“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.
“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”
“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights, when I’m thinking about her.”
“Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.”
“My heart is a traitor,” the boy said to the alchemist, when they had paused to rest the horses. “It doesn’t want me to go on.”
“That makes sense. Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.”
“Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?”
“Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. ”
“You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?”
“Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you’ll know its dreams and wishes, and will know how to deal with them.
“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the boy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.”
From “The Alchemist”
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Me prometi a mi misma leer y para empezar en año 2012 mi primer libro fue “”EL ALQUIMISTA”. Maestro gracias cuanta enseñanza tan pronto pueda mi siguiente libro sera the eleph y asi mismo ire agregando mas libros a mi lista. Lo felicito y gracias por tan hermosa fabula un abrazo y que dios lo bendiga. Prometi a mesmo ler e iniciar no ano de 2012 meu primeiro livro foi “” o alquimista”.” Obrigado professor quanto ensino como pode em breve o meu próximo livro será eleph e da mesma forma ira adicionando mais livros à minha lista. Gostaria de felicitar e agradecer-lhe para fábula tão bonita um abraço e Deus te abençoe.
Thank you for this Paulo! I have been focussing on tuning into my heart a lot these past few days.
Maestro Paulo. Ud es un mejor. No he encontrado en ningun otro libro el estilo como usted escribe y relata mi vida. Me entan todos sus libros. Saludos!!!
your books are brilliant – my favourite is The Devil and Miss Prym :)
This weekend, a friend who I love but with who I cannot be together told me: “I do not want to listen to my feelings. I have ever done this in my life”. Your blog post came to the right time. I have never read The Alchemist but these little paragraphs moved me a lot as you can imagine.
I sent him today on Valentine’s the link – I felt that he appreciated it a lot. He found the text lovely and I feel that he understood the link to his words last weekend.
It is sad that so many people are afraid of listening to their feelings. They are indeed right – you suffer and you put a lot on risk. But I would not wish to do it any differently.
Thank you again, Paolo, muito obrigada.
“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”
My heart is located right in my own chest but it also spreads out to everywhere… that is why I can see and find the treasure in all places and call it home.
Happy Valentine’s Day for everybody. :)
Thank you Paulo for this wonderful post again.
LINDO BLOG MUCHOS HEMOS TENIDO MIEDO A SUFRIR Y POR ESO HEMOS CONTROLADO NUESTROS SENTIMIENTOS MAS HOY POR HOY NO HAGO ESO POR EL CONTRARIO DEMUESTRO LO QUE SIENTO Y MI CORAZON ES FUERTE MUY FUERTE CUANDO VA EN BUSCA DE LOS SUENOS
En verdad el sentido de la vida es lo que alguien hace por amor, aqui no cuenta las consecuencias si no los hechos, lo que hacemos mucha de las veces no es bien visto por algunas personas y eso es lo último que nos debe importar mas bien lo que transmitimos con ellos.
Ich lese gerne Ihre Bücher und mache mir meine eigenen Gedanken darüber was sie schreiben, wie jeder der ihre Bücher liest :)
Gerne wäre ich ihnen ein Freund!! :)
Ich koche guten Mokka und wenn sie Zeit haben, klopfen sie einfach mal an!
Lieben Gruß und des Schöpfers Segen
Lisa
Dear Paulo,
my Boyfriend have read you Book “The Alchemist” on a Podcast for me, so i`m able to hear his Voice to read you Book with these wonderfull part of the Storie. It had change my Visit of our relationship and the way how i am looking into my future with him.
It was even the right time for me this book to “hear” , and i`ll thank you find these simple but even deep words to tell us how we should chatch a glimpse on these, our life, and these wolrd we life in.
Thank You !
Thank you. Every time I make myself forget about my dreams, every time I try to live the life I’m supposed to live, and every time when I realize that I am wrong…your words, your works come up. And they make me to go and live that life I feel I should be living.
Thank you for the bravery that you have given to mine, and many other hearts. Specially because we haven’t asked you to do it, but you simply did. And simply by doing made our lives better.
My tears are saying ‘Thank you’ for making me see.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
‘ Life is really generous to those who pursue their destiny’
Love,
Jane
The Alchemist now on NY Times bestseller list for 214 weeks!! Congratulations
http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/trade-fiction-paperback/list.html
A lovely friend sent me the link to this blog and it reminded me of why I fell in love with this book a few years ago. Can’t wait to read it again. Thank you for sharing your gift!
lovely..n i luv the book
Ahh. Thank you for sharing this passage from The Alchemist. The last quote about the fear of suffering is one of my favourite. I want to have it tattooed, or perhaps i will tattoo it on my heart =)
Thank you Paulo for sharing your love, wisdom and insight.
