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)
The air is a mystery.
We were just ordinary men.
The machine is a marvel.
The air is a medium for flight.
We were determined to succeed.
The machine is a gift to humanity.
The air is a playground.
We were just trying to solve a problem.
The machine is a symbol of freedom.
The air is our domain.
If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is 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 grunts and howls, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space.
Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been brought to light in the span of two hundred years, no longer ago than during the last century.
We were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where there was little doubt that character was supreme and that, with industry and honesty, one could go far.
The fact that the great scientist believed in flying machines was the one thing that encouraged us to begin our studies.
Success, they taught me, is a journey, not a destination.
In our early days, we were often ridiculed for our belief in flying machines.
The airplane stays up because it doesn't have the time to fall.
No one person invented the airplane, but the Wright brothers were the first to make it practical.
I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years.
Contemporaries of Wright, Orville
Other Inventions born within 50 years of Wright, Orville (1871–1948).