I've been lucky enough to fly to space twice.

Remember, nobody changes the world on their own.

No one ever accomplished anything great sitting down.

There is no problem so bad that you cannot make it worse

We are not machines exploring the universe, we are people.

Sweat the small stuff. Without letting anyone see you sweat.

From space, the Bahamas is the most beautiful place on Earth.

Almost everything worthwhile carries with it some sort of risk.

Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination.

I wasn’t destined to be an astronaut. I had to turn myself into one.

Every single day you're the result of what you did on the days prior.

Don`t let life randomly kick you into the adult you don`t want to become

I've put a lot of my life into making it possible to fly in space at all.

You can't change the bricks, and together, you still have to build a wall.

"What's the next thing that's going to kill me?" is a mantra for pilots and astronauts.

Good leadership means leading the way, not hectoring other people to do things your way.

Spaceflight isn't just about doing experiments, it's about an extension of human culture.

I've had a chance to fly a lot of different airplanes, but it was nothing like the shuttle ride.

Most budget airlines anywhere in the world are going to leave you dissatisfied after using them.

Cynicism is the easiest of all reactions, right? But it's also so disappointing and self-defeating.

As I have discovered again and again, things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem at the time.

The danger is different from the fear. ... [practice] what to do if things go wrong, as well as right.

The cool things about space is when you put your pants on here, you can put them on two legs at a time.

I was born in Sarnia, Ontario; a small town, it's where oil was pretty much discovered in North America.

Now, as an astronaut, I have to bring a Sharpie with me everywhere - so I have a pen to sign autographs.

You can get claustrophobia and agoraphobia - a fear of wide, open spaces - simultaneously on a spacewalk.

To me, it's not about being anywhere, but being able to change my perceptions and experience something new.

It’s not enough to shelve your own competitive streak. You have to try, consciously, to help others succeed.

And now for Return to Flight, I'm chief of robotics working in the astronaut office in Houston, as a Canadian.

Anticipating problems and figuring out how to solve them is actually the opposite of worrying: it's productive.

In any field, it's a plus if you view criticism as potentially helpful advice rather than as a personal attack.

As an astronaut, especially during launch, half of the risk of a six-month flight is in the first nine minutes.

Do your homework in advance about the actual travel details so transportation issues do not define your holiday.

Decide in your heart of hearts what really excites and challenges you, and start moving your life in that direction

By looking at the difference between perceived danger and actual danger, you can fundamentally change your reaction.

The Moon has given us months, tides and a destination that ever-beckons. It's time we build a rocket and go to stay.

There is a sunrise or a sunset from space every 92 minutes so there is an incredible amount of beauty to see from up there.

Space is not a good place to mix foods because as soon as you take something out of the package, it becomes a flying object.

My favourite city for nightlife is Toronto, as it has such a multicultural feel, with so many different restaurants and theatres.

For whatever reason, I decided: 'I'm 18, I'm a man, I'm going to grow a moustache' - and it was pathetic for years - it was awful.

To be one of the world's top space robotic arm operators is a necessary skill for an astronaut, but it doesn't have much carry-over.

If you don't like airline food, you'll probably have the same impression of space station food. I would not fly to space for the food.

If you start thinking that only your biggest and shiniest moments count, you're setting yourself up to feel like a failure most of the time.

Fatherhood is the unending imperfect task of turning yourself into your dad while secretly maintaining the unbridled elation of your boyhood

Every decision you make, from what you eat to what you do with your time tonight, turns you into who you are tomorrow and the day after that.

My favourite city is Moscow, because of its history, which I find fascinating. As I learned to speak Russian, it made it even more interesting.

No aeroplane you've ever gotten into had less than thousands of flights before they took their first passenger. Because vehicles are unsafe at first.

I'm a mechanical engineer, and I grew up on a farm, so I like practical hardware - somebody's elegant solution that proves itself over the long term.

So without that Canadian invention we were grounded. And so that was a really important and key part of the mission and Canadians should take real pride in it.

I've had a chance to see something that is way outside everybody else's frame of reference and gives a perspective that is very different from everyone else's.

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