Wright, Orville
Along with his brother Wilbur, he invented, built, and flew the world's first successful airplane.
Most quoted
"The first successful flight was made on December 17, 1903. We were in the air for 12 seconds and flew 120 feet. It was the first time in the history of the world that a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."
— from Official statement/letter, 1903
"The first flight lasted only 12 seconds, but it was nevertheless the first in the history of the world in which a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air in full flight, had sailed forward without reduction of speed, and had finally landed at a point as high as that from which it started."
— from Letter to his father, December 17, 1903, 1903
"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their tedious travels across prairies and mountains and deserts, looked enviously at the birds soaring freely through space, at the swiftness of their flight, and at the ease with which they seemingly moved at will through the air."
— from Speech to the Aero Club of America, 1908
All quotes by Wright, Orville (384)
If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance.
I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.
Learning the secret of flight from a bird was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician.
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.
I have learned to have more faith in my own judgement than in the judgement of others.
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.
The best dividends on the labor invested have invariably come from seeking more knowledge rather than more power.
We had to go ahead and discover everything ourselves.
The airplane is the nearest thing to animate life that man has created. In the hands of the pilot it seems to be a living, thinking entity.
If birds can glide for long periods of time, then... why can't I?
We were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, but we were the first to invent the controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.
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.
Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved for so many years just so we could discover them!
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 had taken up aeronautics merely as a sport. We reluctantly entered upon the scientific side of it.
The only birds that could fly were those which were light and had large wings.
I wish to avail myself of all that is already known.
We had to develop a theory of our own and then test it.
The subject of human flight is one with which we have become very familiar.
We were not the first to attempt to solve the problem of flight, but we were the first to solve it correctly.
Contemporaries of Wright, Orville
Other Inventions born within 50 years of Wright, Orville (1871–1948).