Banquet speech on the eve of the Apollo 11 launch, Royal Oaks Country Club, Titusville (15 July 1969); quoted in "Of a Fire on the Moon", LIFEmagazine (29 August 1969), 67, No. 9, p. 34
Context: If our intention had been merely to bring back a handful of soil and rocks from the lunar gravel pit and then forget the whole thing, we would certainly be history's biggest fools. But that is not our intention now — it never will be. What we are seeking in tomorrow's trip is indeed that key to our future on earth. We are expanding the mind of man. We are extending this God-given brain and these God-given hands to their outermost limits and in so doing all mankind will benefit. All mankind will reap the harvest. … What we will have attained when Neil Armstrong steps down upon the moon is a completely new step in the evolution of man.
“Fortunately for mankind the brain in a life of action turns more to the matter in hand than to conjuring up the chances of the future.”
Source: Prester John (1910), Ch. X
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
John Buchan 145
British politician 1875–1940Related quotes
Speech in New York, New York (27 January 1952).
Extra-judicial writings
October 23, 2019. Massinissa Akandouch's's message at the 2019 Global Climate Strike in Barcelona. https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-PFWOoQ66
Source: The Jungles of Randomness: A Mathematical Safari (1997), Chapter 10, “Lifetimes of Chance” (p. 188)
On "eyeing" for Mars, IAC 2016 meeting, presentation on sustainable Mars colonization.