“They were so ignorant, so naive, so resigned to their lot. They refused to believe anything that didn't fit in with what they were used to believing.”

“Veronika had noticed that a lot of people she knew would talk about the horros in other people's lives as if they were genuinely concerned to help them, but the truth was that they took pleasure in the suffering of others, because that made them believe they were happy and that life had been generous with them”

“And what went wrong when other alchemists tried to make gold and were unable to do so?""They were looking only for gold his companion answered. They were seeking the treasure of their personal legend, without wanting actually to live out the personal legend.”

“The best way to weaken one's enemy was to get him to believe that you were on his side.”

“Well, then, why do we need all these books?" the boy asked. "So that we can understand those few lines," the Englishman answered, without appearing really to believe what he had said.”

“I was trying to come round to the idea that there might be an invisible reality capable of interfering in our lives, but the only reason I did so was because of a love I didn't want to believe I felt but which was continuing to grow in a subtle, devastating way. I was content in my universe and didn't want to change it at all, even though I was being propelled in that direction.”

“A lot of people think something is right, and so that thing becomes right.”