Failure is Not an Option Quotes

“The tools we used in Mercury were primitive, but the dedication of highly trained people offset the limitations of the equipment available to us in these early days and kept the very real risks under control. But at a price; this was high-sweat, high-risk activity, demanding a degree of coordination between the ground and the capsule exceeding what I had experienced even in the testing of experimental aircraft.”

“learning by doing was the only way a controller could ever become smart enough to succeed in the tough and unforgiving environment of spaceflight operations.”

“Three decades ago, in a top story of the century, Americans placed six flags on the Moon. Today we no longer try for new and bold space achievements; instead we celebrate the anniversaries of the past.”

“It isn’t equipment that wins the battles; it is the quality and the determination of the people fighting for a cause in which they believe.”

“Tears were coursing down the faces of Kennedy’s moonstruck recruits. John Kennedy had inspired us with his vision. One by one, we left work to grieve in private. The flag was at half-staff in our hearts.”

“There is no such thing as good enough. You, your team, and your equipment must be the best. That is how you will win victories.”

“From its earliest days, NASA had followed a policy of maximum, though prudent, disclosure. We had to do everything openly—and soon under intensive, live TV coverage.”

“High-risk leadership beckons many, but few accept the call.”

“Always hire people who are smarter and better than you are and learn with them.”

“Probability said that someday we would run out of luck.”

“Entering the twenty-first century, we have an unimaginable array of technology and a generation of young Americans schooled in these technologies. With our powerful economy, we can do anything we set our mind to do. Yet we stand with our feet firmly planted on the ground when we could be exploring the universe.”

“Apollo succeeded at critical moments like this because the bosses had no hesitation about assigning crucial tasks to one individual, trusting his judgment, and then getting out of his way.”

“We fought and won the race in space and listened to the cries of the Apollo 1 crew. With great resolve and personal anger, we picked up the pieces, pounded them together, and went on the attack again. We were the ones in the trenches of space and with only the tools of leadership, trust, and teamwork, we contained the risks and made the conquest of space possible.”

“Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect.”

“If you ask enough people, you’ll find someone who will disagree with the majority and give those nervous about risk a way out.”

“Although our technical backgrounds were very different, we were both emotional about our work, perpetually optimistic, and gave our people unconditional support.”

“My controllers, average age now twenty-seven, were asking themselves, ‘What do you do after you have been to the Moon?’ They had come to us at the beginning of Apollo, in their early twenties. Now, with NASA limiting the program to only three more missions, they were taking it the hardest. Mission Control was their portal to the stars; they believed we had taken only that first ‘giant step for mankind’ and could not understand why we were not taking the next leap forward. I knew how they felt.”

“Leadership is fragile. It is more a matter of mind and heart than resources, and it seemed that we no longer had the heart for those things that demanded discipline, commitment, and risk.”

“While we often moved to different cadences, our nation was alive with ideals. We were in motion. Violence was everywhere but so was a conviction that we must somehow make this a better world.”

“When the Avro Arrow, the world’s top performing interceptor aircraft, was canceled by the Canadian government, the engineers came south to the United States and into the Space Task Group, providing much of the instant maturity and leadership needed for Mercury.”