Yeager Quotes & Sayings

It is. You need to understand, the people in this room make decisions that affect trillions of people every day. They are captains of industry and leaders of worlds. They need to be sharp, alert, relaxed, and focused, or everyone suffers. So, all of this opulence you turn your nose at, serves a very real purpose. Keeping the elite happy benefits everyone. In a very real sense, it is for the common good. — Aaron Lee Yeager

I ran the astronaut school for six years, and I was the commandant and when I finished in '65, 26 of my guys went into space as NASA astronauts that I trained. — Chuck Yeager

why do you love him?
Her face softened. Because in a world that cares nothing for orphans like me, he cares- Cha'Rolette
Ilrica fidgeted uncomfortably, but then opened up. "Because in a world full of betrayal, he is loyal
Zurra wiped a tear from her eye. "Because in a world that punishes mistakes, he forgives
Trahzi placed her hand over her heart. "Because in a world that is cruel to weak things, he protects them."
Kalia looked at her hands and smiled. "Because in a world that pronounces judgment, he offers mercy."
Lyssandra blushed and gave a timid little smile. "Because in a world full of apathy, he dares to act. — Aaron Lee Yeager

o have good intentions is irrelevant and misleading. All evil that has ever been done in the universe was done with good intentions. You must measure effect, impact, and consequence, not intentions. - Holy Scrolls of Soeck, Thirteenth Binding Fifteenth Stanza — Aaron Lee Yeager

Unfortunately, many people do not consider fun an important item on their daily agenda. For me, that was always a high priority in whatever I was doing. — Chuck Yeager

Although Artificial Intelligence has been successfully developed several thousand times over the course of known history, each time it was abandoned almost immediately, because it was utter crap. Tools are useful precisely because they are not intelligent. A toaster is useful because it makes toast every time it is asked to. When you develop a toaster that questions its own existence and isn't in the mood to make toast this morning, all you have created is a less-useful toaster. — Aaron Lee Yeager

If you're looking for something more in life, you're likely to find it in something less. — Jeff Yeager

Whether you're talking about the Egyptian pharaohs or Hollywood movie stars it all ends the same way. DEATH — Neal A. Yeager

While there exist many cultures and sub-cultures on Earth, they all can be understood by a simple equation. The males will do whatever it takes to acquire physical intimacy from the females. In cultures where the females require education, career, and a house, the men work to acquire those things. In cultures where the women require bravado, pride, and a propensity for violence, the men acquire those traits. And in cultures where the females require nothing, the men do that, too. The fact that many females give away sex for free then wonder why the men in their lives do not show more ambition has been submitted as evidence in Alliance court that humans lack sufficient intelligence to be considered sentient. — Aaron Lee Yeager

The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best. — Chuck Yeager

Leveling off at 42,000 feet, I had thirty percent of my fuel, so I turned on rocket chamber three and immediately reached .96 Mach. I noticed that the faster I got, the smoother the ride. Suddenly the Mach needle began to fluctuate. It went up to .965 Mach - then tipped right off the scale ... We were flying supersonic. And it was a smooth as a baby's bottom; Grandma could be sitting up there sipping lemonade. — Chuck Yeager

Most people who idealize strength are ignorant of how it is acquired. Someone who is in constant agony does not notice a prick of the finger. Profound suffering sets a higher threshold, allowing one to bear with ease that which would have been burdensome before. If you wish to be strong, know first that this is the path of it. -The Holy Scrolls of Soeck, Seventh Binding, Thirteenth Stanza — Aaron Lee Yeager

There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot. — Chuck Yeager

Hey Ridley, that Machometer is acting screwy. It just went off the scale on me. — Chuck Yeager

Everybody that I've ever seen that enjoyed their job was very good at it. — Chuck Yeager

I love my haters, they rage and rage and all they do is spreading my word. — James Yeager

I have flown in just about everything, with all kinds of pilots in all parts of the world - British, French, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese - and there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between any of them except for one unchanging, certain fact: the best, most skillful pilot has the most experience. — Chuck Yeager

I was just confident my work was good. — Bunny Yeager

The gilding holds the eye just long enough to let God enter the soul. The two-dimensional image does not require interpretation, and therefore doesn't stand between you and God the way it does in three-dimensional western art. — Robert C. Yeager

Your responsibility to be ready for the fight, never ends. — James Yeager

It's really difficult for fanatic churchgoers to understand God can't help me. I'm the only one who can help me. — Chuck Yeager

If you want to grow old as a pilot, you've got to know when to push it, and when to back off. — Chuck Yeager

There is no such thing as too much lace on your underwear," Zurra explained. "Do you know who said that? George Washington. — Aaron Lee Yeager

