Researched by Thomas DeMichelePublished - November 28, 2015 Last Updated - March 17, 2016
If You Build it, Will They Come?
What is the relationship between intent and outcome? Does the Field of Dreams quote, “if you build it, they will come” have truth to it? Not exactly, but it does allude to an important and true concept (which is likely why we still quote, and mis-quote, it today).
The truth is: If you build it, you increase the odds of them coming. In other words, if you put thought and energy you put into a project you increase the likelihood of success.
Field of Dreams as a Metaphor for the Law of Attraction
Metaphorically speaking, attention plants a seed, while effort, time, and action give the seed the best opportunity to grow and thrive. However, there is no certainty the seed will grow, what the plant will look like, or whether it will produce fruit (that’s all up to nature and luck). Planting the seed and tending to it increases the odds that it’ll grow something, but it doesn’t ensure it.
The inverse, however, has more certainty. If you pay no attention to an idea and make no effort to manifest it, you decrease the odds of it materializing. If it does materialize it will almost certainly come from someone else who dedicated attention and effort over time. The more time, attention, effort, and thought you apply to an idea the more likely it is that something will come of it. If we build a baseball diamond and never go there again there is less chance of people coming. If we put effort into tending to the field and we are more likely to attract an audience.
Despite this, things are rarely guaranteed to happen in a specific way despite our intentions or effort. Some things that we work for simply never manifest, never manifest in a recognizable way, or do not manifest in the time-frame expected.
Where Does the Quote “If You Build it, They Will Come” Come From?
If you build it they will come is a misquote from Field of Dreams. The actual quote is:”If you build it, he will come” (not they). This is a line from the 1989 Kevin Costner movieField of Dreams.
In the movie, Costner’s character Ray is struggling with his relationship with his deceased father who was a devoted baseball fan. Walking in his cornfield one night he hears a voice telling him “If you build it, he will come”. The voice is accompanied by a vision of a baseball diamond in the cornfield.
Despite facing financial ruin, he plows over his cornfield to create the baseball diamond in his vision. Despite doubts, Ray believes in the voice and sees visions of old baseball players playing on the field with him (although no one else can see them). He follows other visions and voices bringing old players (alive and dead) to the field giving them a second chance at living their dreams.
A clip showing Ray not giving up on his dreams after hearing Terence Mann’s (James Earl Jones) “Baseball has been the one constant throughout the years… reminding us of what was and what could be again” speech. He also says “people will come Ray” (the they).
The story twists and turns, Ray makes peace with the characters including his father, and in the end, the audience and Ray are left in doubt that there was really any ghosts at all (implying it was all in Ray’s head).
The movie closes with the hundreds of cars approaching the baseball field. In other words, he built, they came, and he mended his relationship with his father… although the outcome was different from what he imagined.
In this way, the movie is a metaphor for an age-old idea that is sometimes described as “the secret” in popular culture.
FACT: The iconic line “If you build it, he will come” from Field of Dreams is often confused with “If you build it, they will come”. “If you build it, they will come” is never said in the movie but remains the line most often used in popular culture. In the movie, the phrase “people will come” is used in an iconic speech given by Terence Mann played by James Earl Jones mid-way through the film. This could be the root of the confusion.
The Law of Attraction, the Manifestation of Thought, and Field of Dreams
There is a concept called, “The Law of Attraction“. In simple terms, it’s the idea that thought can bring things into your life because “like attracts like”. If you think happy thoughts, you will be happy. If you believe in something enough, you will attract it into your life. This concept is often misunderstood to mean that if we believe in something enough it will happen. In reality, there is no guarantee something will happen or happen as intended, but one’s mindset may well be instrumental in increasing the probability that a thing will happen.
In the Field of Dreams metaphor, action, time, and effort are added to thought. Even then there is no guarantee. In the movie, even though Ray builds the Field and they come, it doesn’t exactly happen in his time frame or in the way he intended. In real life, it sometimes doesn’t happen at all regardless of desire or effort.
Still, manifesting reality with thought and willpower is an old concept that can be seen throughout history in phrases like “mind over matter” and “manifesting one’s will”. In fact, anytime we take something from an idea and apply it to reality we are “manifesting thought as reality”. If you think about building it but take no action, nothing happens; if you take action, you increase the probability of a desired outcome. The more time, effort, and attention you give to a thought and project, the greater chance of its success.