Much peace, love and blessings to you.
Many thanks.
I think you do not need to tattoo it anywhere.
My opinion is that one does not have to force him/herself remember things that he/she loves, cherishes or believes in, by either tattoos wearing a uniform, or showing it to the world. Which in fact, tattoos, or wearing uniforms are doing.
Either you have it in your heart, or you don’t. And if you do have it, you don’t need tattoos to remind you of that.
Meu coração esta confuso também, é difícil entende-lo..
sinto que esteja dividido, entre algo que me faz bem e que me faz sentir a vontade e outro que me apaixonei.
passo os meus dias, tentando entende-lo, mas não é fácil.. muitas questões entram no meio..
E quando penso que ele deseja mais a paixão e me decido por ir, ele chora pedindo pra estar onde me faz bem, e quando eu penso que ele deseja mais o meu estar bem, ele simplesmente me diz que falta algo.
esta sendo um momento difícil..
e assim eu vou passando meus dias paralisada, com medo de fazer a coisa errada, e na agonia de não estar fazendo nada..
sei que os dias me apressam, mas eu não queria decidir assim as pressas..
sinto receio de não ter escutado ele direito.
Todo dia, procuro entender, procuro observar a vida, pra obter uma resposta, mas a resposta parece estar bem escondida. penso quando será que vou conseguir fazer meu coração e eu nos dar bem e decidir de uma vez por todas oque é melhor em todos os sentidos..
tengo miedo a seguir sufriendo no encuentro el hombre correcto
“el alquimista” #1 tiene toda la realidad xq el miedo a sufrir duele mas q sufrir lo digo xq lo vivi en carne propia
Alchemist will always be one f all time fav… i jave almosy all f ur books but Alchemist is a class apart….!!!
how far does a man go in search f his dreams only to realise it’s already there waiting for him “home”
The Alchemist is my favorite book too, and I like it the most out of all Paulo’s books.
My feeling about how the young boy has a dream, follows it with courage, and in the end finds out the treasure he was dreaming about right where he initially started is an invitation to the chase.
If he knew that the treasure was right there, he would have missed the chase. And the pleasure is always in the chase. Because it makes you feel alive. And looking at every day people I see around me, I see that most of them do not live, they just wait for their life to pass them by.
Since this posting was done for Valentine, I think the same thing applies to love. One thinks, I love this person, but in fact, the person did nothing but lightning up the love that already existed in you, because you have the capacity to love, and … you accepted the chase. Which means, risking something in order to obtain something bigger.
The t
Sir, i read The Alchemist and i learned and encouraged from that book.
Thanks for your inspiring thoughts. Because i always think about feelings and thinking.
Precioso y es verdad a veces por miedo a sufrir dejamos pasar el amor .Gracias.
su Valentino diena!
Perfect story. Thanks…
I simply love the book, I learned so many things from her.. it gave me so much strength and only you, Mr Coelho, are responsible for that :) Thank you for being alive, you are my inspiration! I can’t wait to read Aleph, I know I will learn another interesting things. I pray to God to keep you alive and to keep writing! With respect, Diana from Romania
thank you mr.Coelho, for all you books.Specially “The warrior of light”. it never leaves my side and in hard moments i just like to open it randomly.The answer is always there, just have to open my eyes to it.
GRACIAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Alchemist inspired my boyfriend and I to be better persons while in the relationship. Thanks Mr. Coelho!
This is a beautiful lesson of life. I love it!!
great…
this is my holy story
the alchemist is my holy story
just completed reading THE ALCHEMIST…….n m speechless Paulo Coelho……..
Thank you for writing such a great book……..i was trying to read it since 3 years, but due to many reasons i couldnt,. Now i believe may be today it was the right time for me to read and complete this book, after all this all is written “Maktub”
This book is surely going to change my life…..because i was looking for the path i want to travel, for the destiny that is waiting for me…..now i will surely find it…
Thank you Paulo…….Happy Valentines Day
This book changed my life!
Thank you :)
This book changed my life too. Thankyou Paulo Coelho.
Thanks peter and norma…
I believe too that happiness is a choice we have…and each moment we ourselves choose whether to be happy…but when something you dedicated your life to falls apart never to come back again you do feel cheated…and on top of that I can’t seem to make conversation with my heart anymore…at this moment this thing is my ‘Zahir’…but I hope you are right and I will move on…
And when you say, after experiencing life so much longer than me, that you are happy…it strengthens that hope so much more…thanks again for your encouraging words :-)
Rouge.