I don't think about life everlasting. If something doesn't have scientific evidence to back it up, I don't believe it. I'm a straight shooter. — Chuck Yeager

She was the best model because she not only had perfect facial features, but a great body and wasn't ashamed to show it. It was impossible to take a bad photo of her. Bettie Page was always ready for the camera's eye. — Bunny Yeager

It wasn't that the X-1 would kill you, it was the systems in the X-1 that would kill you. — Chuck Yeager

I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit. — Chuck Yeager

I am tired, so very tired of thinking about Lacey Yeager, yet I worry that unless I write her story down, and see it bound and tidy on my bookshelf, I will be unable to ever write about anything else. — Steve Martin

They all wanted to model for me because they knew I wouldn't take advantage of them. — Bunny Yeager

Cheapskates ... are too self-confident - and frankly too smart - to spend money on things they don't need and probably don't even want, simply to impress others or just because they can. — Jeff Yeager

As we went through mach one, the nose started dropping, so we just cranked that horizontal stabilizer down to keep the nose up. We got it above mach one, and once we got it above the speed of sound, then you have supersonic flow over the whole airplane, so you have no more shock waves on it that are causing buffeting ... You really don't think about the outcome of any kind of a flight, whether it's combat, or any other kinds of flights, because you really have no control over it ... — Chuck Yeager

You concentrate on what you are doing, to do the best job you can, to stay out of serious situations. And that's the way the X-1 was. — Chuck Yeager

All that I am ... I owe to the Air Force. — Chuck Yeager

All of me, none of God. Less of me, more of God. None of me, all of God. — Michael H. Yeager

You don't concentrate on risks. You concentrate on results. No risk is too great to prevent the necessary job from getting done. — Chuck Yeager

There is no kind of ultimate goal to do something twice as good as anyone else can. It's just to do the job as best you can. If it turns out good, fine. If it doesn't, that's the way it goes. — Chuck Yeager

Make the most of what you have and enjoy being female; enjoy being YOU. — Bunny Yeager

In 1966, NASA took over in space, and it has been a bureaucratic mess ever since. — Chuck Yeager

Want to control a people? Teach them to think of themselves as victims. Tell them they have an enemy, and that enemy is responsible for all their woes. It doesn't have to be a real enemy; it doesn't even have to make sense. Just tell it to them often enough, and they will come to believe it. Once they do, you can rob them of their money, time, and freedom, so long as you keep their eyes fixed on the 'enemy' you have created for them. — Aaron Lee Yeager

Well ... things are beginning to stack up a little," said Gordo. It was the same old sod-hut drawl. He sounded like the airline pilot who, having just slipped two seemingly certain mid-air collisions and finding himself in the midst of a radar fuse-out and control-tower dysarthria, says over the intercom: "Well, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be busy up here in the cockpit making our final approach into Pittsburgh, and so we want to take this opportunity to thank you for flying American and we hope we'll see you again real soon." It was second-generation Yeager, now coming from earth orbit. Cooper was having a good time. He knew everybody was in a sweat down below. But this was what he and the boys had wanted all along, wasn't it? — Tom Wolfe

At 42,000' in approximately level flight, a third cylinder was turned on. Acceleration was rapid and speed increased to .98 Mach. The needle of the machmeter fluctuated at this reading momentarily, then passed off the scale. Assuming that the off-scale reading remained linear, it is estimated that 1.05 Mach was attained at this time. — Chuck Yeager

When I was picked to fly the X-1, it was my duty to fly it, and I did. — Chuck Yeager

The one word you use in military flying is duty. It's your duty. You have no control over outcome, no control over pick-and-choose. It's duty. — Chuck Yeager

Forgetting everything else, the journey, the compound, escape, the dying man, the many troubles he left behind, the new troubles ahead, his mind wiped itself clean of thought, and the nerves of his body screamed out for input. He was now the predator, and they were his prey. — Steve R. Yeager

Do you wish to be accepted for who you are? Do you wish to be loved without condition? Do you wish for people to welcome you, in spite of your flaws, in spite of your shortcomings, in spite of your mistakes? Then why do you insist on changing others? -Evening Prayer from the Holy Scrolls of Soeck, Eleventh Binding Third Stanza — Aaron Lee Yeager

Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own. — Chuck Yeager

That's what I said the first time I was called a hero. But you're going to find that hero is a title other people give you; you don't really get a say in the matter. Now me, I'm the kind of hero that slays the dragon. I overthrew the ArchTyrant and ended the age of Ragnarok..." he trailed off, his eyes distant. "...of course, ever since then I have been unable to reform the beauracrats and the nobles. Despite my best efforts, they beat me in the end." He cleared his throat and looked up. "Now you, on the other hand, you are a different kind of hero. You take the dragon home with you. You feed it, teach it, tame it, befriend it. You remove the threat by changing its heart, rather than actually slaying the beast — Aaron Lee Yeager

