My Real Teleport Scroll to Heaven: His Proposal

“The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.” 

― Paulo Coelho

Some years way back in my MUHS days, I once told a colleague/mentor/sister/ and a very good confidante, Ms. Mae,  as to what would it be like to have my own love story be published in my blog. Disapproval was what I got as she rejected the idea by saying I should better reserve it for the perfect day to come. As my comeback (a no-longer-new issue of me ceasing blogging for a while, hahah) I believe, hence, this is a perfect time , not to really publish a blog of our "love story" but of what had happened exactly 1 month ago today, which I believe embarks a very momentous significance in our so-called affair.

Never did I imagine that  December 19, 2015 (Saturday), my birthday to be specific, would permanently be tattooed on my mind as I had never thought that my very special best friend would kneel down in front of me first thing in the morning as I woke up, with my mother's approval, asking me the most desirable question a woman wants to answer with unexplainable feelings EVER!!!!

(Oppps! Sorry for the run-on sentence. It's actually  the FEELS talking this time! hahahah!!)

Spare me some of the details for I, together with my family and a few very close friends, already have preserved them in our minds. But I'd like to share a few of them, too! So here they go.

Since it was a Saturday, and I had a very busy week in school prior to that with him always being my driver he had entirely a very good reason to excuse himself of buying me a gift on my birthday. That morning I went out of my room, confused was all I had been for gone were the people around the house. I checked everywhere, but none I found, only to realize that my mother and my siblings already went to the grandparents' house  a few feet away. As what I usually do there every morning, I headed to the veranda to at least be freshened up by the cold morning breeze. I was astounded as he was already waiting there greeting me "Happy Birthday" in the very unusual way. He then asked me if I wanted to see "the gift" he had for me. What do you expect me to say??? Of course YES was all I exclaimed.

While handing me this, he asked his apologies, for according to him since we both were busy that week he really didn't get the chance to buy an extra special one, that I shouldn't expect too much as I open it for I might fail my expectations. I ranted of course. Hahahah! I said, "Ahhh! Grabe! Wa sad ka nangita ug laing ways no? Dili na uso effort dinha?''

I wasn't able to finish my whining for he already had placed his finger in my lips shutting me up right away.

Him: Paghilom sa kay wa pa ko nahuman. Sige abrehe na.

 And so I obliged. 

I was already brought to cloud 9 seeing this. A compilation of quotes from my most favorite author, Paulo Coelho. :) 

But then, I got the feeling something was inside the book for it felt so lumpy. I was expecting it to be a metal bookmark, something I am really eager to own. But before I had opened it, he held my hands and started his speech. :))))

One of the lines he had which I will never ever forget was "Mang, willing ka mouban nku for the rest of my life? And I was like, "Wait sa, nagpropose ka paw?" Hahahaha  and so he continued. And at the end of his speech, he popped the will-you-marry-me question while opening the most middle part of the book.

Right in the middle of the book is an illustration of a heart. And right in the middle of the heart laid the ring tied with the book's red bookmark. I answered YES absolutely! :)

Perfect was all I could describe. Of the feeling. Of the Day. Of the Date. Of the Place. Of his proposal. It may never be what I had expected to happen, it may never be the same with what I had set in my mind, yet his way of doing it in the most sincerest way was already something I couldn't ask for more. And if by any chance I will be given another opportunity to plan a proposal in a way I wanted it to happen, I will still want  his for he had given me boundless of joy, immeasurable happiness, and rambling butterflies in my stomach. It was a day as if all the butterflies in the world were collected and placed right in my belly. Funny feeling it was. I was astonished. I was entirely happy that no single word in the English dictionary can convey. And just like that I was transported to heaven. :)))

Here are a few of what were written inside :))

One of the few questions he scribbled in the book. When I answered he then wrote on it the YES!! (Just dont mind his exclamation marks which look like question marks, nyahahah)

I said YES! :)

Keep posted for more blogs will follow. ^_~

- Cee Brensan

Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho

Bookish Mardi: A Book Review of Manuscript Found in Accra

by Paulo Coelho

"The great wisdom of life is that we can be masters of the things that try to enslave us." - Paulo Coelho

I'd like to start this review by telling you guys I have always been a spoiled girlfriend. I don't know why and how it started I just accidentally noticed that whenever I'm liking or into something, my man all the time makes all the possible ways to get my heart's little desire. May it be a surprise or not, he loves watching my face turning red brought about by intense happiness. Though I have been pampered with these material things I'm getting without me asking from him, I make it sure his being a giver will not be abused. 

