The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel.

The most important thing we can do is inspire young minds and to advance the kind of science, math and technology education that will help youngsters take us to the next phase of space travel.

I don't know what you could say about a day in which you have seen four beautiful sunsets.

There is still no cure for the common birthday.

This is a day we have managed to avoid for a quarter of a century.

An end of something means the beginning of something else, and I don't think that something else is going to be the death of the manned space program.

Any administration foolish enough to call ketchup a vegetable cannot be expected to cut the mustard.

As far as trying to analyze all the attention I received, I will leave that to others.

Fear connotes something that interferes with what you're doing.

I pray every day and think everybody should.

I say let's not gamble with American jobs and America's future.

I spent 23 years in the military. I think I'm in a good position to make those judgments on what is necessary in the military and what is not necessary, without buying a lot of things that would not really add to our security.

I was hooked on aviation, made model airplanes, and never thought I would be able to fly myself. It cost too much. But then World War II came along and changed all that.

I'm not interested in my legacy. I made up a word: 'live-acy.' I'm more interested in living.

I've seen John Wayne's 'True Grit' about 10 times.

It has been my observation that the happiest of people, the vibrant doers of the world, are almost always those who are using - who are putting into play, calling upon, depending upon-the greatest number of their God-given talents and capabilities.

One of the first things I learned in the Marine Corps is that any military mission has to be defined as precisely as you can possibly define it, and then you size the force and equipment force to accomplish that mission without fail.

Quite often, while I'm getting up in the morning, I think my warranty is running out on these body parts because it's not working quite the way it used to.

The Discovery was the most intricate, complex machine man has ever built. It's a testament to our time.

The space station is the most unique laboratory we've ever built. The reason we have it is to do research on materials, people, medical matters, pharmaceuticals - the possibilities are nearly endless.

To me, we have never really exploited our ability in low-Earth orbit.

We had 83 different space research projects on my last space flight in '98, and they covered the whole gamut.

We're not up there in space just to joyride around. We're up there to do things that are of value to everybody right here on Earth.

When the new becomes commonplace, people become accustomed to it. That's a tribute to our sense of adventure.

You can always say that it was scarce dollars when Lewis and Clark wanted to go to the West Coast and explore the West. And people complained about it, I understand, from a reading of the history books.

You can't relive your life.

You should run your life not by the calendar but how you feel, and what you're interests are and ambitions.

Too many people when they get old think that they have to live by the calendar.

Exploration of course is going to new places but I dont think we go to new places just solely to say well weve been there and come back interesting though it may be. To me each time we go farther into space we should use that to do basic research basic research that cant be done before you go there.

I was sold on flying as soon as I had a taste for it.

For all the advances in medicine there is still no cure for the common birthday.

Too many people, when they get old, think that they have to live by the calendar.

As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind: Every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.

The moment of twilight is simply beautiful.

Education is the cornerstone of our communities and our country.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

I feel that education needs an overhaul - courses are obsolete and grades are on the way out.

Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college.

Only time, education and plenty of good schooling will make anti-segregation work.

The education of my brother and myself was of paramount importance to my parents, and in addition to their strong encouragement, they were prepared to make any sacrifice to further our intellectual development.

We have a responsibility to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from prekindergarten to elementary and secondary, to special education, to technical and higher education and beyond.

Yesterday in this country we had people die of hunger and malnutrition. In some parts of this country, the infant mortality rate rivals that of sub-Saharan Africa. We have a public education system that ranks below that of almost any other Western nation.

The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the exercise of his mind.

We spend more than a million dollars a year on our colleges and university, and it is money well spent; but we must have education that fits not the few but the many for the business of life.

Every single major push in education has made it worse and right now it's really bad because everything we've done is de-humanizing education. It's destroying the possibility of the teacher and the student having a warm, friendly, intellectual relationship.

It is only the ignorant who despise education.

The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government.

When the students are occupied, they're not juvenile delinquents. I believe that education is a capital investment.

Don't give up on the child. Give the child an education. Give them daily love.