Michael Collins Quotes

#1. There is but one Earth, tiny and fragile, and one must get 100,000 miles away to appreciate fully one's good fortune in living on it.

Michael Collins

#2. Early this morning, I signed my death warrant.

Michael Collins

#3. [These]were the legitimate acts of self-defense which had been forced upon the Irish people by English aggression... We did not initiate the war, nor were we allowed to choose the battleground.

Michael Collins

#4. Where courage and judgement are equally required a clever coward is better than a stupid hero.

Michael Collins

#5. I am a war man in the day of war, but I am a peace man in the day of peace.

Michael Collins

#6. I knew I was alone in a way that no earthling has ever been before.

Michael Collins

#7. We are off! And do we know it, not just because the world is yelling "Lift-off" in our ears, but because the seats of our pants tell us so! Trust your instruments, not your body, the modern pilot is always told, but this beast is best felt. Shake, rattle and roll!

Michael Collins

#8. I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God knows what on this side.

Michael Collins

#9. Q: What were you thinking when your colleagues were out there making cosmic history?
A: I just kept reminding myself that every single component in this spacecraft was provided by the guy who submitted the cheapest tender.

Michael Collins