Sally Ride never intended to be a hero. In fact, she was a shy girl who never raised her hand in class, loved to play tennis and read Scientific American religiously. When she responded to a NASA ad calling for applicants, the fine print didn't include shouldering the weight of feminism in science. Sally always saw herself as an equal.
But that's the thing about true heroes: They never set out to change the world -- they're just themselves. For Sally, it all clicked after her first space flight. She was our role model. "And I began to understand the importance of that to people," she told Harvard Business Review shortly before her death in 2012.
Today marks 30 years since that space flight. While we may no longer have Sally the person, we will always have Sally the icon. Here are some of her most memorable quotes.
On advice for women who encounter discrimination on the job
As told to Robert Alan Benson in a 2006 interview with USA Today.
On being a role model
As told to Alison Beard in a 2012 interview for Harvard Business Review.
On getting more girls to study science
From a 2006 interview with the Academy of Achievement in Washington D.C.
On the stereotype that men are better than women at math and science
As told to Robert Alan Benson in a 2006 interview with USA Today.
On why she wanted to go to space
From Lynn Sherr's 2012 interview for The Daily Beast.
On men versus women in astronaut training
From a 1984 video interview with Melanie Wallace of PBS NOVA.
On pressure from the media
From a NASA interview on Ride's 25th anniversary of her first flight in space.
On seeing Earth from space
Originally told to Margaret McMullan of Glamour magazine in 1983. McCullan told the story about that interview to Women's Media Center in 2012.
On going back to space
As told to WGBH Boston in 2002.
On her legacy
From a 2006 interview with the Academy of Achievement in Washington D.C.