"I guess those of us who have been with NASA … kind of understand the tremendous excitement and thrills and celebrations and national pride that went with the Apollo program is just something you're not going to create again, probably until we go to Mars."

"I realized up there that our planet is not infinite. It's fragile. That may not be obvious to a lot of folks, and it's tough that people are fighting each other here on Earth instead of trying to get together and live on this planet. We look pretty vulnerable in the darkness of space."

"There were similarities between these two incidents. The similarity was too much success … over-confidence and complacency, quite frankly."

"I know you're all saying I can go to the moon but I can't find Pasadena."

"There's no question that all the generations got excited about the first flights, with Kennedy's inspiration to go to the moon, leaving the planet for the first time, and fortunately coming back."

"If we were choosing sides and every player was in the pool my first pick would be Whitey Ford and my second would be Ted Williams. Beyond that there would be just too many and I would be afraid of leaving somebody out. Besides, with Whitey on the mound and Williams in the lineup, the rest of the team wouldn't much matter; we'd still beat just about anybody."

"For my money, Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of all-time. I'd take him over Ruth, I'd take him over Cobb. I'd take him over Cobb because of the combination of power and average. I'd take him over Ruth because with Ruth, you can only speculate about what he would have done in the modern era. Ted Williams hit .388 at the age of 39 in 1957. He was what few of us ever become; he was exactly what he set out to be. He said he wanted to be able to walk down the street some day and have people say "There goes the greatest hitter who ever lived". And if they don't say that, it's only because they don't know what they're talking about."

"If he'd tip his cap just once, he could be elected mayor of Boston in five minutes. I don't think he will ever do it."

"Williams is one batter I thought would break my lifetime batting average of .367. If he'd learned to hit to left, Ted would have broken every record in the book."

"I hope somebody hits .400 soon. Then people can start pestering that guy with questions about the last guy to hit .400."

"If you don't think too good, don't think too much."

"A kid copies what is good. I remember the first time I saw Lefty O'Doul, and he was as far away as those palms. And I saw the guy come to bat in batting practice. I was looking through a knothole, and I said, "Geez, does that guy look good!" And it was Lefty O'Doul, one of the greatest hitters ever."

"Any pitcher throwing sinkers and hard sliders."

"A man has to have goals — for a day, for a lifetime — and that was mine, to have people say, "There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.""

"Batting coaches are just as important as pitching coaches. Lefty O'Doul gave me good advice when he said: "Don't ever let them change you." I also asked for help from Cobb, Foxx and Hornsby."

"Why do they cheer me for hitting a homer and then boo me for grounding out the next time up. I'm still the same guy, ain't I? They can all go to hell. I'll never tip my cap to them."

"The unbelievable part about the Babe, of course, was that he hit only 34 homers in the first two-thirds of the season and then smacked 26 homers in the final third. Wow! What a way to finish!"

"If I'm gonna be a champion, I want to win as a champion. I'm staying in to the end."

"You know why that's my favorite hit? Well, they say that the only other two players who ever hit one over there were Ruth and Gehrig. But now they have to say "only Ruth, Gehrig and Williams ever hit one over there.' Yes sir, that's putting the old string bean in some pretty fast company when they say that."

"Gee, I wish I could play here just one season just to see what I could do."

"I sure have. I'd like to break every hitting record in the books. When I walk down the street, I'd like for them to say, "There goes Ted Williams, the best hitter in baseball.""

"Hmmm... wait until Foxx sees me hit."

"You're going to die a horrible death, remember. It's all good training, and you'll enjoy it more if you keep the facts in mind. Take your dying with some seriousness, however. Laughing on the way to your execution is not generally understood by less advanced lifeforms, and they'll call you crazy."

"You teach best what you most need to learn."

"You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don't turn away from possible futures before you're certain you don't have anything to learn from them."

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however."

"We're all the sons of God, or children of the Is, or ideas of the Mind, or however else you want to say it."

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."

"There is no problem so big that it cannot be run away from."… "You're quoting Snoopy the dog, I believe?" "I'll quote the truth wherever I find it thank you."

"The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in awhile, and watch your answers change."

"The original sin is to limit the Is. —Don't."

"The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work."

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly."

"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof."

"The best way to avoid responsibility is to say, "I've got responsibilities.""

"Remember where you came from, where you're going, and why you created the mess you got yourself into in the first place."

"Perspective— Use It or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that."

"Live never to be ashamed if anything you say or do is published around the world, even if what is said is not true."

"Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers."

"In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice."

"Imagine the universe beautiful and just and perfect. Then be sure of one thing: The Is has imagined it quite a bit better than you have."

"If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem."

"If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats."

"If you really want to remove a cloud from your life, you do not make a big production out of it, you just relax and remove it from your thinking. That's all there is to it."

"Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't."

"Everything in this book may be wrong."

"Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. What you choose to do with them is up to you."

"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they're yours."

"A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed, it feels an impulsion... this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reason and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons."