Gene Kranz Quotes

#1. Leadership is fragile. It is more a matter of mind and heart than resources, and it seemed that we no longer had the heart for those things that demanded discipline, commitment, and risk.

Gene Kranz

#2. Probability said that someday we would run out of luck - as

Gene Kranz

#3. Coffee was the substance that kept us going. Our surgeons had offered us something stronger, but we were all concerned about our performance deteriorating when the stimulants wore off.

Gene Kranz

#4. We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.

Gene Kranz

#5. Tears were coursing down the faces of Kennedy's moonstruck recruits. John Kennedy had inspired us with his vision. One by one, we left work to grieve in private. The flag was at half-staff in our hearts.

Gene Kranz

#6. Although our technical backgrounds were very different, we were both emotional about our work, perpetually optimistic, and gave our people unconditional support.

Gene Kranz

#7. How long the flight took on one of those old prop aircraft on any given day depended on the size of the bugs that hit the windshield and slowed it down.

Gene Kranz

#8. Loading new software into new computers and using it for the first time was like playing Russian roulette. It demanded and got a lot of respect.

Gene Kranz

#9. To recognize that the greatest error is not to have tried and failed, but that in trying, we did not give it our best effort

Gene Kranz

#10. We had risen to probably one of the greatest challenges in history, put a man on the moon in the decade. We'd created incredible technologies. But what was most important, we'd created the teams, what I call the human factor. People who were energized by a mission.

Gene Kranz

#11. The tools we used in Mercury were primitive, but the dedication of highly trained people offset the limitations of the equipment available to us in these early days and kept the very real risks under control.

Gene Kranz

#12. I find myself crying unabashedly, then I try to suck it in, realizing this is inappropriate.

Gene Kranz

#13. I don't care what anything was designed to do, I care about what it can do.

Gene Kranz

#14. I think everyone, once in his life, should be given a ticker-tape parade.

Gene Kranz

#15. Let's work the problem, people. Let's not make things worse by guessing.

Gene Kranz

#16. There is no such thing as good enough. You, your team, and your equipment must be the best. That is how you will win victories.

Gene Kranz

#17. It isn't equipment that wins the battles; it is the quality and the determination of the people fighting for a cause in which they believe.

Gene Kranz

#18. Faliure is not an option.

Gene Kranz

#19. I mentally savored the moment of America's triumph like a fine wine.

Gene Kranz

#20. Apollo succeeded at critical moments like this because the bosses had no hesitation about assigning crucial tasks to one individual, trusting his judgment, and then getting out of his way.

Gene Kranz

#21. High-risk leadership beckons many, but few accept the call.

Gene Kranz

#22. without the likes of him we would not have made it to the Moon.

Gene Kranz

#23. You can not operate in this room unless you believe that you are Superman, and whatever happens, you're capable of solving the problem.

Gene Kranz

#24. From its earliest days, NASA had followed a policy of maximum, though prudent, disclosure. We had to do everything openly - and soon under intensive, live TV coverage.

Gene Kranz

#25. There is no achievement without risk.

Gene Kranz