The best pilots fly more than the others; that's why they're the best.
Interpretation
Excellence comes from experience and practice beyond the norm.
This quote emphasizes that the best individuals in any field attain their status through dedication and extensive practice. It highlights the importance of going above and beyond what is typically required to achieve mastery and success, suggesting that hard work and perseverance distinguish the best from the rest.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech for aspiring professionals.
I have flown in just about everything, with all kinds of pilots in all parts of the world - British, French, Pakistani, Iranian, Japanese, Chinese - and there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between any of them except for one unchanging, certain fact: the best, most skillful pilot has the most experience.
There's no such thing as a natural-born pilot.
When I was picked to fly the X-1, it was my duty to fly it, and I did.
It wasn't that the X-1 would kill you, it was the systems in the X-1 that would kill you.
All that I am ... I owe to the Air Force.
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.
Opportunity is latent in the very foundation of human society. Opportunity is everywhere about us. But the preparation to seize upon the opportunity, and to make the most of it, is to be made by every one for himself ... he will be self-made or never made.
...ultimately it come down to, are you making or are you destroying? If you try very hard to create ways of living, create dreams of what is possible, then you win. If you don't, you may make a fortune in ten years, but you're not going to be read in twenty years, and that's that.
Each of us, every day, through the jobs we do, are offered a shot at greatness, an opportunity to reach immortality.
Never think that success is down to your own performance alone. If you start listening only to yourself you take the first step back towards the bottom. The flowers of victory belong in many vases.
Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance.
I think the ability to hit - some guys have it and some guys don't - but I think how dedicated you are to trying to get the most out of yourself, I think kind of determines how good you are and for how long. I was born with the ability to hit, but my work ethic has taken it to the next level.
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