The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

Most people see the world as a threatening place, and, because they do, the world turns out, indeed, to be a threatening place.

I was a rebel. I was against everything, and that is actually a good thing to be when you are of a young age. My parents tried to make me behave properly. They tried everything from threats, to complaints about how much I let them down, but nothing worked. They thought they had lost control and said to themselves: “He is mad. He wants to be an artist.” And then they committed me to this institution, and I learned at very young age that I had to fight. I chose not to look at myself as a victim but thought “Paulo, now you are experiencing the difficulties that real artists actually should experience.”