Wernher von Braun

Wernher von Braun was a German rocket scientist and astronautics engineer who was one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States.

Sourced

• Don't tell me that man doesn't belong out there. Man belongs wherever he wants to go — and he'll do plenty well when he gets there.
  • Time magazine (17 February 1958)

• Nature does not know extinction; all it knows is transformation. Everything science has taught me, and continues to teach me, strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death.
  • As quoted in Gravity's Rainbow (1973) by Thomas Pynchon; also quoted as: Everything science has taught me— and continues to teach me— strengthens my belief in the continuity of our spiritual existence after death. Nothing disappears without a trace.

• For me, the idea of a creation is not conceivable without invoking the necessity of design. One cannot be exposed to the law and order of the universe without concluding that there must be design and purpose behind it all.
  • From a letter to the California State board of Education (14 September 1972)

• My experiences with science led me to God. They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun?
  • From a letter to the California State board of Education (14 September 1972)

• It is in scientific honesty that I endorse the presentation of alternative theories for the origin of the universe, life and man in the science classroom. It would be an error to overlook the possibility that the universe was planned rather than happening by chance.
  • From a letter to the California State board of Education (14 September 1972)

• Science does not have a moral dimension. It is like a knife. If you give it to a surgeon or a murderer, each will use it differently.
  • Quoted in "Juan Yong Ying Yu Ming Yan‎" - Page 242 - by Xi-ya Ma - 2007

About Wernher von Braun

• "Once the rockets are up
  who cares where they come down
  that's not my department,"
  says Wernher von Braun.
  • Tom Lehrer, in lyrics to "Wernher von Braun"