“Attaining your dreams or goals requires either suffering of sacrifice and sometimes, both.” This statement is a reflection on the idea that success in life is not easily attained and achieving that success takes lots of blood, sweat, and tears. This shows up many different times in the novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. One of the first times we see this struggle is when the main character, Santiago, hits a low point in his journey when “He was no longer a shepherd, and he had nothing, not even the money to return and start everything over” (Coelho 39). Santiago in this moment sees the suffering and sacrifice he has already gone through on his way to achieving his dreams. One of the last times we see this idea presented in The Alchemist