Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Description:

Theme:

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach is a story of an ambitious and adventurous seagull whose main aim in life is to do something worthwhile and unforgettable.

Summary:

It is an ode to self-determination through transcendence of the body and discovery of the limitless nature of the mind and the spirit. Jonathan longs to be in control of his own life and govern himself independently of his hegemonic, small-minded Flock.

Famous Quotes:

“The gull sees farthest who flies highest.”

“Look with your understanding, find out what you already know, and you’ll see the way to fly.”

“For in spite of his lonely past, Jonathan Seagull was born to be an instructor, and his own way of demonstrating love was to give something of the truth that he had seen to a gull who asked only a chance to see truth for himself.”

“Don’t believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation.”

“‘The only true law is that which leads to freedom,’ Jonathan said. ‘There is no other.’”

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

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

“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.”

Literary awards:

- Nene Award (1974)

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