WIST Quotations

Armstrong, Neil -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:14:39 +0000

Pilots take no special joy in walking: pilots like flying. Pilots generally take pride in a good landing, not in getting out of the vehicle.

Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
(Attributed)

On walking on the moon. In F. French, C. Burgess, In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)

Armstrong, Neil -- (Spurious)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine running around doing exercises.

Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
(Spurious)

Armstrong says that he did not originate this, but repeated it as something he had heard in order to disagree with it.

Armstrong, Neil -- Words after first stepping onto the Moon (20 Jul 1969)

Dave — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:53:07 +0000

That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.

Neil Armstrong (1930–2012) American astronaut, aviator, educator
Words after first stepping onto the Moon (20 Jul 1969)

The sound recording does not seem to have the "a" before man. Armstrong long insisted that he said it but it was lost in transmission; his preference has been for the "a" to be included in parentheses. Computer analysis of the recordings have yielded contradictory conclusions as to whether he said it.