I have seen the science I worshiped, and the aircraft I loved, destroying the civilization I expected them to serve.

This is earth again, the earth where I've lived and now will live once more ... I've been to eternity and back. I know how the dead would feel to live again.

What freedom lies in flying, what Godlike power it gives to men . . . I lose all consciousness in this strong unmortal space crowded with beauty, pierced with danger.

Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values. God made life simple. It is man who complicates it.

From now on, depressions will be scientifically created.

Alone? Is he alone at whose right side rides Courage, with Skill within the cockpit and faith upon the left? Does solitude surround the brave when Adventure leads the way and Ambition reads the dials? Is there no company with him, for whom the air is cleft by Daring and the darkness made light by Emprise?

Without death there would be no awareness of life, and the recurring selection and renewal that has caused life's progress would be ended.