Sally Ride Quotes

When NASA dreams big America dreams big. People...kids say, 'I want to do that when I grow up'. Because you want to do what's visible to you.

I've had young women come to me and say that before they watched 'Voyager' it didn't really occur to them that they could be successful in a higher position in the field of science; girls going to MIT, girls pursuing astrophysics with a view to a career in NASA.

We need to have women in more powerful positions that are making decisions, so when that 10-year-old girl is looking up and wondering, 'What can I do and what do I want to be when I get older?' She has the opportunity to do and be whatever she wants.

I believe that there will be women astronauts sometime just as there are women airplane pilots.

I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.

Simply stated, girls want role models and mentors.

If we can send a man to the moon, then why don't we send a woman?

Not until the space shuttle started flying did NASA concede that some astronauts didn't have to be fast-jet pilots. And at that point, sure enough, women started becoming astronauts.

I want young women to see my name on 'Avengers Assembled' and to know that there are women who write mainstream superhero comics, and if it is something that interests them, it can be done.

How do we encourage a lot more girls to pursue science, technology, and engineering careers? By casting droves of women in STEM jobs today in movies and on TV.

My goal is that a girl will watch 'The Martian' or 'Interstellar' and think, 'I want to be an astronaut or a quantum physicist.' It's important to show powerful women who are good at their jobs because young girls need those examples.

In everything I do, I like to set the idea for girls that they can do anything. I was really moved by Hillary Clinton's speech when she lost the election - she didn't want young girls to feel like it wasn't possible and wanted them to know a female president will eventually happen. That's important.

I've done so many commencement speeches at colleges and law schools, and I tell young women that there are no glass ceilings because those were broken by a lot of women who came before us. You can be anyone you want to be. You can do anything you want to do.

I knew there was a school where women could study astronomy. So... it never occurred to me that I couldn't be an astronomer.

There is so much talent among our young people; I hope the women in 'Hidden Figures' inspire them.

We have two issues - not enough young girls starting in karting at a young age and no clear role model. Sometimes you just have to see it to believe it.

For me, I was always the only woman in my cohort, first as a mechanical engineering undergraduate student, then as a chemical engineering graduate student. There were very few women getting degrees in those fields at the time. My role models were men - great men role models.

If Sakshi can be successful in her field, so can any other woman in our country.

Growing up with strong female role models is always inspiring, and growing up, that was something I aspired to play.

I mean I certainly tell the Maria Goeppert-Mayer story and I'm happy that life isn't like that. I'm glad there were trailblazers like her and Marie Curie.

The good thing about most of the girls that I've met on the road is that, regardless of whether they're cute or not, man - they can bring it onstage, which is inspiring not just for young girls and young people in general but for myself because then it makes me want to step it up.

I was proud to be the first woman to serve as the No. 2 in the Clandestine Service. It is not my way to trumpet the fact that I am a woman up for the top job, but I would be remiss in not remarking on it - not least because of the outpouring of support from young women at CIA who consider it a good sign for their own prospects.

Maybe some young girl seeing me on the Emmy stage may have meant something for them.

To the extent that I can serve as a role model or mentor for other women in what might be traditionally viewed as a male-dominated field, I welcome that.

You see now more girls getting involved in their sports because they can see it on TV and see these people playing, and I think - the more and more it's exposed and is out there - it will continue to grow and grow. They watch it on TV and think, 'Well, that could be me!'