“I have found beauty … I have soared, like a bird. Oh, I cannot say how beautiful it is up there, in the sky, with the wind about me, blowing me like a feather.”

-Written by Ray Bradbury, American author, 1920-2012.

This quote comes from Ray Bradbury’s short story The Flying Machine. It tells the story of a meeting between an emperor and an inventor who has built a flying machine. The inventor is an optimist who experiences the full delights of flying, while the emperor is a pessimist who fears the technology will fall into the wrong hands. It’s a theme that runs much deeper than human flight, but Bradbury’s choice to feature a flying machine demonstrates the power of flight for humanity. The quote above is from the inventor, describing how it feels to fly. It’s part of a longer quote, which follows:

I have found beauty. I have flown on the morning wind. I have looked down on all the sleeping houses and gardens. I have smelled the sea and even seen it, beyond the hills, from my high place. And I have soared, like a bird. Oh, I cannot say how beautiful it is up there, in the sky, with the wind about me, blowing me like a feather. That is beautiful, emperor, that is beautiful, too!

Check out the full comic here.