So," the Emperor said, slapping his knee. "The Spy, the Mafiosa, the Traitor, the Demon, the Assassin, and the Pirate. That's quite the harem you've got there." "They are those things, your Highness. I won't deny it. But they are not those things to me." The Emperor stroked his beard. "Really? What are they to you?" Gerald's expression became tender. "Ilrica is my hero, Cha'Rolette is my angel, Zurra is my true friend, Trahzi is my gentle goddess, Kalia is my protector, and Lyssandra is my champion. — Aaron Lee Yeager

The first time I ever saw a jet, I shot it down. — Chuck Yeager

What good does it do to be afraid? It doesn't help anything. You better try and figure out what's happening and correct it. — Chuck Yeager

Victor spread his hands and beamed. "There's a truckload of supplies sitting on a dock in Madera. We got food, medicine, and machines ready to roll. All we need is a pigheaded truck driver with giant cojones and no brains to ram the stuff past the blockade and save the day." The pilot leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Naturally, I thought of Abel Yeager. — Scott Bell

Just before you break through the sound barrier, the cockpit shakes the most. — Chuck Yeager

That to me is a bunch of crap trying to shoot guys up into damned space. What they're going to do is they're going to wipe out half a dozen people one of these days, and that will be the end of it. — Chuck Yeager

I want to show off how beautiful my subjects are, whether its a cheetah or a live girl or two of them together. — Bunny Yeager

At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results. — Chuck Yeager

Bettie Page was number one. I have never known another model who had better knowledge of her body or how to work with it to make it look so good. Her skin was perfect, no blemishes. Perfect nose, beautiful straight teeth, and gleaming, shiny black hair that was always in place, always. — Bunny Yeager

He'd had his own book published, Across the High Frontier - the one years before The Right Stuff or Yeager! - so he wasn't shy when it came to publicity. — Donald K. Slayton

Later, I realized that the mission had to end in a let-down because the real barrier wasn't in the sky but in our knowledge and experience of supersonic flight. — Chuck Yeager

Never wait for trouble. — Chuck Yeager

If you don't read my book, I'm not coming to your birthday party. — Tim Yeager

I've seen the film. And I'll tell you this, I'm glad Chuck Yeager isn't running for President. — Walter F. Mondale

When you start photographing yourself, you are going to be amazed at all the things you find out about yourself, and you'll be glad you did. — Bunny Yeager

One of the most curious aspects of human psychology is an omnipresent and persistent habit to seek information from the worst possible sources. When seeking relationship advice, humans speak to their single friends instead of happy couples who have been married for decades. When researching a religion, humans ask ex-members instead of faithful members. When seeking financial advice, humans ask scholars instead of successful entrepreneurs. When discussing complex sociopolitical matters, humans solicit the opinions of actors and models. Anteedan Psychologists have dubbed this curious phenomenon the "Oprah Effect," and had planned on determining the cause, however research ceased after a financial scandal involving the team lead stealing money from the grant and eloping with an exotic dancer named Cinnamon. -A Tourists Guide to Earth, 2nd edition, page 184, Valium Press — Aaron Lee Yeager

Most pilots learn, when they pin on their wings and go out and get in a fighter, especially, that one thing you don't do, you don't believe anything anybody tells you about an airplane. — Chuck Yeager

If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing. — Chuck Yeager

I have no regrets about my life. People ask, "If you had to do it all over again, would you do it differently?" No. That's speculation. — Chuck Yeager

Though some will try to deny it, I believe that every woman, at some time in her life, has had or will have the desire to pose nude. — Bunny Yeager

The secret of my success is that I always managed to live to fly another day. — Chuck Yeager

I miss Bettie Page. I've been missing her since the last time I photographed her in 1954. — Bunny Yeager

When a tragedy occurs, do not say that your thoughts are with the victims. People do not need thoughts, they need blankets, they need food, they need water, they need shelter. They need a shoulder to cry on and a hand to hold. All the cumulative thoughts from every sentient being that has ever existed is worth less than a single glass of water given to a thirsty person. - Holy Scrolls of Soeck, Eighteenth Binding, Fourteenth Stanza — Aaron Lee Yeager

After about 30 minutes I puked all over my airplane. I said to my self, "Man, you made a big mistake." — Chuck Yeager

You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can't, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don't give up. — Chuck Yeager