105 Pilots Quotes

Following is our list of pilots quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about airplanes and flying.

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Famous Pilots Quotes

May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and for evermore. — Saint Patrick

Anybody who doesn't have fear is an idiot. It's just that you must make the fear work for you. Hell when somebody shot at me, it made me madder than hell, and all I wanted to do was shoot back. — Robin Olds

The duty of the fighter pilot is to patrol his area of the sky, and shoot down any enemy fighters in that area. Anything else is rubbish. — Manfred von Richthofen

The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot, who steers clearest of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset. — Thomas Jefferson

Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul. - Will Durant

Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul. — Will Durant

I am the astronaut of boxing. Joe Louis and Dempsey were just jet pilots. I'm in a world of my own. — Muhammad Ali

I was a fighter pilot, flying Hurricanes all round the Mediterranean. I flew in the Western Desert of Libya, in Greece, in Syria, in Iraq and in Egypt. — Roald Dahl

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can't I? — Yip Harburg

The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn't it be?--it is the same the angels breathe. — Mark Twain

I use Pilot's document ink, but their drawing ink is OK, too. — Akira Toriyama

Short Pilots Quotes

  • If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible. — Bob Hoover
  • If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off. — Chuck Yeager
  • In a calm sea every man is a pilot. — John Ray
  • In flying, the probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. — Neil Armstrong
  • Flying is hours and hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror. — Pappy Boyington
  • You haven't seen a tree until you've seen its shadow from the sky. — Amelia Earhart
  • The most important thing for a fighter pilot is to get his first victory without too much shock. — Werner Molders
  • Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempest. — Epicurus
  • I've been as a pilot involved in the Gulf War. And then, in the No-Fly Zone — Philippe Perrin
  • A pilot who says he has never been frightened in an airplane is, I'm afraid, lying. — Louise Thaden
Pilots quote The bad news is time flies, the good new is you're the pilot
The bad news is time flies, the good new is you're the pilot

Pilots And Flying Quotes

The most important thing in fighting was shooting, next the various tactics in coming into a fight and last of all flying ability itself. — Billy Bishop

I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets. — Ronald Reagan

The thing is helicopters are different from airplanes An airplane by it's nature wants to fly, and if not interfered with too strongly by unusual events or incompetent piloting, it will fly — Harry Reasoner

I think it is love of that blue vault of sky that becomes your playground if, and only if, you are a fighter pilot. You don't understand it if you fly from A to B in straight and level, and merely climb and descend. You're moving through the basement of that bolt of blue. — Robin Olds

The engine is the heart of an aeroplane, but the pilot is its soul. — Walter Alexander Raleigh

In the space age, man will be able to go around the world in two hours - one hour for flying and one hour to get to the airport. — Neil H. McElroy

The helicopter appeared so reluctant to fly forward that we even considered turning the pilot's seat around and letting it fly backward. — Igor Sikorsky

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

There are two kinds of airplanes - those you fly and those that fly you . . . You must have a distinct understanding at the very start as to who is the boss. — Ernest K. Gann

I think it is a pity to lose the romantic side of flying and simply to accept it as a common means of transport, although that end is what we have all ostensibly been striving to attain. — Amy Johnson

Airplanes And Flying Quotes

If you are in trouble anywhere in the world, an airplane can fly over and drop flowers, but a helicopter can land and save your life. — Igor Sikorsky

Aeronautics was neither an industry nor a science. It was a miracle. - Igor Sikorsky

Aeronautics was neither an industry nor a science. It was a miracle. — Igor Sikorsky

I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit. — Chuck Yeager

Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger. — George W. Bush

Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible. — Eddie Rickenbacker

Unlike the boundaries of the sea by the shorelines, the "ocean of air" laps at the border of every state, city, town and home throughout the world. — L. Welch Pogue

I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The most beautiful dream that has haunted the heart of man since Icarus is today reality. — Louis Bleriot

Because of [Amelia Earhart], we had more women available to fly in the 1940's to help us get through World War II. And because of these women, women of my generation are able to look back and say, 'Hey, they did it. They even flew military airplanes, we can do it, too.' — Eileen Collins

To put your life in danger from time to time... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities. — Nevil Shute

Airline Pilots Quotes

There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror. — Orson Welles

Why does every plane have two pilots? Really, you only need one pilot. Let's take out the second pilot. Let the bloody computer fly it. — Michael O'Leary

If the pilots were in charge, Columbus would still be in port. They believe the assertion that the world is flat. — Robert Crandall

I used to be an airline pilot. I got fired because I kept locking the keys in the plane. They caught me on an 80 foot stepladder with a coat hanger. — Steven Wright

What is that mountain goat doing way up here in the clouds? — Gary Larson

I am equal to a baby and to a hundred year old lady. I am equal to an airline pilot and a car mechanic. I am equal to you. You are equal to me. It's that universal. Except that it's not. — A.S. King

He won't fly on the Balinese airline, Garuda, because he won't fly on any airline where the pilots believe in reincarnation. — Spalding Gray

I've produced more pilots than United Airlines, and they've all been disasters. Every audition I ever took in my life I lost. — Willard Scott

