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Richard Bach Quotes

Richard David Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance. He claims to be a direct descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach. He is noted for his love of flying and for his books related to air flight and flying in a metaphorical context. He has pursued flying as a hobby since the age of 17.

Selected Quotes of Richard Bach are:

Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished : If you're alive, it isn't.
An easy life doesn't teach us anything. In the end it's the learning that matters: what we've learned and how we've grown.
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible, but the mark of a fake messiah.
Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours.
No one does anything uncharacteristic of who they are.
There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go.
The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy.
The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities."
You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion... this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.
Any powerful idea is absolutely fascinating and absolutely useless until we choose to use it.
We are each given a block of marble when we begin a lifetime, and the tools to shape it into sculpture... We can drag it behind us untouched, we can pound it into gravel, we can shape it into glory.
You're always free to change your mind
and choose a different future, or a different past.
The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.
If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.
Happiness is the reward we get for living to the highest right we know.
Avoid problems and you'll never be the one who overcame them.
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
A tiny change today brings a dramatically different tomorrow.
There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.
Of course there’s destiny, but destiny doesn’t push you where you don’t want to go. You’re the ones who choose. Destiny is up to you.
Look in the mirror and one thing is sure: what we see is not who we are.
Listen to what you know instead of what you fear.
Boredom between two people doesn't come from being together physically. It comes from being apart mentally and spiritually.
The opposite of loneliness, it's not togetherness. It is intimacy.
Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?
The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.
You either plan for what's ahead or you fight with what you've got: worry is a waste of time.
The only thing that shatters dreams is compromise.
There’s no disaster that can’t become a blessing, and no blessing that can’t become a disaster.
Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding. Find out what you already know and you will see the way to fly.
All we see of someone at any moment is a snapshot of their life, there in riches or poverty, in joy or despair. Snapshots don't show the million decisions that led to that moment.
No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.
When you have come to the edge of all the light you have
And step into the darkness of the unknown
Believe that one of the two will happen to you
Either you'll find something solid to stand on
Or you'll be taught how to fly!