EnlightenYourDay.com » Paulo Coelho

The following Passage from The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho, is one of the most amazing passages I have ever read, it’s about fighting for our dreams and overcoming the many obstacles in life. I like to think it was fate that left a copy of this book for me at my bedside table while I was traveling in Spain; it was an omen that inspired me to begin my own Pilgrimage and travel to the sacred Cathedral of Saint James in Northern Spain. It was the first piece to a literary puzzle that I would begin to unravel regarding my destiny in life.

“It is the pleasure of searching and the pleasure of the adventure. You are nourishing something that’s very important-your dreams. We must never stop dreaming. Dreams provide nourishment for the soul, just as a meal does for the body. Many times in our lives we see our dreams shattered and our desires frustrated, but we have to continue dreaming. If we don’t, our soul dies…

…The Good fight is the one we fight because our heart asks it of us… …The Good fight is the one that’s fought in the name of our dreams. When we’re young our dreams first explode inside us with all of their force, we are very courageous, but we haven’t yet learned how to fight. With great effort, we learn how to fight, but by then we no longer have the courage to go into combat. So we turn against ourselves and do battle within. We become our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, or too difficult to realize, or the result or our not having known enough about life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid to fight the good fight.

The first symptom of the process of killing our dreams is lack of time… The Busiest people I have known in my life always have time enough to do everything. Those who do nothing are always tired and pay no attention to the little amount of work they are required to do. They complain constantly that the day is too short. The Truth is, they are afraid to fight the good fight…

The second symptom of the death of our dreams lies in our certainties. Because we don’t want to see life as a grand adventure, we begin to think of ourselves as wise and fair and correct in asking so little of life. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day existence, and we hear the sound of lances breaking, we smell the dust and the sweat, and we see the great defeats and the fire in the eyes of the warriors. But we never see the delight, the immense delight in the hearts of those engaged in the battle. For them, neither victory nor defeat is important; what’s important is only that they are fighting the good fight.

And, finally, the third symptom of the passing of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon; we ask for nothing grand, and we cease to demand anything more than we are willing to give. In that state we think of ourselves as being mature; we put aside the fantasies of our youth, and we seek personal and professional achievement. We are surprised when people our age say that they still want this or that out of life. But really, deep in our hearts, we know that what has happened is that we have renounced the battle for our dreams-we have refused to fight the good fight.

When we renounce our dreams and find peace, we go through a period of tranquility. But the dead dreams begin to rot within us and to infect our entire being. We become cruel to those around us, and then we begin to direct this cruelty against ourselves…What we sought to avoid in combat-disappointment and defeat-came upon us because of our cowardice. And one day, the dead, spoiled dreams make it difficult to breath, and we actually seek death. It’s death that frees us from out certainties, from our work, and from that terrible peace of Sunday afternoons.” The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho P. 58

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Enlightening quotes from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Jonathan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:49:41 +0000

My favorite book, The Alchemist, written by my favorite writer Paulo Coelho, is a beautiful Fable about following your dreams. I love this book with all my heart and I give it as a gift whenever possible. The gift I am sharing with you today is my favorite quotes from this inspiring and enlightening book.

“Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victor’s being severely tested.” By Paulo Coelho

“The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.” The Alchemist

“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. “ The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho “Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World. “ The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“When you are in love, things make even more sense, he thought.”

“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“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. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.”

“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.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense. “

“All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation. Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher’s Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these things are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Inspiring passages from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist

Jonathan — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:31:45 +0000

I love The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, it will always be my favorite book. My first time reading it, I thought a little part of me was the Shepherd boy Santiago seeking his destiny by listening to his heart and following his dreams. If I had to pick only three things I could keep, they would be my Cat named Alchemy, my laptop, and my first edition signed copy of The Alchemist.

“At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him. When he looked intro her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke-the language that everyone on earth is capable of understanding in their heart. It was love…”

“…Something older then humanity, more ancient then the desert. Something that exerted the same force whenever two pairs of eyes met, as had theirs here at the well. She smiled, and that was certainly an omen-the omen he had been awaiting, without even knowing he was, for all his life. The omen he had sought to find with his sheep and in his books, in the crystals and in the silence of the desert…”

“…It was the pure language of the World. It required no explanation, just as the universe need none as it travels through endless time. What the boy felt at that moment was that he was in the presence of the only women in his life, and that, with no need for words, she recognized the same thing. He was more certain of it than anything in the world …And when two such people encounter each other, and their eyes meet, the past and the future become unimportant. There is only that moment, and the incredible certainty that everything under the sun has been written by one hand only. It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world. Without such love, one’s dreams would have on meaning. Maktub, thought the boy.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho P. 97

“The boy didn’t know what a person’s ‘destiny’ was. ‘It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny…

It’s a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your destiny. It prepares your spirit and you will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth. ‘Even when all you want to do is to travel? Or marry the daughter of a textile merchant?”

‘Yes, or even search for treasure.

The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one.

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires to helping you to achieve it’.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“There, he could exchange his book for a thicker one, fill his wine bottle, shave, and have a haircut; he had to prepare himself for his meeting with the girl, and he didn’t want to think about the possibility that some other shepherd, with a larger flock of sheep, had arrived there before him and asked for her hand. It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, he thought, as he looked again at the position of the sun, and hurried his pace. He had suddenly remembered that, in Tarifa, there was an old woman who interpreted dreams.” The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho P. 11

“I’m alive”, he said to the boy, as they ate a bunch of dates one night, with no fires and no moon. “When I’m eating, that’s all I think about. If I’m on the march, I just concentrate on marching. If I have to fight, it will be just a good day to die as any other. “Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m only interested in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.” P.89 The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

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