"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.”

"One’s Personal Legend is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. “At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend….whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth”

"And, then hyou want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

"In any case, it's good that you've learned that everything in life has its price. This is what the Warriors of the Light try to teach."

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."

"There was noting to hold him back except himself."

 

"Fatima went back to her tent, and, when daylight came, she went out to do the chores she had done for years. But everything had changed.  The boy was no longer at the oasis, and the oasis would never again have the same meaning it had had only yesterday. ...... From that day on, the oasis would be an empty place for her."

"She would have to send her kisses on the wind, hoping that hte wind would touch the boy's face, and would tell him that she was alive. That she was waiting for him. a woman awaiting a courageous man in search of his treasure."

"Don't think about what you've feft behind."

"There is only one way to learn. It's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey."

"There had been times when his heart spent hours telling of its sadness, and at other times it became so emotional over the desert sunrise that the boy had to hide his tears. .....But his heart was never quiet."

"Naturally it’s afraid that, in pursuing your dream, you might lose everything you’ve won.” “Well, then, why should I listen to my heart?” “Because you will never again be able to keep it quiet. even if you pretend not to have heard what it tells you, it will always be there inside you, repeating to you what you’re thinking about life and about the world. “You mean I should listen, even if it’s treasonous?” “Treason is a blow that comes unexpectedly. If you know your heart well, it will never be able to do that to you. Because you’ll know its dreams and wishes and will know how to deal with them, you will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say. That way, you’ll never have to fear an unanticipated blow."

"It's because I'm the heart of a person, and people's hearts are that way. People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren't, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly."

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encountered with God and with eternity."

"When I have been truly searching for my treasure, I’ve discovered things along the way that I never would have seen had I not had the courage to try things that seemed impossible for a shepherd to achieve."

"Later, we simply let life proceed, in its own direction, toward its own fate. But, unfortunately, very few follow the path laid out for them – the path to their Personal Legends, and to happiness."

"So, we, their hearts, speak more and more softly. We never stop speaking out, but we begin to hope that our words won’t be heard: we don’t want people to suffer because they don’t follow their hearts." "From then on, the boy understood his heart. He asked it, please, never stop speaking to him. He asked that, when he wandered far from his dreams, his heart press him and sound the alarm."

"Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward that dream."

"Every search begins with beginner's luch. And every search ends with the victor's being severely tested."

"The darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn."

 

 17th Oct. 2009-on the plane to Hong Kong (from San Francisco)