Check out the best Sally Ride quotes and sayings that inspire you to dream big, break barriers, and reach for the stars.
Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, was more than just an astronaut—she was a trailblazer, physicist, and lifelong advocate for science, education, and equality.
Born in Los Angeles in 1951, Ride broke barriers in history when she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.
Her courage, intelligence, and determination turned her into a global icon, inspiring millions of girls to pursue their passions fearlessly.
Ride’s groundbreaking accomplishments proved that no dream is out of reach, inspiring millions of women and young girls to pursue their passions fearlessly.
As a Stanford-trained physicist and NASA astronaut, Ride demonstrated that women not only belong in laboratories, control rooms, and cockpits, but also in leadership roles shaping the future of exploration.
After leaving NASA, she founded Sally Ride Science to inspire students, especially young women, to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
With her pioneering spirit, calm strength, and passion for education, Sally Ride left behind a legacy that continues to motivate dreamers, scientists, and explorers across generations.
Here are the most famous Sally Ride quotes that celebrate curiosity, courage, and the power to break barriers.
Top 10 Sally Ride Quotes
- “You can’t be what you can’t see.” — Sally Ride
- “I did not come to NASA to make history.” — Sally Ride
- “The stars don’t look bigger, but they do look brighter.” — Sally Ride
- “All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.” — Sally Ride
- “Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing.” — Sally Ride
- “Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity.” — Sally Ride
- “Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.” — Sally Ride
- “For a long time, society put obstacles in the way of women who wanted to enter the sciences.” — Sally Ride
- “If we want scientists and engineers in the future, we should be cultivating the girls as much as the boys.” — Sally Ride
- “I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals.” — Sally Ride
Best Sally Ride Quotes
- “Weightless is a great equalizer.” — Sally Ride
- “We need to make science cool again.” — Sally Ride
- “I didn’t succumb to the stereotype that science wasn’t for girls.” — Sally Ride
- “If it wasn’t for the women’s movement, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” — Sally Ride
- “I’ve spent my whole life not talking to people, and I don’t see why I should start now.” — Sally Ride
- “When you’re getting ready to launch into space, you’re sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.” — Sally Ride
- “When you can feel that close to something you’re used to seeing from this great distance, well, it changes a person.” — Sally Ride
- “It takes a couple of years just to get the background and knowledge that you need before you can go into detailed training for your mission.” — Sally Ride
- “Three Secrets to Success: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. Be able to get along with and work with other people.” — Sally Ride
- “There are lots of opportunities out there for women to work in these fields, … Girls just need support, encouragement and mentoring to follow through with the sciences.” — Sally Ride
Famous Quotes From Sally Ride
- “I have been a bit of a risk taker all my life.” — Sally Ride
- “Because I was a tennis player. Billie Jean King was a hero of mine.” — Sally Ride
- “Our future lies with today’s kids and tomorrow’s space exploration.” — Sally Ride
- “But when I wasn’t working, I was usually at a window looking down at Earth.” — Sally Ride
- “So I saw many planets, and they looked just a little bit brighter than they do from Earth.” — Sally Ride
- “We can see cities during the day and at night, and we can watch rivers dump sediment into the ocean, and see hurricanes form.” — Sally Ride
- “I think it’s important for little girls growing up, and young women, to have one in every walk of life. So from that point of view, I’m proud to be a role model!” — Sally Ride
- “Young girls need to see role models in whatever careers they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday. You can’t be what you can’t see.” — Sally Ride
- “Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is a process of investigating. It’s posing questions and coming up with a method. It’s delving in.” — Sally Ride
- “For whatever reason, I didn’t succumb to the stereotype that science wasn’t for girls. I got encouragement from my parents. I never ran into a teacher or a counselor who told me that science was for boys. A lot of my friends did.” — Sally Ride
Sally Ride Quotes About Space
- “I slept just floating in the middle of the flight deck, the upper deck of the space shuttle.” — Sally Ride
- “I hope that every young girl who dreams about space will continue to dream about space.” — Sally Ride
- “My background is in physics, so I was the mission specialist, who is sort of like the flight engineer on an airplane.” — Sally Ride
- “I suggest taking the high road and have a little sense of humor and let things roll off your back. I think that’s very important.” — Sally Ride
- “The food isn’t too bad. It’s very different from the food that the astronauts ate in the very early days of the space program.” — Sally Ride
- “The thing I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun that I’ll ever have in my life.” — Sally Ride
- “The view of Earth is absolutely spectacular, and the feeling of looking back and seeing your planet as a planet is just an amazing feeling.” — Sally Ride
- “I never went into physics or the astronaut corps to become a role model. But after my first flight, it became clear to me that I was one.” — Sally Ride
- “After the Challenger accident, NASA put in a lot of time to improve the safety of the space shuttle to fix the things that had gone wrong.” — Sally Ride
- “The best advice I can give anybody is to try to understand who you are and what you want to do, and don’t be afraid to go down that road and do whatever it takes and work as hard as you have to work to achieve that.” — Sally Ride
Conclusion
What are your favorite Sally Ride quotes and Sally Ride quotations listed above? If there is a quote that we’ve missed, then let us know in the comments section what your thoughts are.
If you are a science lover, then check our collection of Ellen Ochoa quotes and Mae Jemison quotes.
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