And he said unto them, "If a man told God that wanted most of all to help the suffering world, no matter the price to himself, and God answered and told him what he must do, should the man do as he was told?"

"Of course Master" cried the many. "It should be pleasure for him to suffer the tortures of hell itself, should God ask it!"

"No matter what those tortures, nor how difficult the task?"

"Honor to be hanged, glory to be nailed to a tree and burned if so be that God has asked," said they.

"And what would you do" the Master said unto the multitude, "if God spoke directly to your face and said,

'I COMMAND THAT YOU BE HAPPY IN THE WORLD, AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.' What would you do then?"

And the multitude was silent, not a voice, not a sound was heard upon the hillsides, across the valleys where they stood.

And the Master said unto the silence "In the path of our happiness shall we find the learning for which we have chose this lifetime. So it is I have learned this day, and I choose to leave you now to walk your own path, as you please."

And he went his way through the crowds and left them, and he returned to the everyday world of men and machines.

-Illusions: The adventures of a reluctant messiah

A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over,
their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight,
restore their Government to it's true principles. It is true that in the
mean time we are suffering deeply in spirit, and incurring the horrors
of a war and long oppressions of enormous public debt ... But if the
game runs sometimes against us at home we must have patience till luck
turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning back the
principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are the
stake.

--- Thomas Jefferson