you aren’t sure what to pursue next.
Of course, this isn’t to say pursuing your dreams will be easy. There will likely be setbacks, particularly with lofty dreams. However, overcoming them is part of what makes success worthwhile!
“Paulo Coelho once said that following your dream is like learning a foreign language; you will make mistakes but you will get there in the end.”
More Quotes!
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Men dream more about coming home than about leaving.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“The sale of his sheep had left him with enough money in his pouch, and the boy knew that in money there was magic; whoever has money is never really alone.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“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.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
“Only when he, himself, reveals it. And God only rarely reveals the future. When he does so, it is for only one reason: it’s a future that was written so as to be altered.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I had no shortage of highlighted quotes to pick from in writing this review! In fact, I had to leave many out for fear of having to explain their context and make this review longer than the book itself… That’s why I hope you’ll read The Alchemist for yourself, to discover all the wisdom it has to offer.
The Alchemist: Brooke’s Opinion
Kevin talked about how much he loved The Alchemist so I knew I had to read it at some point. My co-worker actually lent us the book so I could read it and Kevin could reread it. This was the same co-worker who had lent me Who Moved my Cheese? Both books are philosophical so you may want to read my review for Who Moved my Cheese? next.
I liked The Alchemist but I didn’t like it quite as much as Kevin did. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book but it doesn’t make my top 10 list. It’s an easy read and I did enjoy the journey but philosophical stories about fulfilling personal legends are not my favorite. Even though it wasn’t my favorite genre it did have a lot of inspiring quotes.
Quotes
Here are a few of my favorite quotes and what they mean to me.
“If you start by promising what you don’t even have yet, you’ll lose your desire to work towards getting it.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I would find it very hard to motivate myself if I am not getting 100% of the prize at the end of my journey. It would make me feel okay with not reaching my goal because then I wouldn’t have to worry anymore about what I promised everyone else when I succeeded.
“And, when you can’t go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Sometimes not being able to go back is better. Once you make that decision, either voluntary or involuntary, to only move forward you can focus all of your energy in that direction. If you are torn between two or always think you can go back you will never go all in and get where you need to be.
“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.”
– Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
I completely understand this because it is much easier to not try and to never have to worry about failing. If you feel like you don’t deserve your dreams in the first place, for whatever reason, it’s going to make it even harder to motivate yourself and to achieve your goals.
Brooke’s Rating
Overall, I give The Alchemist 4 stars. I enjoy more of the quotes on their own than the book itself but it still has a nice story. I would recommend this book, especially to those who like philosophical personal quests. It’s a fast read and it’s interesting to see what everyone takes away from it.
The Alchemist: Final Thoughts
Although now an international bestseller, The Alchemist wasn’t an immediate success. Fortunately, Paulo Coelho, the author, stuck with it, writing in the foreword that, “I never lost faith in the book or ever wavered in my vision. Why? Because it was me in there, all of me, heart and soul. I was living my own metaphor… I was following my Personal Legend, and my treasure was my capacity to write.”
As I said earlier, most people either love or hate this book. Which are you? If you’ve read The Alchemist, let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you haven’t read it yet, get it here!
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