I pick the prettiest part of the sky and I melt into the wing and then into the air, till I’m just soul on a sunbeam.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
They quarrel about an egg and let the hen fly.
—German Proverb
Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you’re aboard, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t stop the plane, you can’t stop the storm, you can’t stop time. So one might as well accept it calmly, wisely.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
When a heart is on fire, sparks always fly out of the mouth.
—Common Proverb
Flying might not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price.
—Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American Aviator
Don’t try to fly before you have wings.
—French Proverb
Whenever we safely land in a plane, we promise God a little something.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
The desire to reach for the sky runs deep in our human psyche.
—Cesar Pelli (1926–2019) Argentinean-born American Architect
Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that; so it goes on flying anyway.
—Mary Kay Ash (1918–2001) American Entrepreneur, Businessperson
Man is flying too fast for a world that is round. Soon he will catch up with himself in a great rear end collision.
—James Thurber
Even an eagle will not fly higher than the sun.
—Russian Proverb
Flight is the only truly new sensation than men have achieved in modern history.
—James Dickey (1923–97) American Poet, Writer
You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky.
—Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American Aviator
Any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
—Common Proverb
Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
To fall is not painful for those who fly low.
—Chinese Proverb
Falling hurts least those who fly low.
—Chinese Proverb
Flying birds have no master.
—French Proverb
Flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
—Douglas Adams (1952–2001) English Novelist, Scriptwriter
No need to teach an eagle to fly.
—Greek Proverb
No matter how high a bird can fly, it still has to look for food on the ground.
—Danish Proverb
I wish I could write well enough to write about aircraft. Faulkner did it very well in Pylon but you cannot do something someone else has done though you might have done it if they hadn’t.
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) American Author, Journalist, Short Story Writer
Before you can learn to fly, you must first learn to walk. You cannot fly into flying.
—Unknown
Of all the inventions that have helped to unify China perhaps the airplane is the most outstanding. Its ability to annihilate distance has been in direct proportion to its achievements in assisting to annihilate suspicion and misunderstanding among provincial officials far removed from one another or from the officials at the seat of government.
—Soong Mei-ling (1898–2003) First Lady of the Republic of China
Birds of a color fly to the same place.
—Welsh Proverb
I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
The engine is the heart of an airplane, but the pilot is its soul.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet