"Feathers shall raise men even as they do birds towards heaven :— That is by letters written with their quills."

— Leonardo da Vinci, English translation by Edward McCurdy, Leonardo Da Vunci's Note-books.

"Thousands of volumes have been written about aviation, but we do not automatically have thousands of true and special friends in their authors. That rare writer who comes alive on a page does it by giving of himself, by writing of meanings, and not just of fact or of things that have happened to him. The writers of flight who have done this are usually found together in a special section on private bookshelves."

— Richard Bach, 'The Pleasure of Their Company,' in Flying magazine, April 1968.

"Or like a poet woo the Moon,
Riding an armchair for my steed,
And with a flashing pen harpoon
Terrific metaphors of speed."

— Roy Campbell, The Festivals of Flight, 1930.

"It isn't often that a writer of superlative skills knows enough about flying to write well about it."

— Samuel Hynes, 'A Teller of Tales Tells His Own,' in the New York Times, 7 September 1997.

The object here is to capture man's first-hand experiences with flight in all its forms, to collect flying quotes, aviation and space quotations and sayings. It is the ultimate online quotable flyer. It is not 'under construction,' but it very much is a 'work in progress.' If you can supply dates or sources for existing quotes, or correct typos, or suggest further sources of information, or of course if you know of some aerospace, airline, or pilot quotes, please please send them in to me. I'm always happy to add new sections, and to correct mistakes. This collection is growing into something no one person could have created, a real product of the worldwide Internet community. You can contact me directly.

Now hear this: opinions expressed are considered to be those of the speaker. Flying quotes are as accurate as possible, but not more so. Corrections and additions are all welcome, but editorial rights reserved. Compiled by Dave English © All quote pages are Copyright 1996-2013 Dave English and covered under a legal agreement with McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. See my small print page for many more boring details.