If we die, do not mourn for us. This is a risky business we're in, and we accept those risks. The space program is too valuable to this country to be halted for too long if a disaster should ever happen.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of accepting risks in pursuit of significant advancements, such as space exploration.
Gus Grissom's quote reflects the acceptance of risks inherent in the space program and suggests that the pursuit of knowledge and technological advancement is paramount, even in the face of potential disasters. He encourages a perspective that values the contributions of space exploration to society, arguing that the benefits outweigh the dangers involved.
In practice
During a speech at a space conference, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of continuing space missions despite risks.
No, you sort of have to put that out of your mind. There's always a possibility that you can have a catastrophic failure, of course. This can happen on any flight. It can happen on the last one as well as the first one. You just plan as best you can to take care of all these eventualities, and you get a well-trained crew, and you go fly.
If we die, we want people to accept it. We are in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.
You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason---if you pick the proper postulates.
Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms.
Burning fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide. And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. There is no debate about that. The link is as certain as the link between smoking and cancer.
If you go into science, I think you better go in with a dream that maybe you, too, will get a Nobel Prize. It's not that I went in and I thought I was very bright and I was going to get one, but I'll confess, you know, I knew what it was.
Science without conscience is the death of the soul.
What's been gratifying is to live long enough to see molecular biology and evolutionary biology growing toward each other and uniting in research efforts.
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