“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
This is a follow up article on the book notes and lessons I learned from the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. After reading the book I was curious about the author and I reflected on my favourite quotes. So in this article I will provide a summary of Coelho’s life and a brief overview of the quotes and words of wisdom that I have learned from the book . These words of wisdom include and are not limited to,
Mindfulness
Decision making
Life experiences
Trials and tribulations
The fear of suffering
The world's greatest lie
The treasures of our hearts
The life of Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian author commonly known and recognized for one of his best-selling novels, The Alchemist. He has written over 18 books and continues to be celebrated worldwide for his work.
As a teenager Coelho was shy and spent most of his time reading and writing. His dream to be an author was often discouraged by his parents who had hopes for him to become a lawyer. At the age of 17 he was put into a mental institution which he managed to escape three times before being released at the age of 20. He believes that this wasn’t an act of hate but rather his parents were desperate and they didn’t know what to do.
In the year 1986 Coelho embarked on a 500-mile walk. While he was travelling Coelho experienced a spiritual transformation, which he wrote about in one of his autobiographies The Pilgrimage. In a conversation, Coelho highlighted that he was content with what he was doing in 1986. He was working, he had someone he loved, he had money, but he wasn't living his dream of being a writer. Thus, he left his career as a song writer to become a full-time novelist. This isn't to say that his journey as a novelist has been easy and without controversy. His stance has been described as being incompatible with the Catholic faith due to its New Age, pantheist, and relativist contents, despite the fact that he was raised in a Catholic household and still identifies as a member of that religion today.
15 Quotes and words of wisdom that I have learned from the book
These words will dare you to take charge of your life, go after your dreams and persist when things get hard.
1. Experience is the best teacher
“There is only one way to learn. It’s through action. Everything you need to know, you have learned through your journey.”
2. People won't always see the gifts you have, its okay
“When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."
3. Tests, trials and tribulations
“Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil but so that we can in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we have learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which most people give up.”
4. Fear of suffering, pain and failure
“The fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search for its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
5. We are made in the image of God
(a) “The boy reached through the soul of the world, and saw that it was a part of the soul of God. And he saw the soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy could perform miracles.”
(b) “I have inside of me the winds, the desert, the oceans, the stars and everything created in the universe. We are all made by the same hand, and we have the same soul.”
6. The decisions we make could lead us to some of our best moments
“Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision he is really diving into a strong current that will help him to places he never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”
7. Our hope and endless pursuit
“It’s the possibility of having our dreams come true that makes life interesting."
8. The company we keep
“When someone sees the same people everyday, they wind up being a part of the person’s life. And they want the person to change. If someone isn’t what others want them to be, they become angry. Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should live their lives, but none about his or her own."
9. The world’s greatest lie
“It is this, at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what is happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s great lie."
10. Mindfulness leads to happiness
“… 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.”
11. Courage enables
“Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World.”
12. Love is freedom
(a) “You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love…the love that speaks the language of the world”.
(b) “When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there is no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you…”
14. There is a paradise that awaits us
“The wise men understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect. God created the world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and the marvels of his wisdom."
15. The treasure of your heart
As he was about to climb yet another dune, his heart whispered, “Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That’s where I am, and that is where your treasure is.”
Conclusion
Be strong and courageous. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying. Give God the platform to bless you. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can think ask or imagine.
References
Paulo Coelho and Christina Oiticica Foundation. Biography. Available: https://paulocoelhofoundation.com/paulo-coelho/biography/ [Accessed 02 March 2023].