American naval officer & explorer (1888-1957)
That risks were involved, all of us knew; but none, so far as we could foresee, that were too great. Otherwise, as leader of a big polar expedition, and subject to all the responsibilities implicit in command, I could not have gone. That I miscalculated is proved by the fact that I nearly lost my life. Yet, I do not regret going
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
A man doesn't begin to attain wisdom until he recognizes that he is no longer indispensable.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
No woman has ever stepped on Little America -- and we have found it to be the most silent and peaceful place in the world.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Oakland Tribune, 26 November 1955
A static hero is a public liability. Progress grows out of motion.
RICHARD E. BYRD
attributed, Struggle: The Life and Exploits of Commander Richard E. Byrd
Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
Just as the long night of the Arctic ends, the brilliant sunshine of Truth shall come again ... and those who are of darkness shall fall in its Light.... FOR I HAVE SEEN THAT LAND BEYOND THE POLE, THAT CENTER OF THE GREAT UNKNOWN.
RICHARD E. BYRD
The Secret Lost Diary of Admiral Richard E. Byrd
Behind every legend, strange to say, can be found a kernel of truth, a group of facts around which the legend was built.
RICHARD E. BYRD
The Secret Lost Diary of Admiral Richard E. Byrd
Solitude is greater than I anticipated. My sense of values is changing, and many things which before were in solution in my mind now seem to be crystallizing. I am better able to tell what in the world is wheat for me and what is chaff. In fact, my definition of success itself is changing.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
Below -60° cold will find the last microscopic touch of oil in an instrument and stop it dead. If there is the slightest breeze, you can hear your breath freeze as it floats away, making a sound like that of Chinese firecrackers. As does the morning dew, rime coats every exposed object. And if you work too hard and breathe too deeply, your lungs will sometimes feel as if they were on fire.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
What I had not counted on was discovering how closely a man could come to dying and still not die, or want to die. That, too, was mine; and it also is to the good. For that experience resolved proportions and relationships for me as nothing else could have done; and it is surprising, approaching the final enlightenment, how little one really has to know or feel sure about.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
Solitude is an excellent laboratory in which to observe the extent to which manners and habits are conditioned by others.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
The human race, my intuition tells me, is not outside the cosmic process and is not an accident. It is as much a part of the universe as the trees, the mountains, the aurora, and the stars.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
The day was dying, the night being born-but with great peace. Here were the imponderable processes and forces of the cosmos, harmonious and soundless. Harmony, that was it! That was what came out of the silence -- a gentle rhythm, the strain of a perfect chord, the music of the spheres, perhaps.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
The universe is an almost untouched reservoir of significance and value, and man need not be discouraged because he cannot fathom it. His view of life is no more than a flash in time. The details and distractions are infinite. It is only natural, therefore, that we should never see the picture whole. But the universal goal -- the attainment of harmony -- is apparent. The very act of perceiving this goal and striving constantly toward it does much in itself to bring us closer, and therefore, becomes an end in itself.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
When a man achieves a fair measure of harmony within himself and his family circle, he achieves peace; and a nation made up of such individuals and groups is a happy nation. As the harmony of a star in its course is expressed by rhythm and grace, so the harmony of a man's life-course is expressed by happiness; this, I believe, is the prime desire of mankind.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
A discordant mind, black with confusion and despair, would finish me off as thoroughly as the cold.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
What people think about you is not supposed to matter much, so long as you yourself know where the truth lies; but I have found out, as have others who move in and out of newspaper headlines, that on occasion it can matter a good deal.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone
I am hopeful that Antarctica in its symbolic robe of white will shine forth as a continent of peace as nations working together there in the cause of science set an example of international cooperation.
RICHARD E. BYRD
statement made during International Geophysical Year (IGY) operations in 1957
The universe was a cosmos, not a chaos; man was as rightfully a part of that cosmos as were the day and night.
RICHARD E. BYRD
Alone