“Remember where you came from, where you’re going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place. You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind. Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution is not generally understood by less-advanced life-forms, and they'll call you crazy.”

American writer

Richard David Bach is an American writer known for fiction and nonfiction shaped by flight. He became widely known in the 1970s through Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, both of which were major bestsellers. His writing often returns to flying, freedom, and the search for meaning. Bach’s work brought together adventure, spirituality, and reflection, and those themes helped make his books especially popular with a broad readership.