In The Alchemist, the quote "courage
is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World" means that in
order to understand the Language of the World, one must put all else aside, and listen
to the world as it speaks to him, mostly through nature. It takes courage to let go of
the control of the moment or a situation, to sit quietly, even while danger may be
present, to listen.
The boy is told as he meets people on
his travels that he must seek his Personal Legend: his most perfect dream. He is told to
search for omens nature along the way, and that the world will conspire (help) anyone
seeking to reach his Personal Legend so that he is
successful.
The boy learns that he cannot achieve his
Personal Legend if he cannot speak the Language of the World. Several times the
boy comes up against seemingly insurmountable obstacles: he is robbed, he is captured
and threatened with death, and he loses sight of his Personal Legend, thereby losing
faith in himself.
However, the world
does conspire to set him again on the right path, though that path
is not always easy to follow. Others that he meets such as the old king, the camel
driver, and even the alchemist know of the Language of the World and tell him he must
listen to what the earth has to tell him: to the wind, sand, and all things as all are
one, created by the same hand.
The courage is needed in
order to let go and proceed on faith. For example, when he goes to tell the chieftains
that the oasis will be attacked, he is fearful that they won't believe him. The
Language of the World has spoken to him and he has listened--not without doubts. It
takes courage to go to the chieftains who threaten his life if he is wrong. He saves
many lives in doing so, and his faith in his ability to understand the Language of the
World is strengthened.
When the alchemist tells their
captors that the boy can change himself into the wind or he will give up his life, the
boy is fearful that he will not be able to do so. It takes all of his courage to try,
and he achieves success because he has listened to, and now uses, the Language of the
World as he now understands it, with great eloquence--speaking to the wind, the sun, and
even to God...as all things are connected. Knowing the Language of the World is not
enough: using it and understanding it to do the impossible, require great courage in the
face of almost certain failure.
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