The Wright Brothers

We were then sure that the problem of equilibrium was the first and most important of all the problems of flight.

The person who merely watches the flight of a bird gathers the impression that the bird has nothing to think of but the flapping of its wings. As a matter of fact this is a very small part of its mental labor.

We could not afford to be timid; we had to be willing to take risks.

The subject is too vast to be mastered in a short time, and I have found that a lifetime is not too long to spend upon it.

The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.

We were not the first to conceive, or build, or even fly a powered aircraft. We were the first to fly in a powered aircraft in a controlled and sustained manner.

The dream of flight is as old as mankind itself.

We had to develop our own theory and then put it into practice.

The problem of flight was one we were bound to solve.

It is a mistake to think of the airplane as just another means of transportation. It is a new dimension.

We were not the first to experiment, but we were the first to experiment correctly.

The Wright Brothers created the single greatest cultural force since the invention of writing. The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages, ideas, and values together.

We were fortunate in being able to grow up in an atmosphere of intelligent curiosity.

The ability to do something so well that you forget you are doing it is the secret of success in any field.

We had to learn the hard way, by trial and error.

The only thing that is impossible is the thing you don't try.

We were not the first to attempt flight, but we were the first to achieve it.