Jonathan Livingston Seagull Quotes

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.

You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way".

Jonathan sighed. The price of being misunderstood, he thought. They call you devil or they call you god.

Overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now.

You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.

He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all

We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.

Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip," Jonathan would say, other times, "is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too.

Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull's life is so short, and with those gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.

The gull sees farthest who flies highest

Heaven is not a place, and it's not a time. Heaven is being perfect.

Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect. -And that isn't flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn't have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.

One school is finished, and the time has come for another to begin.

You don't love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That's what I mean by love.

Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock? A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand!

For most gulls it was not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight.

Like everything else, Fletcher. Practice.

چرا دشوارترین کار در جهان این است که پرنده ای را متقاعد کنی، آزاد است؟

It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle sea.

He spoke of very simple things- that it is right for a gull to fly, that freedom is the very nature of his being, that whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form. "Set aside," came a voice from the multitude, "even if it be the Law of the Flock?" "The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other.

Most gulls don't bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight - how to get from shore to food and back again

A moment later Jonathan’s body wavered in the air, shimmering, and began to go transparent. “Don’t let them spread silly rumors about me, or make me a god. O.K., Fletch? I’m a seagull. I like to fly, maybe…

Why, Jon, why?" his mother asked. "Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can't you leave low flying to the pelicans, the alhatross? Why don't you eat? Son, you're bone and feathers!" "I don't mind being bone and feathers mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can't, that's all. I just want to know.

Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there's reason to live! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can learn to be free! we can learn to fly!

Keep working on love.

Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.

Why is it,” Jonathan puzzled, “that the hardest thing in the world is to convince a bird that he is free, and that he can prove it for himself if he’d just spend a little time practicing? Why should that be so hard?

Sully,for shame!" Jonathan said in reproach, " and don't be foolish! What are we trying to practice everyday? If our friendship depends on things like space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?

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’ll see the way to fly.

His one sorrow was not solitude, it was that other gulls refused to believe the glory of flight that awaited them; they refused to open their eyes and see.

The only law is one which leads to freedom

Le paradis, c'est simplement d'être soi-même parfait.

Imagination is an old soul.

For each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do...

To begin with, you've got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.

Jonahtan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull's life is so short,and with these gone from his thought,he lived a long life indeed.

Jonathan Seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gull’s life is so short, and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.

Oh, Fletch, you don't love that! You don't love hatred and evil,of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and help them to see it in themselves. That's what I mean by love. It's fun, when you get the knack of it.

you have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. It is the Law of the Great Gull, the Law that Is.

Are you saying I can fly?” “I say you are free.

-Peki bundan sonra ne olacak? Nereye gidiyoruz? Cennet diye bir yer yok mu? -Hayır Jonathan öyle bir yer yok. O ne bir yer, ne de bir zaman. Cennet, kendinde kusursuzluğu bulmaktır.

Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock? A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand!… We choose our next world through what we learn in this one…

Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, other times, “is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too….

This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent whole days alone, making hundreds of low-level glides, experimenting.

Fletcher Lynd Seagull was still quite young, but already he knew that no bird had ever been so harshly treated by any Flock, or with so much injustice.

whatever stands against that freedom must be set aside, be it ritual or superstition or limitation in any form.

el secreto es dejar de verse a sí mismo como prisionero de un cuerpo limitado, rompe las cadenas de tu pensamiento y romperás también las de tu cuerpo

Good-bye, Jon, my friend.” “Good-bye, Sully. We’ll meet again.” And with that, Jonathan held in thought an image of the great gull-flocks on the shore of another time, and he knew with practiced ease that he was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.

اكسر قيود أفكارك وخوفك وسوف تكسر قيود جسدك كذلك.

I don’t understand how you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you.” “Oh, Fletch, you don’t love that! You don’t love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That’s what I mean by love. It’s fun, when you get the knack of it.

Just read The Virtue of Minding Your Own Business. Oh my, what currents run deep! Beautifully seen, beautifully told. Praise praise praise . . . Pardon my French, but you are one darn major American writer!" ---Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions, on Sandcastle and Other Stories

Who is more responsible than a gull who finds and follows a meaning, a higher purpose for life? For a thousand years we have scrabbled after fish heads, but now we have a reason to live — to learn, to discover, to be free!

The only difference, the very only one, is that they have begun to understand what they really are and have begun to practice it.

