Some interesting quotes here. Credit is attributed if I know who the author is.
You are remembered for the rules you break. - General MacArthur
Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. - General Patton
If you are going to do it, do it right.
"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." ~Elbert Hubbard
If all you have is a hammer, then you can only see nails.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win!
Sometimes it seems like life is one darn thing after another
Say we were to take a man from 20 years ago and sit him next to a woman from today, but divide the two with an opaque curtain. Have him ask her random questions. He''d be blown away by the wealth of knowledge she appears to have, and the speed with which she could answer questions. Math, history, science, puzzles, all of them able to be solved in less than 30 seconds. He would assume we have discovered the secrets of super intelligence in the 20 years hence.
If people keep going on about helping the poor and propping up countries and nations that do nothing for themselves we will all get nowhere, that bottomless pit will eventually drag us all down. Let's get on with exploration and scientific advancement!
From a practical standpoint, I find it extremely unlikely that the only means mankind will ever have to propel spacecraft through the vacuum, is to carry along stores of fuel and shoot propellant out the back side.