5 Reasons Why You Should Read The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho (Bonus! Book Quotes)

Here are 5 reasons why The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is my all-time favourite book. | Image by: Anthony Tran

The Alchemist is my all-time favourite book. Whenever I feel negative or down, I turn to this book. I remember falling in love with it the first time I read it. Since then, I’ve read this book many times, and each time I’m enlightened with a new positive thought. 

I admire the simplicity of Paulo Coelho’s writing and the story of The Alchemist.

I don’t want to give away the story because it’s best if you read it yourself and experience the whole story from your point of view. But just in case you are wondering, the story is about a young shepherd who sets out, exploring the world in search of treasure, and finally finds it where he never expected.

And isn’t that relatable?

However, this book covers a lot more than just that.

Here are my top 5 reasons to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

5 Reasons Why The Alchemist Is My Favourite Book

1. Great Story With Unexpected Plot Twists

Let’s start the with the most important factor about any fictional book. The reason why The Alchemist is so adored by its readers is the simple yet great story that inspires the reader to the core.

There are plenty of unexpected plot twists that make the story very interesting. There are also many other elements in the story— the symbolism, the people the main character meets, and the underlying message with each encounter with people and experiences— that makes this book a real page-turner.

The Alchemist follows the main character in his adventure as he decides to listen to his heart, gets out of his comfort zone and embarks on a long yet fulfilling journey that will change his life. 

Even though it’s a fictional story, it’s no less than an ideal self-help book which will motivate you. 

It’s appropriate for all age groups.

2. You Can Do and Be Whatever the Heck You Want To

The Alchemist reminds us that no matter who we are and where we come from, we can be whoever we want to be and achieve whatever we want to.

Our main character is a shepherd who originally belonged to a farmer’s community and was supposed to be a farmer. 

But instead, he chose to be a shepherd because he had this deep desire to see the world. Being a shepherd allowed him to see new places. And that was just the beginning of his journey. His brain suggested him to do what seemed logical many times, but that one desire to see the world and follow his heart changed his life.

The main character inspires us to follow our hearts. No matter how out-of-tradition our desires are, how complex our wishes are, or how great the chances of failure are, we should always follow our hearts and pursue our dreams.

It is one of my favourite take-home messages from the book, I must say.

3. The Alchemist Reminds Us To Be Hopeful Always

Well, isn’t that something we all should have?

Our shepherd boy decides to follow his heart, to pursue his dream. But the boy suffers from a lot of ups and downs. He was cheated and had to start his journey again from the bottom. In the end, however, he got what he wanted against all the odds.

The Alchemist highlights the fact that hard times don’t last forever. Hardship is never a waste of time; it’s just a test from the universe to see your strength. You are not the unlucky one for being in a difficult place, but rather you are one step closer to your destiny.

The road is always extra difficult near success.

No matter how difficult the road gets or how low in life you get while pursuing your dreams, never stop working and moving forward towards your goal.

Always be hopeful; that you will reach there.

4. You Will Always Be Guided to Your Destiny

We are always guided to our destiny is the idea this book focuses heavily on.

When we want something, the universe conspires to help us achieve it.

I love that saying; it is one of my favourite quotes from the book.

The main character is always reminded in the book to follow the signs or omens that the universe presents to him. Those omens led him to his destination in the end.

And how true that is!

When we dream of doing something new, we worry about the outcome. But there is always something, an inner voice, intuition, gut feeling or just a feeling, that tells us we’ll be okay. Or that you should get out of this situation fast.

The universe somehow keeps on pointing in the right direction.

Well, I know how many times I have ignored my intuitions and regretted later on.

5. You Can Learn Something from Everything:

I love how our main character studies the most common things around him and learns many complex lessons from them.

He learned from his sheep, the people around him, and even the desert! He learned from the regular things that most of us don’t notice.

I love how he never stops learning and inspires us to do the same.

Observe. Observe the simple things. That will answer the most complex problems of our life.

Quotes from the book, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Here are some of my favourite quotes from the book. I hope they'll inspire you the same way they inspire me!

— "We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything to pursue our dream. We do not realize that love is just a further impetus, not something that will prevent us going forward and that those who genuinely wish us well want us to be happy and are prepared to accompany us on that journey."

— "Are defeats necessary? Well, necessary or not, they happen. When we first begin fighting for our dream, we have no experience and make many mistakes, The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

— "It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting."

— "It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only wise men can understand them."

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

— "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."

— "Everything in life has its price."

— "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

— "There was nothing to hold him back but himself."

— "I'm like everyone else- I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does."

— "Every blessing ignored becomes a curse."

— "Never stop dreaming", the old king had said. "Follow the omens".

— "Making a decision was only the beginning of things. When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

— "I've learned things from the sheep, and I've learned things from crystal, he thought. I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise."

— "The body was beginning to understand that intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected, and we are able to know every thing because it's all written there."

— "People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want."

— "Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present."

— "If I am really a part of your dream, you'll come back one day."

— "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."

—  "One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving."

Conclusion

I read this book many years ago for the first time, and after reading this book I realized how ignorant I had been.

- This book inspired me to observe and learn.
- It has helped me realize how important it is to be patient because success and failure could be right around the corner.
- It assured me that I will get all the help I need in some or other way, and
- Hard work always pays off.

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So, if you have not read this book yet, you definitely should! This book has a very positive essence, and that is the reason why I recommend this book to everyone. The Alchemist is appropriate for all ages.

© Quirky Writes 2018 
Updated: August 2019

Updated: October 2024