Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur) — "We have been out almost every day experimenting, and have made about 100 flights…"
We have been out almost every day experimenting, and have made about 100 flights.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur)
"Instead of falling to the floor, as we expected, it flew across the room till it struck the ceiling, where it fluttered awhile, and finally sank to the floor."
"The best dividends on the labor invested have invariably come from seeking more knowledge rather than more power."
"We kept at it, and we kept on learning."
"The only bird that could speak told us what it knew, but we didn’t understand its language."
"We were not seeking fame or fortune, but simply to solve a problem."
About Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur) (Wilbur 1867-1912; Orville 1871-1948)
American aviation pioneers who achieved the first sustained powered controlled airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC, on December 17, 1903. Closely associated with Octave Chanute (their gliding mentor and aeronautical correspondent). For an intellectual contrast, see Samuel Pierpont Langley, Smithsonian Institution Secretary and government-funded aviation researcher — Langley's Aerodrome crashed twice into the Potomac in October-December 1903 with $50,000 of War Department funding; the Wright Brothers' bicycle-shop empiricism beat Langley's institutional Big Science by 9 days. The most-cited example in engineering history of empirical-tinkerer beating institution-funded credentialism.
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
Progress isn't a single breakthrough moment — it's accumulated daily effort. The quote describes a methodical, high-volume testing routine where repetition builds knowledge. Each flight teaches something new. Real mastery comes from showing up almost every day, logging attempts, and treating failure as data. A hundred flights means a hundred lessons, not one dramatic stroke of luck. Consistency and sheer volume of practice are what drive genuine discovery forward.
Relevance to Wright Brothers (Orville & Wilbur)
Orville and Wilbur were self-funded bicycle mechanics who kept meticulous notebooks on every experiment. They spent three seasons at Kitty Hawk testing gliders before their December 17, 1903 powered flight. They built their own wind tunnel, testing over 200 wing shapes. This quote captures their core character: patient, empirical, and committed to learning through relentless repetition rather than armchair theory — two tradesmen who out-disciplined every well-funded rival.
The era
In the early 1900s the race for powered flight was fierce and fatal. Otto Lilienthal died gliding in 1896, Percy Pilcher in 1899. Samuel Langley's government-funded Aerodrome crashed twice in late 1903, just weeks before the Wrights succeeded at Kitty Hawk. Most experts believed flight required massive institutional resources. The brothers' spartan, self-funded daily grind at a remote North Carolina beach defied every assumption of how transformative technology was supposed to get made.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].