Wright, Wilbur
Along with his brother Orville, he invented, built, and flew the world's first successful airplane.
Most quoted
"The difficulties which obstruct the pathway to success in flying machine construction are of three general classes: (1) Those which relate to the construction of the sustaining wings; (2) those which relate to the generation and application of the power required to drive the machine through the air; (3) those relating to the balancing and steering of the machine after it is actually in flight."
— from Speech to Western Society of Engineers, 1901
"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 at the birds soaring freely through space, at tremendous speed, without any obstruction, without any effort, in a leisurely and graceful manner."
— from Some Aeronautical Experiments, 1900
"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 at the birds soaring freely through space, at tremendous speed, without effort, in a leisurely way, on the crest of the air current."
— from Speech to the Western Society of Engineers, 1900
All quotes by Wright, Wilbur (377)
We have made a machine that will fly, but it is not yet a simple machine.
The machine is not yet ready for mass production.
We have made a machine that will fly, but it is not yet an easy machine to operate.
The machine is not yet ready for widespread adoption.
We have made a machine that will fly, but it is not yet a cheap machine.
The machine is not yet ready for universal use.
We have made a machine that will fly, but it is not yet a silent machine.
The machine is not yet ready for autonomous flight.
We have made a machine that will fly, but it is not yet a beautiful machine.
The machine is not yet ready for space travel.
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 grueling travels, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at rest in the busy air above the toiling beasts of earth.
No bird soars in a calm.
The greater the density of the air, the less is the power required to overcome the resistance to progression.
Isn't it astonishing that all these secrets have been preserved so long, when they have been so easy to discover.
We are progressing a little every day.
The only bird that can fly backwards is the hummingbird.
It is quite certain that a fly can crawl inside the nose of a lion, but the lion cannot retaliate.
Bishop Wright is one of the few men who become more youthful as the years pass.
Success, four flights Thursday morning. All against twenty-one-mile wind. Started from level with engine power alone.
Contemporaries of Wright, Wilbur
Other Inventions born within 50 years of Wright, Wilbur (1867–1912).