Notes
The Authors Opinion
The movie Field of Dreams and the book The Secret both deal with the idea that if we believe in something enough it will happen. That of course is not an absolute truth, so it gets rated as myth, but here is a lot of truth behind the concept. If you build it, they might not come. If you don’t build it though, they definitely won’t come. Or to quote the lottery, “You can’t win if you don’t play.” Attention and effort overtime does improve the likelihood of the intended outcome.
Conclusion
If you build it, and focus enough thought and effort on it, you increase the odds of them coming. Difficulty varies by subject.
Thomas DeMichele is the content creator behind ObamaCareFacts.com, FactMyth.com, CryptocurrencyFacts.com, and other DogMediaSolutions.com and Massive Dog properties. He also contributes to MakerDAO and other cryptocurrency-based projects. Tom's focus in all...
So many people remember it as “they,” it likely was said that way somewhere. But it wasn’t Wayne’s World. Maybe it’s a mash-up of people remembering Wayne’s World and Field of Dreams.
“If you build it, they will come” is absolutely the correct quote. It is not from the field of dreams. It is from the book of Genesis in the old testament of the Bible. Specifically the story of Noah’s Ark. God said to Noah “if you build it, they will come” referring to the animals. “If you build it, they will come” was also used ~40 years prior to field of dreams in a looney tunes cartoon. Everything that points to field of dreams is misinformation of the highest order.
I KNOW WITH 100% CERTAINTY, that the movie said, ‘They will come’. No doubt at all, as I stopped the video to wonder, ‘Who are they?’ – I thought he was missing his dad!
Of course, the film made sense of it, when other players came, before his dad showed up. Still, I know the line as it was, NOT as it is.
Apparently, time-lines are collapsing back into one, after the changes that ‘they’ made. This movie is just another casualty of their meddling, along with Jaws & Dolly (James Bond) and, of course, Nelson Mandela.
I know that I watched the evening news when the UK’s Moira Stewart announced that Mandela had died in a prison hospital.
Y’all can believe what you wish but, I know what I know.
I remember it being in the beginning “If you build it, THEY will come.”..However, some way into the movie, it talks about Ray Liotta’s character and it then says, “If you build it, HE will come.” My memory is in stone on this one. I’ve watched this movie more times than I can remember.
I have watched the movie a few times since writing this because I feel like I need to double check every so often incase I am missing something.
I think what happened is that the line sort of became a meme in the times after it came out. And the line was referred to on some show like In Living Color (guessing), and on there it said as “if you build it, they will come” as part of a joke or skit. Then people started saying that instead of “he”… And for some reason we all remember it incorrectly now.
That or it is the Mandala effect. A strange one for sure.
It was “if you build it , THEY will come” , but now, thanks to the fabric of reality changing, as some call it “The mandela effect”, we are left with “If you build it, HE will come”. THANKS CERN!!!
no, the line was if you build it they will come, and anyone who who believes he will come is under a spell from the matrix or cern. wake up people. my movie states they will come.
If you build it he will come refers to his father. Even tho the whole team came the most important thing was reconciling with his father, which he never had the chance to do when his father was alive
I agree it would not make sense for one person to come back its about a baseball field. I 100% know for a fact it was They well come I grew up and live my life to this quote even have said it before on facebook before I even knew about the mandela effect.
This is a good candidate for the mandela effect (as the movie says, “the only constant is baseball”).
I always thought it was “they will come”, but when I went back and checked it was “if you build it he will come” (when the voice is whispering to Ray in the Cornfield).
However, then later Terence says “people will come Ray” and then gives a speech about “how people will come”. In the speech he says “people will come” over and over, but never once “they will come”.
Strange right?! You can verify all this by watching the movie (or simply the clips above).
It’s called the Mandela Effect. We remember things as they originally were. If you build it, THEY will come is correct. But it’s been rewritten somehow. It’s scary. You should google it.
Nick Supports this as a Fact.
“If you build it, they will come” is actually a Wayne’s World 2 quote, not field of dreams
Thomas DeMicheleThe Author Did not vote.
It is even worse than that. It is also not a Wayne’s World 2 quote. According to the script, that one is “if you book them, they will come.”
