“The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.” — Thomas Paine, American Founding Father
“A skeptic will question claims, then embrace the evidence. A denier will question claims, then reject the evidence.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist
“First rule of flight control: If you don't know what to do, don't do anything!” — Gene Kranz, NASA flight controller
“People are rarely grateful for a demonstration of their credulity.” — Carl Sagan, astrophysicist
“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” — Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist (Similar sentiments have been expressed by Socrates and John Lennon.)
“It is better to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow.” — Dick Mann, professional motorcycle racer
“In racing, the announced reason for a failure is rarely the actual cause.” — Neil Spalding, motorcycle journalist
“One bad step and I would keep going right on down the mountain, but risk now and then is good for a man. Makes him come alive and tunes his body to a higher efficiency.” — Dick Proenneke, American self-educated naturalist
“The price of man in motion is the occasional collision. Motor racing is dangerous. In order to be competitive in this business it is necessary for both man and machine to operate at the outer edges of their respective performance envelopes. The closer we come to the edge, the greater the risk of falling off.” — Carroll Smith, engineer and author
“A bad day at the races is coming home with two smashed bikes in the truck, and two coffins.” — Umberto Todero, engineer at Moto Guzzi
“…until you can put numbers on your problem, you are not yet at the beginnings of a science….” — Gordon P. Blair, Irish professor and author
“Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.” — William Edwards Deming, business theorist
“Errors using inadequate data are much less than those using no data at all.” — Charles Babbage, English polymath
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” — Sir Isaac Newton, English polymath
“The only valid market survey is a signed purchase order.” — Jay Last, Silicon Valley “founder”
“The world divides into two categories of people. There are the bright and lazy, and the dull and diligent. I happen to be bright and diligent.” — Keith Duckworth, Formula 1 engineering legend
“Only perfection is good enough.” — Sir Henry Royce, Rolls-Royce Limited cofounder
“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” — Voltaire, prolific French writer
“Work like a slave; command like a king; create like a god.” — Constantin Brâncuși, Romanian sculptor, painter and photographer
“When the pressure is on, you don't rise to the occasion – you fall to your highest level of preparation.” — Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator
“An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and who manages to avoid them.” — Werner Heisenberg, German theoretical physicist
“I never lose. I either win or learn.” — Nelson Mandela, South African president
“First rate men hire first-rate men. Second rate men hire third rate men. These third rate men will then employ the bulk of your company's employees, and they tend to hire fourth rate men.” — Richard M. White, writing in The Entrepreneur's Manual
“If you see something funny, Record Amount of Funny.” — Bob Pease, National Semiconductor staff scientist and author (Recalling something a former supervisor used to tell technicians.)
“First you guess. Don't laugh, this is the most important step. Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn't matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, it's wrong. That's all there is to it.” — Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist
“The engineer should think less of him- or herself as a servant of corporations and government and more as a technical expert who can aid in policymaking, and mold public opinion. Indeed, the engineer's privileged education implies an ethical obligation to do so. As experts, they can no longer afford to keep to themselves, at the edge of the campus.” — Zellman Warhaft writing in An Introduction to Thermal-Fluid Engineering
“A child of five could understand this. Fetch me a child of five.” — Groucho Marx, American comedian