Jim Lovell Quotes & Sayings

I would suspect strongly that over a period of time, if we put our mind to going to Mars, it will be a consortium of several countries. — Jim Lovell

It looks to me, looking out the hatch, that we are venting something. We are venting something into the-into the space. — Jim Lovell

From now on we live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It's not a miracle; we just decided to go. — Jim Lovell

For most of the time carrier aviation is more challenging than flying in a spacecraft — Jim Lovell

The moon is essentially gray, no color; looks like plaster of Paris or sort of a grayish beach sand. — Jim Lovell

I never thought I didn't have a card to play. — Jim Lovell

Well, Frank, my thoughts are very similar. The vast loneliness up here at the moon is awe-inspiring, and it makes you realize what you have back there on earth. The earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space. — Jim Lovell

We learned a lot about the Moon, but what we really learned was about the Earth. The fact that just from the distance of the Moon you can put your thumb up and you can hide the Earth behind your thumb. Everything that you've ever known, your loved ones, your business, the problems of the Earth itself-all behind your thumb. And how insignificant we really all are, but then how fortunate we are to have this body and to be able to enjoy loving here amongst the beauty of the Earth itself. — Jim Lovell

The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth. — Jim Lovell

I was only a hero by default. The flights were few and far between. There weren't that many astronauts. The moon flights were so interesting and exciting. — Jim Lovell

I take the NASA physical every year. — Jim Lovell

The lunar flights give you a correct perception of our existence. You look back at Earth from the moon, and you can put your thumb up to the window and hide the Earth behind your thumb. Everything you've ever known is behind your thumb, and that blue-and-white ball is orbiting a rather normal star, tucked away on the outer edge of a galaxy. — Jim Lovell

We do not realize what we have on Earth until we leave it. — Jim Lovell

Be thankful for problems. If they were less difficult, someone with less ability might have your job. — Jim Lovell

I didn't go into the NASA program to pick up rocks or to go the moon or anything else. I went in there because I was a military officer, and that was the next notch in my profession. — Jim Lovell

When I circled the moon and looked back at Earth, my outlook on life and my viewpoint of Earth changed ... Earth is a spaceship, just like Apollo - and just like Apollo, the crew must learn to live and work together. We must learn to manage the resources of this world with new imagination. — Jim Lovell

Boys like either dinosaurs or airplanes. I was very much an airplane boy. — Jim Lovell

Houston, we've had a problem here — Jim Lovell

There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened. To be successful, you need to be a person who makes things happen. — Jim Lovell

Please be informed, there is a Santa Claus. — Jim Lovell

The fascination to go into space has existed for hundreds of years. But as we do things and they're successful, people get bored. — Jim Lovell

The real friends of the space voyager are the stars. Their friendly, familiar patterns are constant companions, unchanging, out there. — Jim Lovell