No one knows how to make going to orbit orders of magnitude safer and orders of magnitude more affordable.

In 12 or 15 years, there will be routine, affordable space tourism not just in the U.S. but in a lot of countries.

Usually the wacky people have the breakthroughs. The smart people dont.

A NASA astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut can't be creative. He has to follow a predetermined detailed checklist written by an engineer and if he gets a little creative he'll never fly again.

I believe that research, that you can claim that you're doing research only if half of the people, and I'm talking about half of the experts, believe that the goal is impossible.

A true creator researches how to have confidence in nonsense.

NASA's myriad failures are in many ways the natural consequence of a catastrophic combination of bureaucracy, monopoly, and a calcifying aversion to the kind of risk necessary for innovation.

Everything looks nonsensical before it works.

Testing leads to failure, and failure leads to understanding

I have a hunch the most important reason we're going to space is not known now.

Look at the aerospace industry as it was just after the Kennedy talk. We were hiring like crazy. We were trying to get people graduated from college. Hey, you got to go to the program. We need you.

The “result” of micromanagement is perhaps tangible in the short run, but more often causes damage for the long term.

But that is what life is all about, he said. "It is about dreaming and making those dreams come true with effort and determination - and love.

It's a great relationship when you can work with the person who you consider to be your soul mate.

I made the remark that I don't avoid people in order to live quietly, but rather in order to be able to die quietly.

Live up to the best that is in you: Live noble lives, as you all may, in whatever condition you may find yourselves.

Intellect alone is a dry and rattling thing.

I have my team focused on the front end, working on the user experience, and making sure we have all the wiki-like tools people need to work on the site. We're just cranking away.

Lighting is not about function. It's much more about the mood and the emotion that the playwright and the director are trying to create. Our job is to support their poetic direction.

Solitude is impractical, and society fatal. We must keep our head in the one and our hands in the other. The conditions are met, if we keep our independence, yet do not lose our sympathy.

Without volunteers, we'd be a nation without a soul.