“This is why alchemy exists," the boy said. "So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold.That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”

“That’s what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”

“A boy needs a father to show him how to be in the world. He needs to be given swagger, taught how to read a map so that he can recognize the roads that lead to life and the paths that lead to death, how to know what love requires, and where to find steel in the heart when life makes demands on us that are greater than we think we can endure.”

“If there hadn't been a sixth day, man would not exist; copper would always be copper; and lead just lead. It's true that everything has its Personal Legend, but one day that Personal Legend will be realized. So each thing has to transform itself into something better, and to acquire a new Personal Legend, until, someday, the Soul of the World becomes one thing only.”