“An excellent weapon and luck had been on my side.”

This aircraft didn’t have any priority in design or production.

For the first time I was flying by jet propulsion.

It’s unbelievable what one squadron of twelve aircraft did to tip the balance.

The first rule of all air combat is to see the opponent first.

To use a fighter as a fighter-bomber when the strength of the fighter arm is inadequate to achieve air superiority is putting the cart before the horse.

This was my impression.

Nine g’s is good, if the pilot can stand it.

Flying is pure passion and desire, which fill a lifetime.

This is also the reason why we have pilots with extremely high numbers of victories.

Only in this way can the eager and skillful fighter pilot display his ability.

Aggressive spirit, joy of action, and the passion of the hunter.

I first knew of the existence of this aircraft only early in ‘42 – even in my position.

The German Luftwaffe always fought without any reserves.

To be successful, the best fighter pilot needs both.

And for the moment the whole burden of the war rested on the few hundred German fighter pilots on the Channel coast.

Or by bad luck can suffer from frustration or develop complexes they may never rid themselves of again.

Science is an excellent piece of furniture to have in the second story, providing that you have common sense on the ground floor.

Louis Pasteur, the great scientist, said “chance favours the prepared mind”, which is a posh way of saying ‘do your homework’, but it’s an excellent piece of advice.

My influences were mostly gospel. So I was playing my twisted Jewish equivalent of gospel music over his twisted equivalent of rock and roll music. And it was a very excellent marriage.

Success means doing as excellent a job as you can on that particular day. The people I admire most aren’t necessarily the most wonderful athletes.

There’s nothing an artist needs more – even more than excellent tools and stamina – than a deadline.

But fortunately there are also really excellent human beings all over the place, too. So it’s about perception and balance sometimes I think.

That was excellent! I mean, it didn’t do anything, but it looked really cool!

An excellent job with a dubious undertaking, which is like saying it would be great if it wasn’t awful.