C’est la couleur du coeur. la passion, le feu.
Joyeux St Valentin
Amour
Marie-Christine
And that’s why I fell in LOVE with this book. Thank you Paulo Coelho!!
‘La langue du coeur est universelle, il ne faut que la sensibilite pour l’entendre.’
‘The language of the heart is Universal, all that is required is sensitiveness to hear it.
PC. You give with your heart <3 We(I) are so glad for that! Around the world, you have many friends. The Power of The Word! The Power of The Picture! The Power of FaceBook… can not be overlooked! Leonard Cohen sings Democracy is coming to The U.S.A. I say, The Internet will bring people together. Everyone WANTS to be free. I just think, that everyone does´t KNOW it yet!
As always, Love to you Paulo Coelho <3<3<3
stupenda ……
“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”
La peur de souffrir nous fait souvent renoncer à ce qui serait d’abord une source de joies. La peur en général, nous paralyse, devant l’inconnu, ou l’étranger. C’est l’autre côté de la médaille, la joie pourrait être ternie par la souffrance qu’elle pourrait engendrer, alors on détourne le regard, et on retrourne à la routine. ” Chat échaudé craint l’eau froide ! …”
Non, je refuse de fermer les yeux et d’oublier cette promesse de bonheur, j’irai au bout de ce chemin, à la recherche de mon rêve, et je sais que lorsque je le verrai enfin, je saurai le reconnaître, à cette petite lumière qui brillera sur son épaule…
thanks for Brida & The Alchemist
You became one of my best writers
my heart still believes that one day I will find my soul mate, so I listen to it))))
greetings from Kazakstan
PAULO….AMO E SIGO VOCÊ SEMPRE. ASSISTO OS VIDEOS,LEIO TUDO, OS BLOGS E EM VÁRIOS IDIOMAS,OS QUAIS FALO.
PARABÉNS E OBRIGADA POR ESTAR CONOSCO.
BEIJAO ENORME. BETH
The Alchemist had inspired me. I thank God for creating you… you have touched not just a single soul, but millions of it. continue to inspire people.
ich lebe immer mehr nach dem Gefühl, oder nach der Stimme in meinem Herzen, oder auch auf das Bauchgefühl. Immer mehr Vertrauen wächst in mir und zu mir. Ja es ist ein langer Weg. Jeden Tag bitte ich den Engel mich zu führen. Das ist eine wunderbare Erfahrung.
Danke
Anna
I listened to my heart and followed my dreams…till the last moment…but I didn’t find my treasure…when it all ended I was left with a crushed heart that had no more answers left…and this is the book which inspired me to do it…I’m still looking for answers…
yash
have faith
the answer might come in the second or the third book. i am 62, and i have also been looking…
i truly believe answers come with aging, living, and learning
and i have really never felt so great
so, have faith, never lose the faith, and always do your best
something VERY important i have learned… is that it pays well to “listen”
i did toooo much explaining… when I should have LISTENED more
be certain, you are not alone <3
Me too, but I would much rather have experienced that love and opened my heart than to have turned away to protect my heart and never to have experienced that pure joy. My Mum used to say, “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” I would willingly try again, even at 65! My heart is still full of love for family and friends and I am sure I am able to love this way because it is open. Sending lots of love x x
Yash,
You didn’t find your treasure “this time”…keep looking. There are no answers for everthing that happens in our lives.. …how wonderful and exciting it is to be able to start the next chapter of your life…I wish you happiness… it is your God given right and never give up on it :)
a book gives you a view of a particular author, you can not depend on it totally in practical life……. always use your brain with your heart .
wish you all the best for future en devour
One of my favourite part ever ! :))
Beautiful. Thank you :)
Happy happy Valentine’s Day, Sir Paulo Coelho!!! You are indeed gifted with wisdom! The Alchemist is my most favorite book in the world and I’ve read it a lot of times already, but it still inspires me every time. I hope that you will continue writing more novels that will captivate our senses and help us in growing to be wise individuals! Thank you so much! :D
Perfeito! Estava mesmo precisando desse esclarecimento…
the alchemist just love it …….. but my favourite quote is from Brida
” I am afraid of death,but even more i am afraid of wasting my life.
I am afraid of love,because it involves the things that are beyond our understanding. It sheds such a brilliant light,but the shadow it casts frightens me”
I have no words to explain my admiration. Thank you.
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