#it's pretty cliche to pull out the titular Right Stuff quote for this but i hadn't seen anyone else post it

[queenlucythevaliant]

After all, the right stuff was not bravery in the simple sense of being willing to risk your life (by riding on top of a Redstone or Atlas rocket). Any fool could do that (and many fools would no doubt volunteer, given the opportunity), just as any fool could throw his life away in the process. No, the idea (as all pilots understood) was that a man should have the ability to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line and have the moxie, the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back at the last yawning moment.

The Right Stuff, Tom Wolfe

#apparently moon landing day is a Tumblr holiday now #and while i didn't know that until literally like 10 min ago #I'm glad #it's so completely worth celebrating #it's pretty cliche to pull out the titular Right Stuff quote for this but i hadn't seen anyone else post it #so here it is #great great book about some great brave men #makes me think about Chestertonian courage honestly #to touch the face of god #pontifications and creations #be strong and courageous