I recently returned from a trip to Ireland and Portugal. There I was reminded of the beauty and true wonder this world is and inspired to think more in the present, appreciate & savor the small moments I am given, and follow my heart and dreams. I immediately thought of this book, The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. It is about a shepherd named Santiago who journeys from Andalusia, Spain to Egypt, Africa in search of his Personal Legend. He meets a girl named Fatima, a king, a merchant, an alchemist and a few more characters that help him along the way. Santiago not only takes a geographical journey but also a spiritual journey. This book is about finding your purpose in life and living out your dreams. I decided to share 10 of my favorite quotes from the book (25th anniversary edition). There are definitely more quotes than this as I have read this book twice and many of the pages are annotated. My hope is that you are inspired to either read the book or to take that first step in finding your purpose in life and living out your dreams. "I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty reflected." (p. 2) "What's the world's greatest lie?" the boy asked, completely surprised. "It's this: that 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." (p. 20) "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it." (p.43) But he was able to understand one thing: 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. (p. 70) When he looked into her dark eyes, and saw that her lips were poised between a laugh and silence, her learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke-- the language that everyone on earth was capable of understanding in the heart. It was love. (p. 95) "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 improve on the present, what comes later will also be better." (p. 106) "It's not what enters men's mouths that's evil, " said the alchemist. "It's what comes out of their mouths that is." (p. 119) "Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there." (p.132) "This is what we call love," the boy said, seeing that the wind was close to granting what he requested. "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 happen within you, and even men can turn themselves into the wind. As long as the wind helps of course." (p. 152) As he was about to climb yet another dune, his heart whispered, "Be aware of the place where you are brought to tears. That's where I am, and that's where your treasure is." (p.164)