Top 98 Quotes & Sayings by Neil Armstrong

As a boy, because I was born and raised in Ohio, about 60 miles north of Dayton, the legends of the Wrights have been in my memories as long as I can remember.

Science has not yet mastered prophecy. We predict too much for the next year and yet far too little for the next 10.

Well, I think we tried very hard not to be overconfident, because when you get overconfident, that's when something snaps up and bites you.

I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul... we're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream.

Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.

Gliders, sail planes, they're wonderful flying machines. It's the closest you can come to being a bird.

I'm substantially concerned about the policy directions of the space agency. We have a situation in the U.S. where the White House and Congress are at odds over what the future direction should be. They're sort of playing a game and NASA is the shuttlecock that they're hitting back and forth.

I thought the attractions of being an astronaut were actually, not so much the Moon, but flying in a completely new medium.

People love conspiracy theories.

Research is creating new knowledge.

I fully expected that, by the end of the century, we would have achieved substantially more than we actually did.

I can honestly say - and it's a big surprise to me - that I have never had a dream about being on the moon.

It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.

The one thing I regret was that my work required an enormous amount of my time, and a lot of travel.

I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer.

I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine.

Yeah, I wasn't chosen to be first. I was just chosen to command that flight. Circumstance put me in that particular role. That wasn't planned by anyone.

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand.

Geologists have a saying - rocks remember.

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

We had hundreds of thousands of people all dedicated to doing the perfect job, and I think they did about as well as anyone could ever have expected.

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

NASA has been one of the most successful public investments in motivating students to do well and achieve all they can achieve. It's sad that we are turning the programme in a direction where it will reduce the amount of motivation and stimulation it provides to young people.

All in all, for someone who was immersed in, fascinated by, and dedicated to flight, I was disappointed by the wrinkle in history that had brought me along one generation late. I had missed all the great times and adventures in flight.

Pilots take no special joy in walking. Pilots like flying.

I put up my thumb and it blotted out the planet Earth.

In much of society, research means to investigate something you do not know or understand.

If that's there, I believe that technology will probably step up to their part of it.

I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks, but for the ledger of our daily work.

The important achievement of Apollo was demonstrating that humanity is not forever chained to this planet and our visions go rather further than that and our opportunities are unlimited.

It's a brilliant surface in that sunlight. The horizon seems quite close to you because the curvature is so much more pronounced than here on earth. It's an interesting place to be. I recommend it.

I was elated, ecstatic and extremely surprised that we were successful.

Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.

The Eagle has landed.

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.

The single thing which makes any man happiest is the realization that he has worked up to the limits of his ability, his capacity. It's all the better, of course, if this work has made a contribution to knowledge, or toward moving the human race a little farther forward.

Society’s future will depend on a continuous improvement program for the human character. And what will that future bring? I do not know, but it will be exciting.

It's a great thing for a man to walk on the moon. But it's a greater thing for God to walk on the earth.

Opportunities will be available to you that you cannot imagine.

If you don't know who you are, a university is an expensive place to find out.

Through books you will meet poets and novelists whose creations will fire your imagination. You will meet the great thinkers who will share with you their philosophies, their concepts of the world, of humanity and of creation. You will learn about events that have shaped our history, of deeds both noble and ignoble. All of this knowledge is yours for the taking… Your library is a storehouse for mind and spirit. Use it well.

I hope you become comfortable with the use of logic without being deceived into concluding that logic will inevitably lead you to the correct conclusion.

A picture does a great job, but it's not nearly like being there.

The single observation I would offer for your consideration is that some things are beyond your control. You can lose your health to illness or accident. You can lose your wealth to all manner of unpredictable sources. What are not easily stolen from you without your cooperation are your principles and your values. They are your most important possessions and, if carefully selected and nurtured, will well serve you and your fellow man.

There are places to go beyond belief.

Shoot for the stars but if you happen to miss shoot for the moon instead.

I guess we all like to be recognized not for one piece of fireworks but for the ledger of our daily work.

The exciting part for me, as a pilot, was the landing on the moon. That was the time that we had achieved the national goal of putting Americans on the moon. The landing approach was, by far, the most difficult and challenging part of the flight. Walking on the lunar surface was very interesting, but it was something we looked on as reasonably safe and predictable. So the feeling of elation accompanied the landing rather than the walking.

I believe that the message of Apollo XI was that in the spirit of Apollo, a free and open spirit, you can attack a very difficult goal and achieve it, if you can all agree and work together to achieve that goal.

Pilots take no special joy in walking: pilots like flying.

Fear is not an unknown emotion to us.

Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed I would do something important in aviation.

You've got to expect things are going to go wrong. And we always need to prepare ourselves for handling the unexpected.

Good luck, Mr. Gorsky!

Man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny.

In flying, the probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival.

We have no proof, But if we extrapolate, based on the best information we have available to us, we have to come to the conclusion that ... other life probably exists out there and perhaps in many places.

This is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

It never hurts to have friends around, so that's why you'd form a crew.

Damn I really did it. I blew the first words on the moon, didn't I?