The Alchemist

On March 11, 2025, I finished "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I have only known the book for its quote about beginner's luck: "Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested." I opened and finished the book just to realize that it was only one lesson from countless others I could take away from this book.

"The Alchemist" is about a shepherd boy who discovers his desire to visit the pyramids and find their treasures. Throughout his journey, he goes to various places and meets various people, learning who he is and what his goal is. The story left me contemplative of where I stand in this vast universe, and made me realize that all of us are connected into each other, and that we are ultimately one, the world.

I learned from this book how lovely the world is, and how important it is to listen to our hearts so that we can understand what each of us are living for. I also learned from this book what kind of things are really important in our lives and what kind of things we can disregard. Because life looks long but is actually short, we should be aware of the things we actually want to achieve and people we genuinely care for, not memories we leave behind and things we cannot throw away because of avarice.