Justin Kerby

I mostly read non-fiction, but I try to slip a classic novel into my reading routine every few books. I probably read five books that I’d define as classic fiction every year. These are the five that I’ve enjoyed the most so far, and a few favorite quotes from each book. My absolute favorites are bolded.

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“The fear of suffering is worse than the fear itself…no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.”

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight.”

“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.”

2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

“Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

“Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.”

3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon.”

“Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so damned full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving. And they’ll be happy, because facts of that sort don’t change. Don’t give them any slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy.”

“‘Stuff your eyes with wonder,’ he said, ‘live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,’ he said, ‘shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.’” 

4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

“Up ahead they’s a thousan’ lives we might live, but when it comes it’ll on’y be one.”

5. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

“I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.” 

Paulo Coelho is a master storyteller. The Alchemist is in my top five favorite books of all time. I recently came across The Story of the Pencil from his compilation of short stories in Like a Flowing River. I thought I’d share it here. He provides so much depth with such few words.

The Story of the Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked:

‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.’

‘First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.’

‘Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.’

‘Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.’

‘Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.’

‘Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action’.