The only true law is that which leads to freedom," Jonathan said. "There is no other.

You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. It is the law.

I want to go back to the Flock, of course. I’ve barely begun with the new group!

We can reach untainted experiential freedom, by living in the moment as it is—without contemplation. Here we find the possibility of freedom—of just being—living as our authentic self. We are our true nature. We are one and whole.

A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand! And then another hundred lives until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection, and another hundred again to get the idea that our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth. The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.

Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else. Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.

Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly. This kind of thinking, he found, is not the way to make one’s self popular with other birds. Even his parents were dismayed as Jonathan spent whole days alone, making hundreds of low-level glides, experimenting. He

Cehaletimizi kırabiliriz, becerilerimizi, yeteneklerinizi ve zekamızı kullanarak kendimizi bulabilir, kendimiz olabiliriz. En önemlisi, özgür olabiliriz! Uçmayı öğrenebiliriz!

حُكم العادة وسلطة الطقوس الفارغة ستفعل فعلها ببطء حتى تقتل حريتنا في أن نحيا الحياة التي نختارها.

No, Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.

لكي تطير بسرعة الفكرة إلى أي مكان، يجب أن تدرك بالبداية بأنك وصلت.

Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock?

The price of being misunderstood, he thought. They call you devil or they call you god.

- أتقول إنني أستطيع الطيران؟ - بل أقول إنك حُر.

Մտքի արահությամբ, այլ կերպ ասած` ցանկացածդ տեղը հասնելու համար նախ և առաջ անհրաժեշտ է հասկանալ, որ արդեն հասել ես…

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.” ― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Why, Jon, why?” his mother asked. “Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? Why don’t you eat? Son, you’re bone and feathers!” “I don’t mind being bone and feathers, mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know.

To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is,” he said, “you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived.” The trick, according to Chiang, was for Jonathan to stop seeing himself as trapped inside a limited body that had a forty-two-inch wingspan and performance that could be plotted on a chart. The trick was to know that his true nature lived, as perfect as an unwritten number, everywhere at once across space and time.

Yaşamak için ne çok neden var! balıkçı teknelerinin etrafında o rutin, sıkıcı dönüp dolaşmadan başka nedenler de var yaşamak için. cehaletimizi kırabiliriz, becerilerimizi, yeteneklerimizi ve zekamızı kullanarak kendimizi bulabilir, kendimiz olabiliriz. en önemlisi, özgür olabiliriz, uçmayı öğrenebiliriz

and with these gone from his thought, he lived a long

It always works when you know what you're doing

Everything that limits us we have to put aside

...Gözlerinle gördüklerine inanma. Dış görünüştür onlar yalnızca, sınırlıdır. Kavrayışınla bak, öğrendiklerinin bilincine var ve böylece uçmanın yolunu bulacaksın.

Stand to Center meant only great shame or great honor.

I may never fly—in the bird sort of way. But I do have wings.

Life is the unknown and the unknowable, except that we are put into this world to eat, to stay alive as lone as we possibly can.

Those who fly the highest see the furthest

Υποσχέθηκε στον εαυτό του πως απ' εδώ και μπρος θα γινόταν σαν όλους τους άλλους. Έτσι θα ήταν όλοι ευχαριστημένοι.

Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too. . . . 

For each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do, and that was to fly.

Until he found that bird, life would remain gray and bleak, illogical, without purpose; every seagull would remain a coincidental collection of blood and feathers pointed toward oblivion.

إنّنا نتخيّر عالمنا التّالي عبر ما نتعلّمه في عالمنا هذا. من لا يتعلّم شيئًا فسيكون عالمه التّالي هو نفسه عالمه الحالي، بالحدود والقيود نفسها.. والأحمال الثّقيلة نفسها التي عليه أن يغلبها.

The dozen gulls by the shoreline came to meet him, none saying a word. He felt only that he was welcome and that this was home. It had been a big day for him, a day whose sunrise he no longer remembered.

To begin with,” he said heavily, “you’ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.

Instead of our drab slogging forth and back to the fishing boats, there’s a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!

The classes changed, with years, from wide soaring poems in flight to hushed talk about Jonathan before and after practice; to long involved recitations on the sand about the Divine One, with no flying ever done by anybody. Fletcher and the other students of Jonathan were at turns puzzled and correctful and firm and furious at the change, but they were helpless to stop it. They were honored, and worse—revered, but they were no longer heard, and the birds who practiced flying were fewer and fewer.

