Alchemy

This is a book I just finished: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's the familiar story of a young man who is seeking his treasure, and travels to a distant place only to learn through his travels that he was looking in the wrong place, for the wrong treasure. I don't think it will spoil the story for you by quoting a bit of it:

"That's 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...That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

And a few moments after that in his conversation with the Sun, the sun says to him, "Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of the World... It is we who nourish the Soul of the World, and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are."

NEAT.