So when we were celebrating our nth monthsary ( ^_^ ) a delivery arrived into the doorway of our house. I was quite glad the moment I unraveled the package for it contained a Forever21  lace long sleeve and a book by one of my personal favorite authors. He truly knows the way to my heart. Lucky gf, ain't I? ^_-

Book Review

The very first time I took grip of the book, to admit, I wasn't quite amazed of it, nonchalant I'd become instead. The title didn't catch my attention plus it's so small, super small. My books are usually big, heavy, and thick, yet this one's just the smallest and the thinnest I ever had.  Plus, the pages are so dark for a paperback. Indeed, 'twas ugly by appearance. Though it's from Paulo C. I didn't read the book right away. It took me months as usual before I fin'lly read it, due also to the books stacked in shelf  which are to be read. So I placed it right at the bottom part of those unread books.

Fast forward to the day I got the juncture to  read it, I can only think of this very common quote people usually use, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" and well add to it its appearance, such a cliche, isn't it? The book, though minute in size contains too many substantial content. Never had I thought of a book as small and as thin as this can contain the most heaviest notion on earth ever existed.  It doesn't just a mere fiction. It is a by-product of  well-thought topics from a well-experienced author.

The book talks not just a single topic at hand. It doesn't just talk about philosophy, science, math and literature. It talks all those subtantial subjects/topics under the sun down from friendship, frienemy, marriage, up to death and many others. Beauty, happiness, giving up, winning, acceptance, loyalty, fear, bravery, solitude, love, hatred, elegance, name it and the book will surely have something for you not just to ponder but  to  touch your soul and influence your outlooks in life,

It's a book full of not just random musings but well-organized pensive thoughts on everything you needed which will surely have a life enhancing impact to the readers, as it did to me. 

As a whole, it taught me a lot of things of which if I have to enumerate them will surely wont finish. The list is indeed endless. But one thing I'd like to share, this little book made me realize that in this multi-faceted life, we need not to grieve with  what has been lost but to find joy in sorrows. It inspired me not to dwell on the many negative repercussions but to always look at the brighter side of the coin. Because life at all isn't about how we did not fail but it's more on being able to stand up after we fell.

So to you guys, who've been looking for not only a book/story but also a compilation of pieces of advice, I highly recommend this for you to read. ^_^

Book Summary

The action is placed in 1099 in Jerusalem while the city awaits the invasion of the crusaders. Inside the city's walls, men and women gathered to hear the wise words of a mysterious Greek man - known as Copt. The people begin with questions about their fears, true enemies, defeat and struggle; they contemplate the will to change, the virtues of loyalty and solitude; and ultimately turn to questions of beauty, sex and elegance, love, wisdom, and what the future holds. (Source: Wikipedia)

Remarkable Lines from the Book

"Now that I am at the end of my life, I leave for those who come after me everything that I learned while I walked the face of the Earth. May they make good use of it."

". . . tomorrow, life will undertake to separate us, we must  each set off in search of our path, our own destiny or our own way of facing death.'

"From tomorrow, harmony will become discord. Joy 

will be replaced by grief. Peace will give away to a awar that will last into an unimaginable distant future."

". . . what is knowledge?

It is the absolute  truth about life and death, but the thing that helps us to livee and confont the challenges of day-t-day life. It isn't what we learned from books,  which serves only to fuel futile arguments about what happened or will happen; it is the knowledge that lives in the hearts of men and women of good will."

"None of the us can know what tomorrow will hold, because each day has its good and its bad moments."

"Does a leaf when it falls from the tree in winter, feel defeated by the cold?"

"Does a man who spent years preparing to climb the highest mountain in the world feel defeated when, on reaching that mountain, he discovers that nature has cloaked the summit in storm clouds?"

"Does a young man, rejected by his first love, declare that love does not exist?"

"In the cycle of nature there is no such thing as victory or defeat; there is only movement."

"The winter struggles  to reign supreme, but in the end is obliged to accept spring's victory, which brings with it flowers and happiness."

