Super-ambitious goals tend to be unifying and energizing to people; but only if they believe there's a chance of success.

I ended up realizing that NASA was unlikely to get me into space, or get me to the moon or beyond, and I needed some other way to drive this.

What opened up the American West was the fact that you owned the real estate. You owned the gold mines, the oil wells. The creation of these, back then, million dollar industries drove the railroads and eventually the airlines to provide this kind of transportation.

Every generation feels it has the problems that will destroy it. That's because we can perceive them a long time before we have the ability to fix them.

I became very much, if I have to describe myself, I'm sort of a Libertarian Capitalist, and I was looking for, what's the economic engine that's going to drive us into space?

You should command and demand the tenfold leverage on your dollars when you give it away as well.

The idea of a young thin woman who weighs 100 pounds driving herself around in a 4,000 pound SUV is laughable.