Quotes from Illusions

Richard Bach's 1977 novella Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah follows a barnstorming pilot who meets a retired 'messiah'. Its most-quoted lines come from the Messiah's Handbook, the book within the book whose pages the narrator opens at random — every quote below carries a verified Handbook source. Below: the 31 quotes in the QuotePlace collection that are verifiably from this work, each marked 'Source verified' on its own page.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough theyre yours.

To bring anything into your life, imagine that it's already there.

Strong beliefs win strong men, and then make them stronger.

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.

In order to live free and happily you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice.

You are always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.

Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.

Can miles truly separate you from friends... If you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?

Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.

Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.

Learning is finding out what you already know.

Every person, all the events of your life are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you.

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.

You teach best what you most need to learn.

Don't be dismayed by good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.

Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't. — Richard Bach

Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you're alive, it isn't.

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. — Richard Bach

Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself.

Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof. — Richard Bach

Rarely do members of the same family grow up under the same roof.

Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully. — Richard Bach

Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. — Richard Bach

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life.

If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem. — Richard Bach

If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem.

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. — Richard Bach

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however. — Richard Bach

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. — Richard Bach

You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they are yours. — Richard Bach

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they are yours.

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours. — Richard Bach

Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they're yours.

The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. — Richard Bach

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.' — Richard Bach

The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, 'I've got responsibilities.'

Explore more: All Richard Bach quotes · Meditations · Tao Te Ching · The Analects · The Prophet · Think and Grow Rich · The Art of War · Dhammapada · Letters to Lucilius · Enchiridion · Did they really say it?