James R. Hansen > Quotes

“quoted his commencement address at Ohio State University in June 1971: “My enthusiasm for the future of space travel, I think you’ll grant is understandable. To stand on the surface of the Moon and look at the Earth high overhead leaves an impression not easily forgotten. Although our blue planet is very beautiful, it is very remote and apparently very small. You might suspect in such a situation, the observer might dismiss the Earth as relatively unimportant. “However, exactly the opposite conclusion has been reached by each of the individuals who has had the opportunity to share that view. We have all been struck by the similarity to an oasis or island. More importantly, it is the only island that we know is a suitable home for man.”
― James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

“No member of the human race stepping out onto another heavenly body could possibly have represented the best of humanity more than Neil Armstrong did.”
― James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong

“Even the greatest American is an immigrant or has descended from immigrants. —VIOLA ENGEL ARMSTRONG America means opportunity. It started that way. The early settlers came to the new world for the opportunity to worship in keeping with their conscience, and to build a future on the strength of their own initiative and hard work. . . . They discovered a new life with freedom to achieve their individual goals. —NEIL A. ARMSTRONG, “WHAT AMERICA MEANS TO ME,” THE READER’S DIGEST, APRIL 1975”
― James R. Hansen, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong