Skip to content

Airplane Quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson

“When you advance a frontier and you do tomorrow what's never been done today, you have to innovate to make that happen. You become an innovation culture. When I grew up, every time I turned around it was, "Oh, here's the longest bridge or the deepest tunnel or the fastest airplane." And I…” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Download Open image
“When you advance a frontier and you do tomorrow what's never been done today, you have to innovate to make that happen. You become an innovation culture. When I grew up, every time I turned around it was, "Oh, here's the longest bridge or the deepest tunnel or the fastest airplane." And I originally thought that was just kind of like a pissing contest with men with too much testosterone. And then I realized that to make the tallest building you have to innovate. To make the fastest train you have to design the train in a way that it's never been designed before.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson

About This Quote

Source Speech: Public talk on innovation, date unknown

Advancing frontiers requires creating new methods and fostering a culture that embraces continuous invention.

In simple terms: Innovation is needed to achieve unprecedented feats.

Key Takeaway

Cultivate an innovation mindset.

Themes

innovation culture progress technology leadership

Mood

inspired determined

Type

motivational visionary

When to use this quote

  • engineering projects
  • urban planning
  • transportation development
  • R&D initiatives

Key Concepts

creativity design thinking risk taking

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can organizations sustain an innovation culture?
  • What barriers hinder breakthrough designs?
A Different Perspective

Innovation can be limited by resource constraints and institutional resistance.

4.4 out of 5 (10 ratings)

More by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Explore all 1,143 Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes

More Airplane quotes

Browse all 935 Airplane quotes