The painting world is awash with people who cannot paint. This is a condition that would not be tolerated in other professions such as Dentistry, Medicine, or among members of the Airline Pilot's Association. — Robert Genn

I never trust the airlines from those countries where the pilots believe in the afterlife. You are safer when they don't. — Muriel Spark

Fighter Pilot Quotes

Fighter pilot is an attitude. It is cockiness. It is aggressiveness. It is self-confidence. It is a streak of rebelliousness, and it is competitiveness. But there's something else - there's a spark. There's a desire to be good. To do well; in the eyes of your peers, and in your own mind. — Robin Olds

Many pilots of the time were the opinion that a fighter pilot in a closed cockpit was an impossible thing, because you should smell the enemy. You could smell them because of the oil they were burning. — Adolf Galland

By interviewing at least one veteran, you can preserve memories that otherwise might be lost. My uncle was a downed fighter pilot and P.O.W. in World War II, and I am looking forward to recording his story for inclusion in the project. — Spencer Bachus

People with conservative temperaments don't become fighter pilots or presidential candidates - they're all that way to some extent. — Tucker Carlson

Before I became a fighter pilot, everyone said that women didn't have the physical strength. Well, I had just completed the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. — Martha McSally

An excellent weapon and luck had been on my side. To be successful, the best fighter pilot needs both. — Adolf Galland

A lot of people think Formula One isn't a sport because everyone drives a car when they go to work in the morning. But we're pulling up to six G on a corner or during breaking, which is almost like being a fighter pilot. So we have to do a lot of work on our neck muscles. — Jenson Button

There are pilots and there are pilots; with the good ones, it is inborn. You can't teach it. If you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks. — Robin Olds

The air battle is not necessarily won at the time of the battle. The winner may have been determined by the amount of time, energy, thought and training an individual has previously accomplished in an effort to increase his ability as a fighter pilot. — Pappy Boyington

Aggressiveness was a fundamental to success in airtoair combat and if you ever caught a fighter pilot in a defensive mood you had him licked before you started shooting. — David McCampbell

People Writing About Pilots

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Read quotes by Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick

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Read quotes by Manfred von Richthofen

Manfred von Richthofen

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Read quotes by Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson
quotes on government, constitution and education

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Read quotes by Will Durant

Will Durant
quotes on history, education and civilization

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Read quotes by Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali
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Read quotes by Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl
quotes on reading books, love and childhood

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More Pilots Quotes

Your good thoughts, good words and good deeds alone will be your intercessors. Nothing more will be wanted. They alone will serve you as a safe pilot to the harbour of Heaven, as a safe guide to the gates of paradise. — Zoroaster

We asked Jane Fonda if she would like to meet American pilots in Hanoi, but she refused, she didn't want to. — Hanoi Hannah

The more automated society gets and the more powerful the attacking AI becomes, the more devastating cyberwarfare can be. If you can hack and crash your enemy’s self-driving cars, auto-piloted planes, nuclear reactors, industrial robots, communication systems, financial systems and power grids, then you can effectively crash his economy and cripple his defenses. If you can hack some of his weapons systems as well, even better. — Max Tegmark

Divas do it, golfers do it, pilots do it, violists do it, sprinters do it, soldiers do it, surgeons do it, astronauts do it...only business people think it isn't necessary to train. — Tom Peters

My goal was to become the first African American woman pilot. Nothing could divert me from that goal. — Bessie Coleman

Lets take flight simulation as an example. If youre trying to train a pilot, you can simulate almost the whole course. You dont have to get in an airplane until late in the process. — Roy Romer

But despite their heroic acts, the Vietnam Veterans of America continued to struggle to establish a combat badge in honor of these brave pilots and medics. — Tim Holden

This is why being a helicopter pilot is so different from being an airplane pilot, and why in generality, airplane pilots are open, clear-eyed, buoyant extroverts, and helicopter pilots are brooding introspective anticipators of trouble. They know if something bad has not happened it is about to. — Harry Reasoner

Like most parents, I've been stumped by homework, the big questions, such as: 'What is the point of geography - the pilot always knows where we are going?'. Answer: 'If you didn't know any geography, people would think you were an American, and you wouldn't be able to put them right because you wouldn't know where they live.' — A. A. Gill

As a military pilot and a test pilot, handling unusual situations and aircraft malfunctions was part of the business. — Fred Haise

I remember when I did the pilot, and I though no network is going to want to do this. How could that happen? A half Chinese guy walking the old west that doesn't fire one gun and never gets on a horse? — David Carradine

We've always dreamt of doing TV and movies and we shot two pilots for TV networks, but neither one went to series. — James Murray

The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. — Epictetus

I hadn't worked for a year when I had my Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. I got the script on Friday, went to the audition on Monday and got the part on Tuesday. I was shooting the pilot a week later. I didn't have time to be nervous - it happened so quickly. — Wentworth Miller

Adolf Galland said that the day we took our fighters off the bombers and put them against the German fighters, that is, went from defensive to offsensive, Germany lost the air war. I made that decision and it was my most important decision during World War II. As you can imagine, the bomber crews were upset. The fighter pilots were ecstatic. — Jimmy Doolittle

In Conclusion

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