The Alchemist - Paula Coelho

Over the weekend, read 'The Alchemist' authored by Paula Coelho and presented to me by my Appa.

Refreshingly different Book, one must say.
Few books take u along with the story like Da Vinci Code, few books race ahead with little time to catch up, like most of the sidney's novels, few books emotionally surprise you like Kalli Kaatu Idhikaasam(by Vairamuthu), few books inspire you like (Life of Thandai Periyar- a revolutionary legend). Only few books make u look inside, do a comparative study with ur life and the protagonist’s. Almost at every page I stopped and re-read beautiful, well worded conversations.
Inspite of being laden with 'personality development' thoughts, the book never looks preachy.

I'm not going to dwell into the story..But I shall jot down few thoughts from the book.

""I'm alive...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 as good a day to die as any other. Because 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. 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." "

"world’s greatest lie….is that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate"

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

"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation"

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.It's called the principle of favorability, beginner's luck. Because life wants you to achieve your destiny. But at the end of the Journey, you would be severely tested"

"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...this was not just a human gift...everything on the face of the earth had a soul, whether mineral, vegetable, or animal—or even just a simple thought"

I almost fell over while reading this..(On drinking wine!)
"It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil," said the alchemist. "It's what comes out of their mouths that is."

"...Happiness could be found in a grain of sand from the desert...Because a grain of sand is a moment of creation, and the universe has taken millions of years to create it."

A must read for all book lovers.