I always see what’s... wrong. Would you want that? When I see a car or a rocket or spacecraft, I only see what’s wrong. I never see what’s right. It’s not a recipe for happiness.

Physics is a good framework for thinking. ... Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.

I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.

I was born in Africa. I came to California because it's really where new technologies can be brought to fruition, and I don't see a viable competitor.

I tend to approach things from a physics framework. And physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy.

If something's important enough, you should try. Even if you - the probable outcome is failure.

You could warm Mars up, over time, with greenhouse gases.