The Wright Brothers

by David McCullough

All the money anyone needs is just enough to prevent one from being a burden on others.

In no way did any of this discourage or deter Wilbur and Orville Wright, any more than the fact that they had had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies, and little money of their own. Or the entirely real possibility that at some point, like Otto Lilienthal, they could be killed.

With “wing warping,” or “wing twisting,” as it was sometimes referred to, Wilbur had already made an immensely important and altogether original advance toward their goal.

“The man who wishes to keep at the problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.”

“Learning the secret of flight from a bird,” Orville would say, “was a good deal like learning the secret of magic from a magician.”

Their flights that morning were the first ever in which a piloted machine took off under its own power into the air in full flight, sailed forward with no loss of speed, and landed at a point as high as that from which it started.

It wasn’t luck that made them fly; it was hard work and common sense; they put their whole heart and soul and all their energy into an idea and they had the faith.

“The best dividends on the labor invested,” they said, “have invariably come from seeking more knowledge rather than more power.”

“A man who works for the immediate present and its immediate rewards is nothing but a fool.”

“All the money anyone needs is just enough to prevent one from being a burden to others.”