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The Wisdom of “The Alchemist”

Abby’s Angle

“The Alchemist” written by Paulo Coelho is a fantasy book following a shepherd boy from Spain named Santiago. He begins to have the same dream over and over again about treasures that are lying in the Pyramids of Egypt. One day, he meets an old king who pushes him to journey to the pyramids to seek out his dream and offers advice that will stick with him throughout his journey. 

Santiago crosses the Mediterranean and Sahara to find his treasures in Egypt, accomplishing his personal legend – his purpose in life – along the way. The book details Santiago’s journey to get to the pyramids and the experiences he has on his way, which ultimately helps him to learn and grow as a person.

I was excited to read this book following many good recommendations about it. And I was not disappointed. As I read this book, I was especially impressed by the storytelling. The choice of words always felt very intentional and was full of wisdom. While I thought that some of the characters were underdeveloped and that some of the wisdom could be confusing at times, that didn’t take away from the story as a whole.

There are many things that one can learn from “The Alchemist.” The book centers around following your dreams, and the risks that can come from doing so. Some of the wisdom surrounding that is what could be stopping you from following your dreams in the first place: fear. As the book states, “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

I found this impactful after realizing how many times I’ve wanted to do something but hadn’t because I was scared to fail. After finishing this book, that quote sticks with me, a reminder that I’ll only be able to accomplish my goals if I take action on it. While this was just one piece of wisdom from the book, others range from encouraging everyone to continue their journey despite any obstacles they might have, and that love cannot take away from your journey. 

This book opened my eyes in many ways and taught me many valuable lessons about life and trusting the path you are on. I read this book slowly to be able to take in the story and the wisdom, but it being a shorter book, I finished it fairly quickly. I would recommend this book for readers 14+ due to its complexity, but I believe this book is a must-read for everyone at least once in their life.

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