". . . wen the fighter is on the ring - whether by his own choice or because unfathomable destiny has placed him there- may his spirit be filled with joy at the prospect of fighting ahead. If he holds on to his dignity and his honor, even if he loses the fight, he will never be defeated because his soul will remain intact."

"What is true to love is also true in war."
"Losing a battle or losing everything we thought we possessed will bring us moments of sadness. But when those moments pass, we will discover the hidden strength that exists in each of us, a strength that will surely surprise us and increase our self-respect.'

". . . previous defeat means that his time they must win, because they don't want to suffer the same pain again."

". . . if victory is not theirs this time, it will be the next time. And if not the next time, then the time after that. The important thing is to get back on your feet."

"Only he who gives up is defeated. Everyone else is victorious.'

"Wait patiently for the right moment to act.

Do not let the next opportunity slip by you.

Take pride in your scars.

Scars are medal branded on the flesh, and your eyes enemies will be frightened by them because they are proof of your experience of battle."

"Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them."

"Defeat are those who never fail."

"Defeat means that we lose a particular battle or war. Failure does not allow us to go on fighting."

"Defeat ends when we launch into another battle. Failure has no end; it is a lifetime choice."

"Defeat is for the valiant. Only they will know the honor of losing the joy of winning."

"Only the defeated know Love. Because it is in the realm of Love that we fight our first battles - and generally lose.'

". . . don't get used to defeat." (Photo from Web)

"I am here to tell you that there are people who hav enever been defeated. They are the ones who never fought."

"Woe to those who were never beaten! They will never be winners in this life.'

"Without solitude, love will not stay long by your side."

"Because love needs to rest, so that it can journey through the heavens and reveal itself in other forms."

"Solitude is not the absence of Love, but its the complement."

"Therefore, blessed are those who do not fear solitude."

"If you are not alone, you cannot know yourself."

"The act of discovering who we are will force us to accept that we can go further than we think. And thst frightens us."

"In solitude, they will learn that saying no does not always show a lack of generosity, and that saying yes is not always a virtue."

". . . in cases of unrequited love there is always the hope that one day it will be requited."

"Nothing in this world is useless in the eyes of God. Not a leaf from a tree falls, not a hair from your head, not even an insect dies because it was no use. Everything has ahas a reason to exist."

"Don't try to be useful. Try to be yourself; that is enough, and that makes all the difference."

". . . your soul will teach you the usefulness of each step you take."

"Sometimes taking part in a battle will be the thing that will help to change the course of history. But sometimes you can do that by simply smiling, for no reason, at someon you happen to pass by on the street."

"Even if ou were to study your own life in detail and relive each moment that you suffered, sweated, and smiled beneath the sun, you would still never knowexactly when you had been useful to someone else."

"A life is never useless. Each soul that came down to Earth is here for a reason."

"Live the life you always wanted to live. Avoid criticizing others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams.'

". . .small things are responsible for great changes."

"We are afraid to change because we think that, after so much effort and sacrifice, we know our present world."

"It's nice to dream that we will have plenty of time in the future to do our traveling, and that, one day, we will travel."

"Dreaming carries no risks. The dangerous thing is trying to transform your dreams into reality."

"To those who think that mountains don't change are wrong; they are born out of earthquakes, are eroded by wind and rain, and each day are slighty different even though we do not notice."

"Difficulty is the name of an ancient tool that was created purely to help us define who we are."

". . . nature longs for beauty and is satisfied only when beauty can be exalted,"

"Outer beauty is inner beauty mae visible, and it manifests itself in the light that flows from our eyes."

"Beauty is present in all creation, but the dangerous fact is that, because we human beings are often cut off from the Divine Energy, we allow ourselves to be influenced by what other people think. We deny our own beauty because others can't or won't recognize it. Instead of accepting who we are, we try to imitate what we see around us. We try to be what other people think of "pretty" and, little by little, our soul fades, our will weakens, and all the potential we had to make the world a more beautiful place withers away.

"We forget that the world is what we imagine it to be."

"We stop being the moonlight and become, insteadm the pool of water reflecting it."

"If we resist the temptation to allow other people to define who we are, then we will gradually be able to let the sun inside our own soul shine forth."

"Beauty exists not in sameness but in difference."

"It is the imperfect that astonishes and attracts us."

