Quotes on Flying & Sayings about Fly to Inspire Your Journey
Quotes on Flying
“The pilot who teaches himself has a fool for a student.” —Unknown
“The good thing about flying solo is its never boring.” —Steve Fossett
“Until you spread your wings, you have no idea how far you’ll fly.” —Unknown
“The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul.” —Unknown
“Sometimes you have to go up really high to see how small you are.” —Felix Baumgartner
“A pilot who says he has never been frightened in an airplane is, I’m afraid, lying.” —Louise Thaden
“There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” —Unknown
“In flying, you need at least two of these three to stay alive: altitude, speed or brains.” —Unknown
“Flying might not be all smooth sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price.” —Amelia Earhart
If an airplane is still in one piece, don’t cheat on it; ride the bastard down.” —Ernest K. Gann, author & aviator
“Don’t be a show-off. Never be too proud to turn back. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots.” —Unknown
“I think it is a pity to lose the romantic side of flying and simply to accept it as a common means of transport.” —Amy Johnson
“If you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing. If you can use the aircraft the next day, it’s an outstanding landing.” —Chuck Yeager
“In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.” —Unknown
“If you’re ever faced with a forced landing at night, turn on the landing lights to see the landing area. If you don’t like what you see, turn’ em back off.” —Unknown
“More than anything else, the sensation of flying is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost. If you can conceive of such a combination.” —Wilbur Wright
“Every flyer who ventures across oceans to distant lands is a potential explorer; in his or her breast burns the same fire that urged adventurers of old to set forth in their sailing-ships for foreign lands.” —Jean Batten
Inspirational Quotes on Flying
“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.” —Wilbur Wright, inventor of modern flight
“Do the impossible because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies.” —Howard Hughes, business magnate and record-setting pilot
“Don’t ever let a fear of failing keep you from knowing the joys of flight.” —Lane Wallace, aviation author and journalist
“Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn’t be done.” —Amelia Earhart, first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
“When everything seems to be against you, remember that an airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” —Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
“I’ve learned more about people through my association with aviation than I ever did about airplanes.” —Paul Poberezny, founder of the Experimental Aircraft Association
“The way I see it, you can either work for a living or you can fly airplanes. Me, I’d rather fly.” —Len Morgan, American aviator
“I like to have around me people who find ways to do things, not tell me why they can’t be done.” —Olive Ann Beech, former Beechcraft CEO
“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared. Eddie Rickenbacker.” —Eddie Richard, World War I flying ace
“Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.” —Socrates, philosopher
“Flying is more than a sport and more than a job; flying is pure passion and desire, which fill a lifetime.” —General Adolf Galland, World War II ace
“He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher
“Prepare for the unknown, unexpected and inconceivable … after 50 years of flying I’m still learning every time I fly.” —Gene Cernan, American astronaut, eleventh person to walk on the moon
“There’s a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician, the other is an artist in love with flight.” —Elrey B. Jeppesen, founder of the Jeppesen Air Navigation
Learning to fly is one of humankind’s most inspiring achievements. When you learn to fly it changes who you are and how you think of yourself forever.” —John King, co-founder of the Schools
“To become an ace a fighter must have extraordinary eyesight, strength, and agility, a huntsman’s eye, coolness in a pinch, calculated recklessness, a full measure of courage and occasional luck!” —Jimmy
“One of the things I teach my children is that I have always invested in myself, and I have never stopped learning, never stopped growing.” —Chesley Sullenberger, airline captain of infamous US Airways Flight 1549
“I have found adventure in flying, in world travel, in business, and even close at hand… Adventure is a state of mind – and spirit.” —Jacqueline Cochran, first female aviator to break the sound barrier
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” —Leonardo Da Vinci, inventor of the first flying machine
“What kind of man would live where there is no daring? I don’t believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished without taking any chance at all.” —Charles A. Lindbergh, first pilot to make a solo transatlantic flight
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” —Elinor Smith, pioneering American aviator that was known as The Flying Flapper of Freeport
“Great pilots are made, not born. A man may possess good eyesight, sensitive hands, and perfect coordination, but the end result is only fashioned by steady coaching, much practice, and experience.” —James Edgar Johnson, Air Vice-Marshal of the British Royal Air Force
“I was annoyed from the start by the attitude of doubt by the spectators that I would never really make the flight. This attitude made me more determined than ever to succeed.” —Harriet Quimby, first woman to obtain a pilot’s license in the U.S.
