Famous Quotes

  Quotes From Famous People - John Gillespie Magee and Ronald Reagan

Famous People

On September 3, 1941, John Gillespie Magee, Jr. flew a high altitude (30,000 feet) test flight in a then new model of the Spitfire V. As he orbited and climbed upward, he was struck with the inspiration of a poem — "To touch the face of God." Back on the ground, he wrote a letter to his parents saying, "I am enclosing a verse I wrote the other day. It started at 30,000 feet, and was finished soon after I landed." On the back of the letter, was his poem, "High Flight." "High Flight" Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there, I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air. Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand and touched the face of God. John Gillespie Magee, Jr. When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, January 28, 1986, Ronald Reagan gave a speech which concluded with these words. 'The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."'  

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¶ 6/19/2004 09:46:00 AM