"A sunset is always more beautiful when it is covered with irregularly shaped clouds, because only then can it reflect the many colors out of which dreams and poetry are made."

"Like the sun, life spreads its light in all directions.'

". . . ever since your goal found out that you were traveling toward it, it has been running to meet you."

"In order to hear Love's words, you must allow Love to approach."

"True Love, however, is the love that sedices and will never allow itself to be seduced." 

"Love is an act of faith, not an exchange."

A rose dreams of enjoying the company of bees, but none appears. The sun asks:

"Aren't you tired of waiting?"

"Yes" answers the rose, "but if I close my petals, I will wither and die."

"Our great goal in life is to love. The rest is silence."

". . . with every farewell comes a hidden place."

"It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

"We sing more loudly when the person we love is far away and whisper poems when he is near, even if he doesn't listen and pays no attention to either songs or whispers."

"The pain of yesterday is the strength of today." (Photo from Web)

"Someday, everything will make a perfect sense." (Photo from Web)

"Our heart is open to love and we surrender to it without fear, because we have nothing more to lose."

"Love is a disease." (Photo from Web)

"Love is only a word, until we decide to let it possess us with all its force."

"Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning." (Photo from Web)

"No one can go back, but everyone can go forward."

(Photo from Web)

"Love rules, but no one knows where it has its throne; in order to know that secret place, you must first submit to Love."

"In sex, relaxation and tension go hand in hand, as do pain and pleasure and shyness and the courage to go beyond one's limit."

"When we are too generous in the sexual act and our main preoccupation is with our partner's pleasure, our own pleasure can be diminished or even destroyed."

"Two rivers meet to become a more beautiful, more powerful river.'

"Everything is permitted, if everything is accepted."

"Sometimes love grows tired of speaking softly. Therefore, let it reveal itself in all its splendor, burning like the sun and destroying the whole forests in its wind."

"See sex as a gift, a ritual transformation. And as in any ritual , ecstasy will be present to glorify the end but it is not its sole objective. What matters is that we have traveled a road with our partner that led us into unknown territory, where we encountered gold and incense and myrrh.

"Fearlessly open the box secret box of  your fantasies. One person's couurage will help the other person to be equally brave."

". . .time will cease to exist because in the land of pleasure, everything is infinite."

"We were born alone, and we will due alone But while we are on this planet, we must accept and glorify our act of faith through other people."

"Stay close to those who are interested in opening only one important dorr: The door to your heart. They will never invade your soul without your consent or shoot a deadly arrow through that open door."

"Stay close to those who sing, tell stories, and enjoy life, and those eyes sparkles with happiness. Beacause happiness is contagious  and will always manage to find a solution, whereas logic can find only an explanation for the mistake made."

"No matter how you are feeeling, get up every morning and prepare to let your light shine forth."

"Elegance is not an outer quality, but a part of the soul that is visible to others."

"Elegance lies not in the clothes we wear, but in the way we wear them."

"the simplest things in life are the most extra-ordinary. Let them reveal themselves."

"The nearer the heart comes to simplicity, the more capable it is of loving freely and without fear. The more fearlessly it loves, the more capable it is of revealing elegance in its every gesture."

"Fate is never unfair to everyone. We are free to love or hate what we do."

"When we love, we find the same joy in our dailty activity as do those who one day set off in search of their dreams."

"Success does not come from having one's work recognized by others. It is the fruit of a seed that you lovingly planted." 

"Success comes to those who do not waste time comparing what they are doing with what others are doing."

"People who seek only success rearely find it, because success is not an end, but a consequence."

"What is success?" (Photo from Web)

"Miracles tear away the veils and change everything, but do not let us see what lies behind the veils."

"Anxiety is part of love, and should not be blamed because of that."

"Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it - just as we have learned to live with storms."

"Although anxiety is part of life, never let it control you."

"Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

"Excessive caution destroys the soul and the heart, because living is an act of courage, and an act of courage is always an act of love."

". . .the great wisdom of life is that we can be masters of the things that try to enslave us."

"We must love. I am not speaking only of love for another person. Loving means being open to miracles, to victories, to everything that happens each day that was given us to walk upon the face of the Earth. Our soul is governed by foru forces: love, death, power and time."

". . .  you might have lost some major battle, but you survived and you're still here."

"Never miss an opportunity to show you love, especially to those close to you."