“It has been my observation that the happiest of people, the vibrant doers of the world, are almost always those who are using – who are putting into play, calling upon, depending upon the greatest number of their God-given talents and capabilities.” —John Glenn, first American to orbit the earth
“It’s the same with anyone who’s been flying for years and loves it still… we’re part of a world we deeply love. Just as musicians feel about scores and melodies, dancers about the steps and flow of music, so we’re one with the principle of flight, the magic of being aloft in the wind!” —Richard Bach, author
“You can’t hug your grandchildren or visit your adult children online. Playing Internet golf is no fun. Having a vacation home loses a lot of its charm when it takes you two days of every three-day weekend to drive to it and back. A personal airplane changes all those dynamics.” —Alan Klapmeier, co-founder of Cirrus Aircraft and CEO of Kestrel Aircraft
“I don’t think I possess any skill that anyone else doesn’t have. I’ve just had perhaps more of an opportunity, more of an exposure, and been fortunate to survive a lot of situations that many others weren’t so lucky to make it. It’s not how close can you get to the ground, but how precise can you fly the airplane.” —Bob Hoover, founding fathers of modern aerobatics
“Within all of us is a varying amount of space lint and star dust, the residue from our creation. Most are too busy to notice it, and it is stronger in some than others. It is strongest in those of us who fly and is responsible for an unconscious, subtle desire to slip into some wings and try for the elusive boundaries of our origin.” —K.O. Eckland, author
“There is no such thing as a natural born pilot. Whatever my aptitudes or talents, becoming a proficient pilot was hard work, really a lifetime’s learning experience. For the best pilots, flying is an obsession, the one thing in life they must do continually. The best pilots fly more than the others; that’s why they’re the best. Experience is everything.” —Chuck Yeager, first pilot to break the sound barrier
“Once you have learned to fly your plane, it is far less fatiguing to fly than it is to drive a car. You don’t have to watch every second for cats, dogs, children, lights, road signs, ladies with baby carriages and citizens who drive out in the middle of the block against the lights. Nobody who has not been up in the sky on a glorious morning can possibly imagine the way a pilot feels in free heaven.” —William T. Piper, founder of Piper Aircraft Corporation
Fly Quotes On Success
“Sometimes you gotta fail before you fly.” —Anonymous
“Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.” —Lauren Bacall
“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton
“We take eagles and teach them to fly in information.” —Wayne Calloway
“Fly without wings; Dream with open eyes’ See in darkness.” —Dejan Stankovic
“Let them fly. Let them be free. Let yourself fly. You’ll be free.”
“Ashes fly back into the face of him who throws them.” —African Proverb
“People can fly. Some people fly higher than others, that’s all.” —Michael Jordan
“Birds learn how to fly, never knowing where flight will take them.” —Mark Nepo
“Facts are the air of scientists. Without them, you can never fly.” —Linus Pauling
“Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?” —Frida Kahlo
“Those who gave away their wings are sad not to see them fly.” —Antonio Porchia
“Tell them that as soon as I can walk, I’m going to fly!” —Bessie Coleman
“When the prison doors are opened, the real dragon will fly out.” —Go Chi Minh
“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” —Douglas Adams
“If you love it, let it fly. If it loves you, it will come back.” —Anonymous
“Some temptations cannot be fought. One must close one’s mind and fly from them.” —A.J. Cronin
“Until you spread your wings, you’ll have no idea how far you can fly.” —Napoleon Bonaparte
“It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” —Muhammad Ali
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” —Langston Hughes
“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.” —Dalai Lama
“You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.” —Rumi
“If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.” —Toni Morrison
“It’s impossible to explain creativity. It’s like asking a bird, ‘How do you fly?’ You just do.” —Eric Jerome Dickey
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” —Peter Pan
“A bird cannot fly with one wing only. Human space flight cannot develop any further without the active participation of women.” —Valentina Tereshkova
“It’s okay to get butterflies in your stomach; the key is to learn how to make them fly in information.” —Georges St- Pierre
“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.” —Brian Tracy
“When you fly high, people will throw stones at you. Don’t look down. Just fly higher so the stoned won’t reach you.” —Chetan Bhagat
“Good parents give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away, and exercise what’s been taught them.” —Jonas Salk
“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
“I don’t keep diaries; I consider them like birds; I set them free and let them fly to the depths of the past where they belong.” —Mehmet Murat Ildan
“It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.” —Bram Stoker, Dracula
Flying Quotes and Sayings
“There is no flying without wings.” —French Proverb
“Flying is done largely with the imagination.” —Wolfgang Langwiesche
“There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.”
“Flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers.” —Plautus
“If you are bored flying, your standards are too low.” —Lauran Paine Jr
“Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” —Douglas Adams
“Below twenty, boys are too rash for flying. Above twenty-five they are too prudent.”
“You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.” —Amelia Earhart
“The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.” —Friedrich Nietzsche
“There is no more exciting sport than flying, for if you lose, you die.” —Christopher Paolini
“I don’t have a fear of flying; I have a fear of crashing.” —Billy Bob Thornton
“I was sold on flying as soon as I had a taste for it.” —John Glenn
“Flying is within our grasp. We have naught to do but take it.” —Charles F. Duryea
“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“Why fly’ Simple. I’m not happy unless there’s some room between me and the ground.” —Richard Bach
“Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price.” —Amelia Earhart
“Flying is hours and hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror.” —Gregory ”Pappy” Boyington
“It’s only when you’re flying above it that you realize how incredible the Earth really is.” —Philippe Perrin
“To most people the sky is the limit. To those who love flying, the sky is home.” —Unknown
“Flying prevails whenever a man and his airplane are put to a test of maximum performance.” —Richard Bach
“I learned the discipline of flying in order to have the freedom of flight….Discipline prevents crashes.” —Captain John Cook
“In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.” —Wilbur Wright
“See driving is like stabbing someone, it’s very personal. While flying is like shooting someone, it’s more distant.” —Bushwick Bill
“The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.” —Orville Wright
“[Flying] fosters fantasies of childhood, of omnipotence, rapid shifts of being, miraculous moments; it stirs our capacity for dreaming.” —Joyce Carol
“Flying has torn apart the relationship of space and time: it uses our old clock but with new yardsticks.” —Charles A. Lindbergh
“There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings.” —Wilbur Wright
“All my life, I’ve never been able to get enough airplanes. This will keep me flying every day.” —Astronaut Robert ‘Hoot’ Gibson
“Any pilot can describe the mechanics of flying. What it can do for the spirit of man is beyond description.” —Barry M. Goldwater
“Flying was a very tangible freedom. In those days, it was beauty, adventure, and discovery – the epitome of breaking into new worlds.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Flying alone! Nothing gives such a sense of mastery over time over mechanism, mastery indeed over space, time, and life itself, as this.” —Cecil Day Lewis
“Flying is awful, there’s nothing to do when you’re up in the air. I bloat up, my skin gets dry, and when we hit turbulence, I’m terrified.” —Daniela Pestova
“Flying can be easy at times, but with the wrong machine or the wrong person at the controls, it is the most difficult thing in the world.” —Paul Gallagher
“Sometimes, flying feels too godlike to be attained by man. Sometimes, the world from above seems too beautiful, too wonderful, too distant for human eyes to see . . .”
“That’s the thing about flying: You could talk to someone for hours and never even know his name, share your deepest secrets and then never see them again.” —Jennifer E. Smith
“I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty. That the reasons flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the aesthetic appeal of flying.”
“We who fly do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet.” —Cecil Day Lewis
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” —Leonardo da Vinci
“There are no signposts in the sky to show a man has passed that way before. There are no channels marked. The flier breaks each second into new uncharted seas.” —Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Flying is inherently dangerous. We like to gloss that over with clever rhetoric and comforting statistics, but these facts remain: gravity is constant and powerful, and speed kills. In combination, they are particularly destructive.” —Dan Manningham
“When you think about flying, it’s nuts really. Here you are at about 40,000 feet, screaming along at 700 miles an hour and you’re sitting there drinking Diet Pepsi and eating peanuts. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Flying is a lot like playing a musical instrument; you’re doing so many things and thinking of so many other things, all at the same time. It becomes a spiritual experience. Something wonderful happens in the pit of your stomach.” —Dusty Mctavish
“Flying is hypnotic and all pilots are victims to the spell. Their world is like a magic island in which the factors of life and death assume their proper values. Thinking becomes clear because there are no earthly foibles or embellishments to confuse it.” —Ernest K. Gann