The Alchemist

by Paulo Coelho

“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.”

My family was very strict and my father sent me to the Jesuit school so that I could have real discipline. The chains of rigor were so heavy throughout my youth that very quickly I started to doubt this religion that showed no mercy, only constraint and suffering. I remember being obliged to attend mass and the constant threats of hell in the mouths of the priests. Everything was sin, everything was forbidden, joy was ruled out. I think that my rebellion was what saved me. Rebellion is a blessing. And looking back, so is discipline. I thank my education for the discipline a writer needs to work on anything.