I was going through my computer files earlier today when I came across my book notes from The Alchemist.

I first read The Alchemist on January 19th 2007. I was at a friends house when I noticed the book on his table. The cover looked interesting so I picked it up and started reading the synopsis.

“The charming tale of Santiago, a shepherd boy, who dreams of seeing the world, is compelling in its own right, but gains resonance through the many lessons Santiago learns during his adventures. He journeys from Spain to Morocco in search of worldly success, and eventually to Egypt, where a fateful encounter with an alchemist brings him at last to self-understanding and spiritual enlightenment. “

I was intrigued because I was on my own European adventure at the time (in Zurich at the time). My friends went out dancing later that night but I was so engrossed in the book that I stayed in to finish it.

It’s an incredibly powerful book that I highly recommend to anyone that hasn’t read it. Below are my notes.

The Alchemist

Maktub – it’s written

If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better.

When you search for your own personal treasure, you’ll discover things along the way that you never would have seen had you not had the courage to try things that seemed difficult, crazy or even impossible.

People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or they fear that they’ll be unable to achieve them.

Your eyes show the strength of your soul.

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

Why is it that through death, we become more aware of life?

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around use becomes better, too.

Life is the moment we’re living right now.

In the depth of your eyes, my own beauty is reflected.

What may seem like a burden now may be a godsend later.

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. Are people afraid that once their dream is realized, they will have no reason for living?

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives but none about his or her own.

The world’s greatest lie: “That at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate.” Are people so afraid of disappointment that they don’t follow their dreams?

To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation.

What most people never realize is that they are capable, at any time in their lives, to do what they dream of.

Don’t allow what other people think about you to become more important than finding your destinies.

In life you often have to choose between what you’re become accustomed to and something you want to have.

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.

Sometimes when you make decision, you are diving into a strong current that will carry you to places you never dreamed of.