The Achievement Factor

The following is an excerpt from a novel I'm working on. Not like anyone's gonna quote it but just in case, as with any other intellectual work give credit when quoting.

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“Speech! Speech!” the crowd shouted...

...“Well, since this was totally unexpected. I don’t really have much. But, I will say this. To all of you eager students out there… I’m not among a bunch of elite few who are all doing great things. Many well-deserving scientists do amazing things, and what do they get for it? Nothing. You get a new invention, a better way of life, and they just keep traveling down their path and working on it. Other people before me have sent rockets into space. They helped design and build this International Space Station. They got man to the moon. I merely helped with the next step: Getting man to mars.”

<>“I wasn’t the only one who was responsible for this. I worked with a large team of scientists for many years to get this done. Many others contributed to this great work, and I can’t claim all the credit. For those of you who study nuclear physics, you’ll know Dr. Pierce, who was also nominated. He contributed some of his fusion theories to our plan, which helped with engine designs. Countless others helped as well, with features such as artificial gravity on the ship and more heat-resistant plating.”

“You all are capable of doing bigger and greater things than I have done. Who knows? One of you might be able to reshape another one of our planets, and make it a suitable home to live on. Maybe you’ll design a rocket that can go faster than light, and be the man who disproved one of history’s greatest scientific theories. And, when you do, you may not be recognized, or you may get an award. It doesn’t matter. Awards don’t matter. What matters is the advancement of human society. We’ve claimed mars as the second planet to be inhabited by humans. And we’ll go on from there.”