How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Even though the sheep didn't teach me to speak Arabic.
But the sheep had taught him something even more important: that there was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired. (2.74)
While we're really not surprised that the sheep didn't teach Santiago Arabic (duh, they're Spanish sheep), we do think it's cool that he's learned people can recognize good qualities in each other through their actions and gestures. Sometimes, actions speak louder than words.
Quote #5
"If I could, I'd write a huge encyclopedia just about the words luck and coincidence. It's with those words that the universal language is written." (2.122)
So is the universal language kind of like binary code, with "luck" and "coincidence" repeated over and over instead of 0s and 1s? Not exactly; it's more that the universe brings like things together (coincidence) or blazes trails for people (luck) as a way of speaking or communicating with them.
Quote #6
I don't know why these things have to be transmitted by word of mouth, he thought. [. . .] He had only one explanation for this fact: things have to be transmitted this way because they were made up from the pure life, and this kind of life cannot be captured in pictures or words. Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World. (2.219-21)
The alchemist's line of thinking is a little bit hard to follow—not surprising for a 200-year-old professional wise man. He knows that the ancient art of alchemy can only be transmitted through oral language, "by word of mouth." Except that the knowledge can't be captured in words. Ergo, there must be something meaningful about the way the knowledge is spoken, rather than the actual words used.