Bidder Quotes (2 quotes)
As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind—every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.
Seen on the Internet, but Webmaster believes the wording is not verbatim, but is a shortened, rewording of the longer quote at launch time. seen elsewhere on this page. The earliest example of the shortened quote found by Webmaster is as an epigraph in Philip Kaplan, Big Wings: The Largest Aeroplanes Ever Built (2006), 92.
I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts—all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.
His reply to the question, often asked, “When you were sitting in that capsule listening to the count-down, how did you feel?” From speech announcing his Senate retirement (20 Feb 1997). As recorded in 'A Genuine American Hero Says He'll Retire', Tributes Delivered in Congress: John Glenn (1998) in U.S. Government Printing Office, U.S. Congress: Senate, Vol 105, Issue 34, 52. (A similar reference to “the lowest bidder on a government contract” has also been attributed to Alan Shepard.)
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
