With the stick in my right hand, the throttle in my left, and the rudder beneath my feet, I can savor that essence from which life is made.

A little mountain will kill you just as dead as a big one if you fly into it.

It's the most exciting thing you have ever done with your pants on!

Flying is like sex - I've never had all I wanted but occasionally I've had all I could stand.

This thing we call luck is merely professionalism and attention to detail, it's your awareness of everything that is going on around you, it's how well you know and understand your airplane and your own limitations. Luck is the sum total of your of abilities as an aviator. If you think your luck is running low, you'd better get busy and make some more. Work harder. Pay more attention. Do better preflights.

Flight is romance - not in the sense of sexual attraction, but as an experience that enriches life.

The most crucial thing is to learn the craft: how to string sentences together, how to make your dialogue sound like real people, how to properly pace a story, how to develop interesting characters.