The Alchemist Quotes

The 8 most famous lines from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist (1988), each with its speaker and the scene it belongs to. These are the quotes readers underline, copy into essays and put on walls - gathered in one place, explained in a line.

• “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

  - Melchizedek. The king of Salem's promise — the book's most quoted line.

• “It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

  - Melchizedek. On why the dream matters more than the treasure.

• “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”

  - The alchemist. To Santiago, crossing the desert.

• “Maktub.”

  - The crystal merchant. 'It is written' — the merchant's answer to everything he didn't do.

• “The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it.”

  - The alchemist. On why the desert hides treasure under the sycamore at home.

• “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”

  - The alchemist. To Santiago after the oasis battle.

• “Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

  - The alchemist. The instruction Santiago carries into the desert.

• “People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.”

  - The alchemist. On why most of the world's sadness comes from hearing that this is not true.

Why these lines survive

Paulo Coelho’s sentences earn their fame by compression: each line carries the whole book’s argument in a form you can carry in your pocket. Read in order, the 8 quotes above also sketch the novel’s shape - the world it opens, the pressure it applies, the note it ends on. If you meet them before the book, nothing is spoiled beyond mood; if you meet them after, each one lands like a place you have been.

Quote collectors: pair this page with the The Alchemist quiz to see which lines actually stuck, the book club questions when you want to argue about them, or how long the reread takes - about 2 hours and 48 minutes at an average pace. If the lines did their job and you want more of the same nerve, the books like The Alchemist list is next.

Want the whole shelf’s lines? Our Paulo Coelho books in order guide lists every book.

How to use a quotes page

Three honest uses. Before reading: skim the first two quotes to taste the prose - if the voice does not pull you, the book will not either. During: mark which quote you actually reach in the text, because the distance between famous line and lived scene is where a book keeps its secrets. After: pick the one quote you would defend at dinner and check it against the discussion questions - a quote you can argue about is a quote you understood. What a quotes page is not for is replacing the book; five lines of Paulo Coelho are an invitation, not a summary.

More quote collections

The Odyssey quotes, Moby-Dick quotes, Don Quixote quotes, Alice in Wonderland quotes - or browse quotes from all 133 classics. Then see which of them stuck on the original book quiz.

Frequently asked questions