"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who ... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space ... on the infinite highway of the air."

-Wilbur Wright, inventor and aviation pioneer, 1867-1912

This quote is attributed in various places to both Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur. Wilbur gets credit much more often, however. It is a partial quote taken from a longer sentence. The full quote follows:

”The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who, in their grueling travels across trackless lands in prehistoric times, looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space, at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air.”