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Homer Hickam Quotes

Powerful Homer Hickam for Daily Growth

About Homer Hickam

Homer Hickam, born on July 17, 1950, in Coalwood, West Virginia, is an acclaimed American author, aerospace engineer, and former NASA engineer. His life story, deeply rooted in the Appalachian coal mining town of his youth, serves as the inspiration for many of his books. Hickam's fascination with rocketry began at an early age when he founded the Coalwood High School Rocket Boys club in 1958. This group of friends, inspired by the launch of Sputnik, built and launched homemade rockets, an experience Hickam would later draw on for his bestselling memoir "Rocket Boys," published in 1998 and adapted into the film "October Sky." After high school, Hickam attended West Virginia University, where he studied aerospace engineering. He then pursued a Master's degree from Marshall University, followed by a long career at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. During his time at NASA, Hickam worked on numerous missions, including the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and the Space Shuttle program. In addition to "Rocket Boys," Hickam has written over two dozen books for both adults and children. His works often revolve around science, history, and adventure, reflecting his diverse interests and experiences. Notable titles include "Carrying Albert Home," a heartwarming tale about the journey of a turtle from West Virginia to Florida, and the novel series "The Kosmosigma Saga." Homer Hickam's life story is a testament to the power of perseverance, curiosity, and imagination. His works continue to inspire readers worldwide, bridging the gap between the rural Appalachian town of his youth and the cosmic frontier of NASA.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"Dreams are enchanting flight, but they are only dreams until you have the courage to try and make them reality."

This quote suggests that while dreams and imaginations are essential for envisioning a better future, they remain abstract and unattainable until one musters the bravery to translate those aspirations into actionable steps towards realizing their dreams. In essence, it encourages individuals to take risks and actively work towards turning their dreams into reality, rather than passively indulging in the fantasy of them.

"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."

This quote suggests that if an idea is valuable, it may not be easily accepted or understood by others without persistent effort. The phrase "ramming down people's throats" implies perseverance in sharing and advocating for the idea until it gains acceptance. Homer Hickam encourages us to believe in our ideas strongly enough to keep promoting them even when they initially meet resistance, as their value will eventually become apparent.

"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse."

Homer Hickam's quote emphasizes personal responsibility and determination in achieving one's goals. It suggests that if an individual truly desires to accomplish something, they will persistently seek solutions (find a way) rather than resorting to excuses or procrastination when obstacles arise. In other words, true desire leads to action, while lack of motivation results in finding reasons not to act. This quote inspires self-discipline and perseverance in the pursuit of dreams and aspirations.

"The only mystery in life is why more people refuse to live it up."

This quote suggests that the true enigma in life lies not in its mysteries, but rather in the reluctance of many individuals to fully embrace and enjoy it. It encourages us to seize every moment and revel in the richness of our experiences, instead of shying away from living vibrantly.

"There's no problem so big that you can't make it bigger by worrying about it."

Homer Hickam's quote emphasizes the counterproductive nature of excessive worry. It suggests that instead of finding solutions or managing a problem, unnecessary concern can amplify its perceived size and complexity, making it seem insurmountable. In other words, worrying doesn't help solve problems; instead, it makes them appear larger and more difficult, exacerbating feelings of anxiety and stress. A constructive approach would be to focus on finding practical solutions and taking actionable steps towards resolution.

When the moon was first visited in 1969, the astronauts brought back a treasure trove of unique minerals. Contained within specimens was an isotope called Helium-3, which turns out to be the perfect fuel for fusion reactors.

- Homer Hickam

Perfect, Astronauts, Brought, Minerals

Tired of burning fossil fuel and polluting the planet? The moon is covered with helium 3, an isotope from the sun that is the perfect fuel for clean fusion reactors.

- Homer Hickam

Perfect, Fuel, Polluting, Fossil Fuel

A memoir is not an autobiography. It's a true story told as a novel, using techniques of novelization. The author is allowed to compress events, combine characters, change names, change the sequence of events, just as if he's writing a novel. But it's got to be true.

- Homer Hickam

Autobiography, Got, Allowed, True Story

The mining towns I describe in the 'Helium-3' novel series are not unlike Coalwood, but there is one major difference: Those towns, rather than being located in the Appalachian coalfields, are on the moon.

- Homer Hickam

Mining, Rather, Being, Appalachian

When I began to write my books about Coalwood, I was surprised to discover, upon reflection, that it wasn't an ordinary place at all.

- Homer Hickam

Reflection, Discover, Began, Surprised

Until I began to build and launch rockets, I didn't know my hometown was at war with itself over its children and that my parents were locked in a kind of bloodless combat over how my brother and I would live our lives.

- Homer Hickam

Combat, Rockets, Our, Locked

If politicians want to save money, that's fine. They can look for all the wasteful spending they want, but not where the lives of miners are involved.

- Homer Hickam

Want, Save, Lives, Wasteful Spending

To be a great nation and a great people, you have to do great things.

