Summary
- By following your heart, you will find treasures along the way and do what you are meant to do on this earth. A beautiful book with a powerful message
Key Takeaways:
- World’s greatest lie – people believe at some point they lose control of their lives to fate. He ended up telling him things that Santi had never told anyone. He told Santi that he had discovered his personal legend – what he was meant to do.
- World’s truth – when you really want something it is right because it began in the soul in the universe. Old man tells of same treasure by pyramids and demands 1/10 of his flock.
- Truth to happiness – see all the marvels of the world but do not lose what your personal focus is
- Forget about the future. Each day in itself brings an eternity
- Fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself
- Your eyes show the strength of your soul
- Do not ever mess with another person or thing’s personal legend
- Fear of failure is the one thing that can keep you from achieving your dream
- As something improves itself, it improves everything around it as well. Love is the force that transforms and improves the world
- Life is generous to those who pursue their personal legend
What I got out of it:
- A beautiful book. Follow your heart and the world will reward you. So simple but often so difficult to implement (if you choose to make it that way…)
- Santiago was originally trained to be a priest but wanting to see the world, he became a shepherd
- Went to a dream interpreter and a year later in the same village is the girl he loved. The dream interpreter wanted 1/10 of his treasure that she said he would find at the pyramids of Egypt. He was disappointed with this vision and he decided to never believe in a dream again
- He spoke to an old man on a bench and he shared some thoughts – the friends who you see every day will end up wanting to change you
- that he had discovered his personal legend – what he was meant to do.
- “I see the world like everyone else. I see what I want and not what is”
- Heads to Egypt to find his treasure but works for a while in Tangier for a crystal merchant in order to get some money to get to Egypt. He learned a lot in this shop about how to run a business and learn from others. He eventually left an joined an Englishman and a caravan which was headed to Egypt. The Englishman was looking for an alchemist and the universal language by which all things communicated. This concept has been mentioned several times already. Boy learned this from his sheep. This language is love. The boy met a woman (Fatima) in an oasis with his caravan. This was the omen he had been waiting for his whole life. “Mahktoub” – it is written.
- Tells the girl he loves her and she describes her culture where the women wait on the men to return from their desert travels and often don’t but it’s ok because that means they are part of the clouds and the earth. I found that such a calming and pleasant and free way to look at life
- Santi gets an omen of war from hawks and saves the people of the oasis and from this meets the alchemist who guides him towards the pyramids
- Every moment searching is an encounter with God and eternity
- When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others about them, they rarely believe you
- Alchemy is about penetrating the truth of the world and discovering the treasure which was meant for you. An alchemist is someone who understands nature
- Alchemist and boy get stopped by a violent tribe and alchemist asks them to spare their lives if Santi turns himself into the wind
- Santi figured out when he was trying to transform himself into the wind that the soul of God is within him and he can perform miracles
- The winds blew like never before and the boy performed his miracle and they were set free
- Arab proverb – what happens once will never happen again. But what happens twice will surely happen a third time
- He reached the pyramids and some thieves beat him up but mentioned that they also had a recurring dream of a treasure by a small church in Spain. Santi knew this church and went back. He finds an enormous treasure and decides to go back to the desert to meet Fatima