"Love does not need to be understood. It needs only to be shown."

". . . the future holds for you depends entirely on your capacity for love." 

"The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions."

". . . we will hurt those we love if we leave everything behind in the name of our dreams."

"But those who truly want the best for us want us to be happy, even if, they try to stop us from going ahead by means of threats, promises, and tears." 

". . . when your dream is almost within your grasp, you will be assailed by terrible gift."

". . . if a man understands that he is worthy of what he has struggled so long for, he will realize that he did not get there alone and must respect the Hand that led him."

". . . what was broken will never be the same again."

"We are all prisoners of the sand of time, and we have no control over them."

"Loyalty has its roots in respect, and respect is the fruit of love."

"When you forgive, the person who insulted you feels humbled in his error and becomes loyal."

"The most destructive of weapon is not the siege of cannon, which can wound a body and demolish a wall. The most terrible of all weapons is the word, which can ruin a life without leaving a trace of blood, and whose words never heal."

"Let us be masters of our tonguesand  not slaves of our words. Even if words are used against us let us not enter the battle that cannot be won."

"Loyalty is a pearl among grains of sand, and only those who really understand its meaning can see it."

"The truly wise do not grieve over the living or the dead."

"Man is not defined by earthly battles, because just as the wind changes direction, so do luck an victory.Today's losers will be tomorrow's winner, but in orde for that to happen, combat must be embraced with honor."

"We will have to face many adversaries in our lives, but the most difficult to defeat will be the ones we fear."

"We will always meet rivals in everything we do, but the most dangerous are those we believe to be our friends."

"Good friends are like a fine wine."

"We all suffer when our dignity is attacked or witnessed, but the greatest pain will be caused by those we thought were examples to be followed."

"If someone confronts you over idea or ideals, step up and accept the fight, because conflict is present in every moment of our lives and sometimes it needs to show itself in the broad light of day."

"Fight only with a worthy opponent, and not with someone who uses trickery to prolong a war that is already over, as does sometimes happen."

"The enemy is not the person standing before you, sword in hand. It is the person standing next to you with a dagger concealed behind his back."

"Therefore, your enemies are not the adversaries who were out there to test your courage. They are the cowards who were put there to test your weakness."

Thanks for visiting! ^_*

- Cee Brensan

Quotes from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

www.paulocoelhocovers.blogspot.com

Bookish Mardi: Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist

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

Book Summary

While sleeping near a sycamore tree in the sacristy of an abandoned church, Santiago, a shepherd boy, has a recurring dream about a child who tells him that he will find a hidden treasure if he travels to the Egyptian pyramids. An old woman tells Santiago that this dream is prophetic and that he must follow its instructions. Santiago is uncertain, however, since he enjoys the life of a shepherd.

Next Santiago meets a mysterious old man who seems able to read his mind. This man introduces himself as Melchizedek, or the King of Salem. He tells Santiago about good and bad omens and says that it is the shepherd boy's duty to pursue his Personal Legend. Melchizedek then gives Santiago two stones, Urim and Thummim, with which to interpret omens.

Santiago wavers briefly before selling his flock and purchasing a ticket to Tangier, in northern Africa, to which he travels by boat. Shortly after he arrives there, a thief steals all of Santiago's money, so the shepherd boy decides to look for a way to make enough money to return home. He finds work in the shop of a crystal merchant, where Santiago makes improvements that reap considerable financial rewards.

After eleven months of working in the shop, Santiago is unsure of how to proceed. Should he return to Andalusia a rich man and buy more sheep? Or should he cross the vast Sahara in pursuit of the hidden treasure of his dreams? He joins a caravan traveling to Egypt.

Santiago meets an Englishman who wants to learn the secret of alchemy, or turning any metal into gold, from a famous alchemist who lives at an oasis on the way to the pyramids. While traveling, Santiago begins listening to the desert and discovering the Soul of the World. The caravan eventually reaches the oasis, and there Santiago meets an Arab girl named Fatima and falls in love with her instantly. The caravan leader gathers the travelers together and tells them that tribal warfare prevents them from continuing their journey.