Jonathan, there is no such place. Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.” He was silent for a moment. “You are a very fast flier, aren’t you?” “I … I enjoy speed,” Jonathan said, taken aback but proud that the Elder had noticed. “You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment that you touch perfect speed. And that isn’t flying a thousand miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light. Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn’t have limits. Perfect speed, my son, is being there.

Raj nije ni mesto ni vreme. Raj je savršenstvo." "Da bi odleteo bilo gde brzinom misli, moraš da zamisliš da si tamo već stigao..." "DA, ŽELIM DA LETIM." "Kada bi naše prijateljstvo zavisilo od vremena i prostora, onda bi ga, kad pobedimo vreme i prostor, uništili! Ako pobedimo prostor, ostaje nam samo OVDE. Ako pobedimo vreme, ostaje nam samo SADA. Zar ne misliš da cemo se na tom putu, između sada i ovde, ipak sresti s vremena na vreme?" "Ne gledaj svojim očima. Njihove mogućnosti su ograničene. Gledaj razumom. Ispitaj ono što već znaš i onda ćeš shvatiti kako se leti.

His vows of a moment before were forgotten, swept away in that great swift wind. Yet he felt guiltless, breaking the promises he had made himself. Such promises are only for the gulls that accept the ordinary. One who has touched excellence in his learning has no need of that kind of promise.

Ed era l’ora, sì di andare a casa. Abbracciò con un ultimo sguardo il suo cielo, i magnifici campi del cielo, dove aveva imparato molte cose. «Sono pronto» disse alfine. E il gabbiano Jonathan Livingston fece prua verso l’alto, scortato da quei due splendidi uccelli, e scomparvero insieme nella notte.

Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom,” Jonathan would say in the evenings on the beach, “and precision flying is a step toward expressing our real nature. Everything that limits us we have to put aside. That’s why all this high-speed practice, and low-speed, and aerobatics …

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think we might see each other once or twice?

هل لديك أية فكرة عن عدد الحيوات التي مررنا بها قبل أن تتبلور لدينا الفكرة البسيطة، وهي أن الحياة تعنى أمورا أخرى أكثر من مجرد الأكل, الصراع، أو القوة، في السرب ؟ ألف حياة يا جوناثان، عشرة آلاف! وربما مئة ألف حياة أخرى, قبل أن نبدأ التعرف على فكرة الكمال. ومئة أخرى لنتعلم أن هدفنا من الحياة هو أن نجد ذلك الكمال ونصل إليه، وهذا القانون نفسه يسري علينا الآن أيضا، بالطبع هذا يعني أننا نحتار عالمنا القادم من خلال ما نتعلمه في هذا العالم. فإذا لم تتعلم شيئا، سيكون عالمك التالي نسخة ثانية من عالمك الذي انتقلت لتوك منه.. الحدود نفسها، الأثقال نفسها والمصاعب التي يتوجب عليك اجتيازها.

Why, Jon, why?” his mother asked. “Why is it so hard to be like the rest of the flock, Jon? Why can’t you leave low flying to the pelicans, the albatross? Why don’t you eat? Son, you’re bone and feathers!” “I don’t mind being bone and feathers, mom. I just want to know what I can do in the air and what I can’t, that’s all. I just want to know.” “See here, Jonathan,” said his father, not unkindly. “Winter isn’t far away. Boats will be few, and the surface fish will be swimming deep. If you must study, then study food, and how to get it. This flying business is all very well, but you can’t eat a glide, you know. Don’t you forget that the reason you fly is to eat.” Jonathan

The only answer I can see, Jonathan, is that you are pretty well a one-in-a-million bird. Most of us came along ever so slowly. We went from one world into another that was almost exactly like it, forgetting right away where we had come from, not caring where we were headed, living for the moment. Do you have any idea how many lives we must have gone through before we even got the first idea that there is more to life than eating, or fighting, or power in the Flock? A thousand lives, Jon, ten thousand! And then another hundred lives until we began to learn that there is such a thing as perfection, and another hundred again to get the idea that our purpose for living is to find that perfection and show it forth. The same rule holds for us now, of course: we choose our next world through what we learn in this one. Learn nothing, and the next world is the same as this one, all the same limitations and lead weights to overcome.