“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
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Misattributed quote
Quote Investigator located the line in the 1965 documentary's second reel, written/produced/narrated by Secondari, and found no trace in Leonardo's notebooks; aviation historians (Air Facts Journal) concur it is not Leonardo. The circulating wording ('forever', 'always long to return') even differs from Secondari's script. Wikiquote's Leonardo page does not source it either.
Likely origin: Written by John Hermes Secondari as Leonardo-voiced narration for the ABC TV documentary 'I, Leonardo da Vinci' (The Saga of Western Man, 1965); reassigned directly to Leonardo in print by 1975. Nothing like it appears in Leonardo's writings.
Review the attribution sourceAbout this quote
A brief encounter with something larger can change what you pay attention to every day. Once you’ve experienced that kind of freedom, ordinary things start to feel smaller and your goals shift upward. Ask yourself where your gaze keeps going and why it matters to you. If that pull is real, take one concrete step toward it — book the trip, sign up for a lesson, or carve out the time to return.
When to use it
- Pilot training debrief: after my first solo, I tell the cadets, 'Trust me, you’ll stand on the apron and look up for a long time.'
- Study abroad reunion: when friends ask why I already bought another plane ticket, I say, 'Once you get a taste of flying away, staying put gets harder.'
- Paragliding class: after a tandem flight I call the instructor and say, 'Put me on the schedule — I can’t stop thinking about that view.'
- Family dinner: my father laughed when his granddaughter got into aviation school and said, 'I know that feeling; once you’ve been above the clouds you keep turning skyward.'