Santiago wanders from the oasis into the desert and, seeing two hawks fighting in the sky, has a vision of an army entering the oasis. Because attacking an oasis is a violation of the rules of the desert, Santiago shares his vision with the oasis's tribal chieftain. Soon afterward, Santiago is confronted by a black-garbed, veiled stranger with a sword, who sits atop a white horse. It is the alchemist. The tribal chieftain arms his men, and they are well-prepared when the oasis is indeed invaded. The alchemist offers to cross the desert with Santiago.

Soon the two men enter into an area of intense tribal warfare. Warriors hold the two men captive, but eventually allow them to continue their journey. The alchemist tells Santiago that he needs to return to the oasis, and that the rest of the trip is Santiago's to make alone so that he can claim his Personal Legend.

Santiago arrives at the Egyptian pyramids and begins to dig. He finds nothing buried in the ground. Thieves beat Santiago and rob him of his money. After he tells them of his dream, though, one of the thieves recounts his own dream about a buried treasure in the sacristy of an abandoned church.

Returning to Andalusia, Santiago goes back to the church where he dreamed of the treasure near the pyramids. He digs where he slept, beneath a sycamore tree, and there it is: Santiago's treasure.

Remarkable Lines from the Book

". . . shepherds, like seamen and like travelling salesmen, always found a town where there was someone who could make them forget the joys of carefree wandering." - Santiago

"We have to be prepared for change." - Santiago

"The world was huge and inexhaustible." - Santiago

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

". . .dreams are the language of God. When he speaks in our language, I can interpret what he said. But if  he speaks in the language of the soul, it's only you who can understand." - Dream Interpreter in Tarifa

"It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary; only the wise men are able to understand them." - Dream Interpreter in Tarifa

"When someone sees the same people everyday. . . they wind up becoming a part of that person's life. And then they want the person to change.If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry." - Santiago

"Everyone seems to have the idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own." - Santiago

. . .a very profound conversation I  happen to contemplate from the book:

www.blog.zerodean.com

Old Man: It's a book that says says the same thing almost all the other books in the world say. It describes people's inability to choose their own destinies. And ends up saying that everyone believes the world's greatest lie.

Santiago:What's the world's greatest lie?

Old Man: It's this: that at certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That't the world's greatest lie.

"No one can be from many places." - Santiago

"People say strange things." - Santiago

". . . the most important is that you have succeeded in discovering your own destiny." - Old Man

". . . 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 the desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth." - Old Man

"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." - Old Man

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

". . .people are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of." - Old Man

"In the long run, what people think about shepherds and bakers becomes more important for them than their own destinies." - Old Man

"people learn, early in their lives, what is their reason for being. Maybe that's why they give up on it so early, too. But that's what the way it is." - Old Man

"Treasure is uncovered by the force of flowing water, and it is buried by the same currents." - Old Man

"If you start by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work toward getting it."  - Old Man

". . . everything in life has its own price." - Old Man

"Sometimes it's better to leave things as they are." - santiago

". . . he has to choose between something he had accustomed to and something he wanted to have." - Paulo Coelho

". . .every day was the same, and when each day is the same with the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises."

"That's the way it always is. It's called the principle of favorability. When you play cars the first time, you are almost sure to win. Beginner's luck." - Old Man

". . .there's a force that wants you to realize your destiny; it whets your appetite with a taste of success." - Old Man

"God has prepared a path for everyone to follow. You just have to read the omens that he left for you." - Old Man

"You can not trust a man if you don't know his house." - Wise Man

"The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world." - Wise Man

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

"Learn to recognize omens, and follow them." - Old King

". . .there were certain things one shouldn't ask about, so as not to flee from one's own destiny." - Santiago

"There must be a language that doesn't depend on words." - Santiago

"If I can understand this language, I can understand the world." - Santiago

". . . beauty is the great seducer." - Merchant

". . . every blessing ignored becomes a curse." - Merchant

"Never stop dreaming."  - Old King

". . .there was a language in the world that everyone understood. . . It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired." - Santiago

". . . 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." - Santiago

"Everything in life is an omen." -  Englishman

"There is no such thing as coincidence." - Englishman

"The closer one gets to realizing his destiny, the more that destiny becomes his true reason for being." - Santiago

". . . the horizons so distant, that they make a person feel so small." - Santiago

"Creatures like the sheep, that are used to traveling, know about moving on." - Santiago

". . .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 everything, because it's all written here." -  Santiago

"We are afraid of losing what we have, whether it's our life or our possessions and property. But this fear evaporates when w understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand." - Santiago

"When you want something with all your heart, that't when you are closest to the Soul of the World." - 

"Everything on earth is being continuously transformed, because the earth is alive. . . and it has a soul. We are part of that soul, so we rarely recognize that it is working for us."

