I am, and ever will be, a white socks, pocket protector, nerdy engineer. And I take a substantial amount of pride in the accomplishments of my profession.
—Neil Armstrong, “Engineering in the 20th Century”, National Press Club, 22 Feb 2000

It seemed to me that, in this business, someone was continually making me face up to facts, instead of letting me dodge unpleasant facts the way most people manage to do throughout their lives.
—Robert A. Heinlein, “If This Goes On—”, Astounding Science Fiction, Feb-Mar 1940

If you’re not being rejected regularly, maybe you’re not trying hard enough.
—Kathy Ireland, The Talk, 4 Aug 2011

Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn.
—Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1755

“Can you and your people do it, Captain Tyrosian?” he asked at the end. “I know this is a very difficult engineering challenge with a very short time line, and I’m told it’s the sort of thing only the best weapons engineers can handle.” He could scarcely be more blatant, but it didn’t seem to be a good time for subtlety. Besides, he was dealing with an engineer, so subtlety might well be wasted anyway.
—Jack Campbell, The Lost Fleet: Valiant, 2008