Eddie Rickenbacker Quotes & Sayings

“Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.”

“Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.”

“There is a peculiar gratification in receiving congratulations from one's squadron for a victory in the air. It is worth more to a pilot than the applause of the whole outside world.”

“The obviously inexperienced pilot is the game the scientific air-fighter goes after, and the majority of victories are won that way. But, on the other hand, it is the novice usually who gets the famous ace by doing at some moment the unexpected thing.”

“When I look up and see the sun shining on the patch of white clouds up in the blue, I begin to think how it would feel to be up somewhere above it winging swiftly thought the clear air, watching the earth below, and the men on it, no bigger than ants.”

“I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through - then follow through.”

“The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.”

“The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business is to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down.”

“It is the easiest thing in the world to die. The hardest is to live.”

“When I was racing, I had learned that you can't set stock in public adoration or your press clippings. By the time I was 26, I'd heard crowds of 100,000 scream my name, but a week later they couldn't remember who I was. You're a hero today and a bum tomorrow - hero to zero, I sometimes say.”