"A small sliver of the stone can transform large qualities of metal into gold." - Englishman

. . . another thought-provoking conversation ^^

Santiago: Why do they make things so complicated?

Englishman: So that those who have responsibility for understanding can understand. Imagine if everyone went around transforming lead into gold. Gold would lose its value. 

"I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever can understand that soul can understand the language of things." - Englishman

"Everyone has his or her own way of learning." - Santiago

"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 right now."

"The world speaks many languages." - Santiago

"Don't be impatient. Eat when it's time to eat. And move along when it's time to move along." - Camel Driver

". . . the most important part of the language that all  the world spoke - the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in their heart. It was love. Something older than humanity, more ancient than the desert."  - Santiago

"Love required them to stay with the people they love." 

"When you are in love, things make even more sense." - Santiago

"If good things are coming, they will be a pleasant surprise." - The seer

"I want to know about the future because I'm a man. And men always live their lives based on the future." - Camel Driver

"How do I guess at the future? Based on the omens of the present. The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improves on the present, what comes later will also be better. Forget about the future, and live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day , in itself, brings with it an eternity." - Santiago

"All of us know that whoever believes in dreams also knows how to interpret them." - Old Man

"Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World." - A Stranger

"It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil. It's what comes out of their mouth that is." - The Alchemist

"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure."  - The Alchemist

"Life attracts life." - The Alchemist

"You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he abandons that pursuit, it's because it wasn't true love." - The Alchemist

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

Santiago to Fatima : "I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you." 

"there is only one way to learn. It's through action. Everything you need know you have learned through your journey." - The Alchemist

"Their were seeking the treasure of their destiny, without wanting actually to live out the destiny." - The Alchemist

"I'm an alchemist simply because I'm an alchemist." - The Alchemist

"The wise men understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect." - The Alchemist

"God created the world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and the marvels of his wisdom."  - The Alchemist

"Listen to your heart. It knows all things." - The Alchemist

"Wherever you heart is, that is where you'll find your treasure." - The Alchemist

". . . in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you've won." - The Alchemist

"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." - The Alchemist

"You will never be able to escape from your heart. So better listen to what it has to say." - The Alchemist

"People are afraid to pursue their dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them or that they'll be unable to achieve them." - Santiago

"My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer." - Santiago

". . . 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

"When I have been truly searching for my treasure, I've discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve." - Santiago

"Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him. We people's heart seldom say about those treasures because people no longer want to go in search of them. We speak of them only to children. Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them - the path to their destinies, and to happiness. Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns our to be a threatening place." - The Alchemist

Santiago: Why don't people's heart tell them to continue to follow their dreams?

The Alchemist: Because that what makes a heart suffer the most, and hearts don't like to suffer.

"What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream.  That's the point at which most people give up. It's the point at which say in the language of a desert, one dies in thirst  when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.'' - The Alchemist

"Every search begins with a beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested." - The Alchemist

". . . the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn." - Santiago

"When you possess great treasure within you, and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed." - The Alchemist

". . . the heart does what it can." - The Alchemist

"No one fails to suffer the consequences of everything under the sun." - The Alchemist

"Your eyes show the strength of your soul." - The Alchemist

"Everything in the universe evolved." - The Alchemist

"Men have never understood the words of the wise. So gold, instead of being seen as a symbol of evolution, became the basis of conflict." - The Alchemist

". . . anyone who interferes with the destiny of another thing never will discover his own." - The Alchemist

"If a person is living out his destiny, he knows everything he needs to know. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." -The Alchemist

"Usually the threat of death makes people a lot more aware of their live." -The Alchemist

"Death doesn't change anything." - Santiago

"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." - Santiago

". . .everything has its own destiny, but one day that destiny will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new destiny." - Santiago

". . . when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better,too." - The Alchemist

". . . when we love, we always strive to become better than we are." - The Alchemist

"Everything happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time." - Superstitious Arab

". . .life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny." -Santiago

All photos are from web ^^