Aviation has inspired some of the most powerful words in history with reflections on freedom, courage, and the wonder of flight. From the Wright Brothers to Charles Lindbergh to everyday pilots like you and me, flying brings out the poet in all of us. Among them are quotes by Anne Morrow Lindbergh about aviation, capturing both the beauty and solitude of the skies. In this article, I highlight more than 50 of the best aviation quotes ever shared by pilots, writers, and dreamers alike. Here’s hoping you spot your favorite among them!
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Inspiration & Wonder
From da Vinci’s earliest musings on the possibilities of flight in the Codex on the Flight of Birds to Royal Canadian Air Force pilot John Gillespie Magee, Jr’s sonnet titled “High Flight,” dreamers have found inspiration in their words.
“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward.” –John Hermes Secondari (frequently misattributed to Leonardo da Vinci)
“The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul.” -Walter Raleigh
“Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.” -Eddie Rickenbacker
“The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning.” -Unknown
“And if flying, like a glass-bottomed bucket, can give you that vision, that seeing eye, which peers down on the still world below the choppy waves – it will always remain magic.” -Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. To fly is everything.” -Otto Lilienthal
“High Flight”
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds – and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of – wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew –
And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God. -John Gillespie Magee, Jr,
Passion for Flight
We often hear the saying that pilots are born, not made. While it does require training to become a skilled pilot, there is a lot to be said for the passion and desire that drives most pilots. Maybe it’s in our blood…
“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 on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.” -Wilbur Wright
“Flying is more than a sport and more than a job; flying is pure passion and desire.” -General Adolf Galland
“I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“The airplane stands for freedom, for joy, for the power to understand.” -Richard Bach
“Travelers are always discoverers, especially those who travel by air. 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
“We who fly do so for the love of flying.” -Cecil Day-Lewis
“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” -Amelia Earhart
“Flying is hypnotic and all pilots are victims to the spell.” -Ernest K. Gann
Wisdom from the Cockpit
Pilots are full of sayings and words of wisdom, and we love sharing them. What’s your favorite saying about flying? Feel free to share it in the comment section below and add to our growing list of aviator quotes.
“Aviate, navigate, communicate.” -Aviation adage
“It’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.” -Unknown
“Never quit. Never give up. Fly it to the end.” -Chuck Aaron
“There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.” -Aviation adage
“A good landing is one that you can walk away from. A great landing is one that you can use the airplane again.” -Aviation adage
“Checkride day – when your brain goes IFR no matter what the outside weather.” -Aviation adage
“Nobody who gets too damned relaxed builds up much flying time.” -Ernest K. Gann
Trailblazers & Legends
We often quote our heroes and those who led the way for the rest of us to follow. Here are some words of wisdom from some of those heroes…
“The stars seemed near enough to touch and never before have I seen so many. I always believed the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, but I was sure of it that night.” -Amelia Earhart
“There’s a big difference between a pilot and an aviator. One is a technician; the other is an artist in love with flight.” -E. Jeppesen
“The best safety device in any aircraft is a well-trained crew.” -Albert Lee Ueltschi
“To design a flying machine is nothing; to build one is something; to fly is everything.” -Ferdinand Ferber
“Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.” -Charles Lindbergh
“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.” -Charles Lindbergh
“I owned the world that hour as I rode over it – free of the earth, free of the mountains, free of the clouds, but how inseparably I was bound to them.” -Charles Lindbergh
“Real freedom lies in wildness, not in civilization.” -Charles Lindbergh
“Anyone can do the job when things are going right. In this business we play for keeps.” -Ernest K. Gann
“Fighter pilots have ice in their veins. They don’t have emotions. They think, anticipate. They know that fear and other concerns cloud your mind from what’s going on and what you should be involved in.” -Buzz Aldrin
“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill. This I conceive to be fortunate, for man, by reason of his greater intellect, can more reasonably hope to equal birds in knowledge than to equal nature in the perfection of her machinery.” -Wilbur Wright
Humor & Sayings
Pilots are full of witty and clever sayings, like the “old, bold pilot” quote I shared earlier. Here are a few quotes and sayings every seasoned pilot knows and has shared at least once.
“It only takes two things to fly: airspeed and money.” -Aviation adage
“If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.” -Aviation adage
“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” -Gil Stern
“Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” -Douglas Adams
“Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.” -Aviation adage
“If black boxes survive air crashes, why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?” -George Carlin
“Flying isn’t dangerous. Crashing is what’s dangerous.” -Unknown
“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn’t know it, so it goes on flying anyway.” -Unknown
Astronauts’ Perspectives
A pilot enjoys a unique perspective flying above the Earth, but astronauts take it to the next level. Here are some of the best quotes from astronauts.
“That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong
“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” -Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
“We won the moon race; now it’s time for us to live and work on Mars, first on its moons and then on its surface.” -Buzz Aldrin
“To me, it was like I was just a little kid playing around on the seashore, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.” -Alan Shepard
“The view of Earth is absolutely spectacular, and the feeling of looking back and seeing your planet as a planet is just a stunning experience.” -Sally Ride
“My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.” -Edgar Mitchell
“When I orbited the Earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it!” -Yuri Gagarin
“As a pilot, I’ve found that the sky has a way of humbling you, inspiring you, and connecting you to something greater. These 50+ aviation quotes reflect not just the mechanics of flight, but the emotion, courage, and wonder that come with it. Whether spoken by pioneers, poets, or fellow aviators, each quote reminds us why we chase the horizon and why we never stop looking up.” –Captain Stephen Austin
If you enjoyed this article, you might also find inspiration in The Role of Women in Aviation: Past, Present, and Future. If you don’t see your favorite aviation quote here, feel free to post it below! And don’t forget to keep the shiny side up!
