Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a read more

Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools. -- 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible. read more

The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible. -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.).

Thomas Jefferson still survives.

Thomas Jefferson still survives.

I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And read more

I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices.

All fled--all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.

All fled--all done, so lift me on the pyre;
The feast is over, and the lamps expire.

The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon. read more

The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon. -- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.

Beautiful.
(in reply to her husband who had asked how she felt moments before her death.).

Beautiful.
(in reply to her husband who had asked how she felt moments before her death.).

Don't worry, it's not loaded.

Don't worry, it's not loaded.

Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy. -- Drillers whom Edwin read more

Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy. -- Drillers whom Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist in his project to drill for oil in 1859.