serendipitous appearance mysterie! i finally got the ebook of the The Alchemist which i just finished and was a bit surprised at how straightforward and unoriginal it was. love the overall message, the use of parables and allegories, but disliked how it didn't leave much to the imagination or make an attempt at character development. It reminded me of Siddhartha. i think it has to do with my age, if i had read this years ago, ideally as a teenager, i would've enjoyed it more. [..searching for kindle..] [insert random quotes from various places]
“Because I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. You’ll see that there is life in the desert, that there are stars in the heavens, and that tribesmen fight because they are part of the human race. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living right now.”
“How does one achieve peace of mind?” On the latter point, Plutarch’s advice was the same as Seneca’s: focus on what is present in front of you, and pay full attention to it."
"Learning how to die was learning to let go; learning to live was learning to hang on."
“Place before your mind’s eye the vast spread of time’s abyss, and consider the universe; and then contrast our so-called human life with infinity.”
"The Zen master who, when asked, “What is enlightenment?” whacked the questioner on the head with a stick Enlightenment is something learned on your own body: it takes the form of things happening to you. This is why the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics taught tricks rather than precepts. All philosophers can offer is that blow on the head: a useful technique, a thought experiment, or an experience—in Montaigne’s case, the experience of reading the Essays. The subject he teaches is simply himself, an ordinary example of a living being."
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