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/w/waynes-world-2-script-transcript.html
Thomas DeMicheleThe Author Did not vote.
So many people remember it as “they,” it likely was said that way somewhere. But it wasn’t Wayne’s World. Maybe it’s a mash-up of people remembering Wayne’s World and Field of Dreams.
scythelord Doesn't beleive this myth.
“If you build it, they will come” is absolutely the correct quote. It is not from the field of dreams. It is from the book of Genesis in the old testament of the Bible. Specifically the story of Noah’s Ark. God said to Noah “if you build it, they will come” referring to the animals. “If you build it, they will come” was also used ~40 years prior to field of dreams in a looney tunes cartoon. Everything that points to field of dreams is misinformation of the highest order.
This is a ~3200 year old phrase.
datboi Did not vote.
Bruh… If you build it, they will come is not from the Bible. I am not sure where you got that.
Joseph Cromwell Supports this as a Fact.
I KNOW WITH 100% CERTAINTY, that the movie said, ‘They will come’. No doubt at all, as I stopped the video to wonder, ‘Who are they?’ – I thought he was missing his dad!
Of course, the film made sense of it, when other players came, before his dad showed up. Still, I know the line as it was, NOT as it is.
Apparently, time-lines are collapsing back into one, after the changes that ‘they’ made. This movie is just another casualty of their meddling, along with Jaws & Dolly (James Bond) and, of course, Nelson Mandela.
I know that I watched the evening news when the UK’s Moira Stewart announced that Mandela had died in a prison hospital.
Y’all can believe what you wish but, I know what I know.
Michele C Cucinotta Did not vote.
“He” and “people” make “they” thats why we remember and quote what was never said.
austrianpeter Doesn't beleive this myth.
I agree, THEY is the myth
austrianpeter Did not vote.
Mark: 11:24
Francis Supports this as a Fact.
Don’t give me that S&$#), I have the original film and it is not “He”. This is BS
Thomas DeMicheleThe Author Did not vote.
Can you record a clip and upload it please?
Robert Maurice Dow Did not vote.
it is a quote from god to noah
Joshua Did not vote.
I remember it being in the beginning “If you build it, THEY will come.”..However, some way into the movie, it talks about Ray Liotta’s character and it then says, “If you build it, HE will come.” My memory is in stone on this one. I’ve watched this movie more times than I can remember.
Thomas DeMicheleThe Author Did not vote.
I have watched the movie a few times since writing this because I feel like I need to double check every so often incase I am missing something.
I think what happened is that the line sort of became a meme in the times after it came out. And the line was referred to on some show like In Living Color (guessing), and on there it said as “if you build it, they will come” as part of a joke or skit. Then people started saying that instead of “he”… And for some reason we all remember it incorrectly now.
That or it is the Mandala effect. A strange one for sure.
Chad Willner Supports this as a Fact.
It was “if you build it , THEY will come” , but now, thanks to the fabric of reality changing, as some call it “The mandela effect”, we are left with “If you build it, HE will come”. THANKS CERN!!!
bill Did not vote.
no, the line was if you build it they will come, and anyone who who believes he will come is under a spell from the matrix or cern. wake up people. my movie states they will come.
Donna Did not vote.
If you build it he will come refers to his father. Even tho the whole team came the most important thing was reconciling with his father, which he never had the chance to do when his father was alive
Charles Did not vote.
I agree it would not make sense for one person to come back its about a baseball field. I 100% know for a fact it was They well come I grew up and live my life to this quote even have said it before on facebook before I even knew about the mandela effect.
Thomas DeMicheleThe Author Did not vote.
This is a good candidate for the mandela effect (as the movie says, “the only constant is baseball”).
I always thought it was “they will come”, but when I went back and checked it was “if you build it he will come” (when the voice is whispering to Ray in the Cornfield).
However, then later Terence says “people will come Ray” and then gives a speech about “how people will come”. In the speech he says “people will come” over and over, but never once “they will come”.
Strange right?! You can verify all this by watching the movie (or simply the clips above).
Peter Did not vote.
From my reality it was always THEY. Makes better sense due to the fact that a team of former greats came back to play ball not just one individual.
Misty Did not vote.
It’s called the Mandela Effect. We remember things as they originally were. If you build it, THEY will come is correct. But it’s been rewritten somehow. It’s scary. You should google it.