The Wright Brothers

The machine itself is but a small part of the problem. The main thing is to learn to use it.

The greatest value of our experiments is that they prove the possibility of human flight.

The problem of flight is not one of building a machine, but of learning to control it.

We do not believe that the problem of human flight will ever be solved by the use of a machine heavier than air.

The difficulties of the flying machine are not so much in the construction of the machine itself as in the control of it.

The flying machine will not be a success until it can be controlled in all kinds of weather.

The first successful flight of a machine heavier than air, carrying a man, was made by us on December 17, 1903.

We have been so long accustomed to the idea that man cannot fly that we are almost afraid to believe that he can.

The only way to learn to fly is to fly, and the only way to learn to control a flying machine is to control it.

The greatest discovery of all is that man can do what he wills.

If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.

The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.

No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris... [because] no known motor can run at the requisite speed for four days without stopping.

I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.

It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.

If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial.

For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man.

Learning the secret of flight from a bird was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician.

The course of the flight up and down was exceedingly erratic, partly due to the irregularity of the air, and partly to lack of experience in handling this machine.

We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual interests; to investigate whatever aroused curiosity.