Quotes by Eddie Rickenbacker

About Eddie Rickenbacker:

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter ace in World War I and Medal of Honor recipient. With 26 aerial victories, he was America's most successful fighter ace in the war. He was also a race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The experienced fighting pilot does not take unnecessary risks. His business is to shoot down enemy planes, not to get shot down.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.

Eddie Rickenbacker

The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Long practise in driving a racing car at a hundred miles an hour or so gives first-class training in control and judging distances at high speed and helps tremendously in getting motor sense, which is rather the feel of your engine than the sound of ...

Eddie Rickenbacker

The obviously inexperienced pilot is the game the scientific air-fighter goes after, and the majority of victories are won that way. But, on the other hand, it is the novice usually who gets the famous ace by doing at some moment the unexpected thing...

Eddie Rickenbacker

I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Aviation is proof that given, the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Flying is one of the safest jobs in the Army as long as you don't drop out. If you do drop out, you are a dead man, and dropping out means, usually, that you have made a mistake or let go of your grip.

Eddie Rickenbacker

I shall never ask any pilot to go on a mission that I won't go on.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Never count on the crowd to take care of you.

Eddie Rickenbacker

I'll fight like a wildcat until they nail the lid of my pine box down on me.

Eddie Rickenbacker

I am not a labor hater.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Some friends are better shots than are casual enemies.

Eddie Rickenbacker

There is a peculiar gratification in receiving congratulations from one's squadron for a victory in the air. It is worth more to a pilot than the applause of the whole outside world.

Eddie Rickenbacker

The excitement of automobile racing did not compare with what I knew must come with aeroplane fighting in France.

Eddie Rickenbacker

The sensation of dying is sweet, sensuous, placid.

Eddie Rickenbacker

It is the easiest thing in the world to die. The hardest is to live.

Eddie Rickenbacker

I've cheated the Grim Reaper more times than anyone I know.

Eddie Rickenbacker

When I was racing, I had learned that you can't set stock in public adoration or your press clippings. By the time I was 26, I'd heard crowds of 100,000 scream my name, but a week later they couldn't remember who I was. You're a hero today and a bum ...

Eddie Rickenbacker

Fighting in the air is not a sport. It is scientific murder.

Eddie Rickenbacker

Author Bio

  • NameEddie Rickenbacker
  • DescriptionUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient
  • BornOctober 8, 1890
  • DiedJuly 23, 1973
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionRacing Driver; Autobiographer
  • AwardsCroix De Guerre 1914–1918; Medal Of Honor; Knight Of The Legion Of Honour