“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.”

“Until one day when, as well as his spiritual death, physical death appears; at that moment God will ask: "what did you do with your life?" We must all answer this question, and woe betides those who answer: "I remained standing at the door.”

“It's the oasis," said the camel driver."Well, why don't we go there right now?" the boy asked."Because we have to sleep.”

“Hmm..." said the old man, looking at all sides of the book, as if it were some strange object. "This is an important book, but it's really irritating."The boy was shocked. The old man knew how to read, and had already read the book. And if the book was irritating, as the old man had said, the boy still had time to change it for another."It's a book that says the same thing almost all the other books in the world say," continued the old man. "It describes people's inability to choose their own Personal Legends. And it ends up saying that everyone believes the world's greatest lie.""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.”

“This is what I wanted. If I believe I will win then victory will believe in me. No life is complete without a touch of madness, or to use J.'s words. What I need to do is reconquer my kingdom. If I can understand what's going on in the world, I can understand what's going on inside myself.”

“Why do they make things so complicated?""So that those who have the responsibility for understanding can understand.," he said. "Imagine if everyone went around transforming lead into gold. Gold would lose its value.""It's those who are persistent, and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the Master Work.”

“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.”