How we cite our quotes: (Part.Paragraph)
Quote #4
I've learned things from the sheep, and I've learned things from crystal, he thought. I can learn something from the desert, too. It seems old and wise. (2.140)
Unlike the Englishman, Santiago doesn't need books to learn the ways of the world. His natural curiosity provides him with lots of knowledge, without any pesky school tuition or library late fees. Whether it's watching sheep or dusting crystal, everything is a teachable moment for Santiago.
Quote #5
But when the boy wanted to learn how to achieve the Master Work, he became completely lost. There were just drawings, coded instructions, and obscure texts. (2.188)
The Master Work is the skill of turning any metal into gold, but don't look for it in your college course catalog: even Santiago, who is a natural learner, can't learn it from books. He's going to have to gain knowledge by observing the natural world and talking to wiser people, not just scratching his head over books all day.
Quote #6
"Why do they make things so complicated?" he asked the Englishman one night. [. . .]
"So that those who have the responsibility for understanding can understand," he said. "Imagine if everyone went around transforming lead into gold. Gold would lose its value." (2.189-90)
The Englishman's books on alchemy are super difficult to understand, which is super frustrating for Santiago. But the Englishman has a better attitude: he figures that anything worth doing is going to take some effort, and the secrets of alchemy must be hidden in complicated texts so that only people smart and determined enough to figure them out will gain the special knowledge. (Does that mean calculus is going to turn out to be useful after all?)