- Homer Hickam

Great People, Nation, Things, Great Nation

The time frame is summer 1961, a year after the gold medal in the National Science Fair. I always saw my 'Coalwood' books as a trilogy. This book finishes the story of my life in Coalwood. I think it's the best of the three.

- Homer Hickam

My Life, Year, I Think, Trilogy

When I was a West Virginia lad of 17, I met a Massachusetts lad of 42 by the name of John F. Kennedy. At the time, I was in a bright orange suit that I had just purchased to wear to the 1960 National Science Fair, where I hoped my home-built rockets would win a medal. Kennedy was in West Virginia trying to win the state's presidential primary.

- Homer Hickam

Bright, Wear, Hoped, Lad

I ate supper after Dad saw the evening shift down the shaft, and I went to sleep to the ringing of a hammer on steel and the dry hiss of an arc welder at the little tipple machine shop during the hoot-owl shift.

- Homer Hickam

Steel, Ringing, Shop, Arc

When legislators do something that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, there's always the suspicion that they're in somebody's pocket.

- Homer Hickam

Suspicion, Always, Whole, Legislators

Remember, it isn't the dreamers who have good lives - it's the doers. Remember also what I call the three Ps of success: passion, planning, and perseverance.

- Homer Hickam

Perseverance, Lives, Also, Dreamers

I grew up listening to my dad, a miner who rose through the ranks to be the mine superintendent in Coalwood, W.V. , yelling orders into his black company phone. He wanted to get coal out of the ground and into coal cars and on its way to steel mills.

- Homer Hickam

Steel, Through, Dad, Orders

Interestingly, 'October Sky' is an anagram of 'Rocket Boys', the same letters just moved around. This was discovered by director Joe Johnston using an anagram program on his computer.

- Homer Hickam

Sky, Discovered, Joe, Letters

Boeing, LockMart, and hundreds of other companies, large and small, work in the space business, and they also create new techniques and technology; but they'd be nowhere if NASA and the Department of Defense hadn't shown the way by funding the first big rockets and satellites.

- Homer Hickam

Small, Big, Other, Department

My father lost an eye to a snapped cable while trying to rescue trapped miners, though he kept on working for fifteen years afterward.

- Homer Hickam

Trapped, Fifteen, Though, Rescue

Glenn's 1962 Mercury flight was fraught with dramatics, from his 'Zero G and I feel fine!' exultation upon entering orbit to his reentry with what was feared was a faulty heat shield. After he safely splashed down, the nation erupted with applause and gratitude not seen since Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic.

- Homer Hickam

Heat, Flight, Shield, Applause

For a country like ours that needs to stay ahead of the world or go under, we must do great, ambitious things - like going to the moon - to survive.

- Homer Hickam

Country, Survive, Needs, To Survive

Throughout my childhood, when I raised my blanket in the morning, I saw a black, sparkling powder float off it. My socks were always black with coal dirt when I took off my shoes at night.

- Homer Hickam

Childhood, Always, Took, Sparkling

I want to make the conquest of the moon the United States' goal for the 21st century and, through that goal, to make us a great and good and happy country for generations to come.

- Homer Hickam

Goal, Through, United States, 21st Century

All my life, everything important that had ever happened had always happened somewhere else. But Sputnik was right there in front of my eyes in my backyard... I felt that if I stretched out enough, I could touch it.

- Homer Hickam

My Life, Somewhere, Had, Backyard

Personally, I've got bigger hopes for NASA. I will stipulate it should keep putting telescopes in space so we can figure out where we fit in the universe, and it should also keep building those little robots that can and do.

- Homer Hickam

Space, Got, Putting, Robots

Rather than being an impediment, NASA can and should be the driver of commerce, the provider of the technology necessary to make some big money in space. The truth is that private enterprise already has a huge presence up there.

- Homer Hickam

Big, Some, Big Money, Presence

One thing we've learned about space is that the human body starts to fall apart after relatively short exposures to microgravity.

- Homer Hickam

Human Body, About, Learned, Apart

What kind of country just recycles its old money, reminisces about what used to be, and doesn't know how to weld, to machine, to cast or to bolt things together? Not one that's on a path to future greatness, that's for certain.

- Homer Hickam

Greatness, Kind, Country, Bolt

Rational thought will always trump medieval dogma.

- Homer Hickam

Thought, Always, Trump, Rational

Coalwood, West Virginia, is the little coal-mining town where I grew up, and it was there that five other teenage boys and I famously built and launched rockets. I recounted this story in my memoir, 'Rocket Boys.'

- Homer Hickam

Rocket, Other, Teenage, West Virginia

'Rocket Boys,' for one reason or the other, just happened to strike a chord across country and across world, maybe because it's set in a little coal-mining town. That's why NASA likes it - most of the engineers come from towns very similar.

- Homer Hickam

Reason, Country, Very, Engineers

The best way to learn to write is to read in the genre you might be interested in; then, you need to actually sit down and write. In a lot of cases, the first book you write will not get published. Do not get hung up on that. Start a second book.

- Homer Hickam

Book, Best, Best Way, Hung

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