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Journal: 8 Legendary Stirling Moss Quotes To Get Your Engine Started

8 Legendary Stirling Moss Quotes To Get Your Engine Started

By Petrolicious Productions
September 17, 2015
8 comments

Sir Stirling Moss recently turned 86, and I can’t believe it’s already been about four months since we featured him driving his Mille Miglia-winning Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. No other octogenarian we know of is capable of running circles around most other drivers, as well as being so damn charming all of the time, so it’s time to raise a glass of champagne and toast Sir Stirling with a few of our favorite things…

1. “It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal.”

2. “Motion is tranquility.”

3. “There are two things no man will admit he cannot do well: drive and make love.”

4. “I believe that if a man wanted to walk on water, and was prepared to give up everything in life, he could do it.”

5. “If God had meant for us to walk, why did he give us feet that fit car pedals?”

6. “If everything is under control you are just not driving fast enough.”

7. “To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”

8. “I love to feel a racing car around me, to feel the way it holds me.”

Photography from Daimler via Mercedes-Benz Classic Centre & classiccarmag.net

Tags quotes/ Sir Stirling Moss
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George Millwood
George Millwood
6 years ago

I remember watching him at the Warwick Farm circuit in Australia in the early sixties. As he weaved his way through the traffic in the esses, he found the time to raise a hand to thank those who moved aside to give him the line. On the track he was never matched for attitude and determination.

1
Ashley Mathews
Ashley Mathews
8 years ago

I love your website and the car stories on it.
I just love the passion (no matter what the car), some cars aren’t exactly my favourites, but that’s part of the overall experience.
I appreciate freedom of speech, but I have really had enough of the person Guitar Slinger and all his comments and dribble.
I think he is a nuisance to your site with his feedback etc, you might want to seriously consider whether you want people like that dominating your comments section. Cant you guys do something to prevent this person posting on your website.
I like seeing some of the comments, but GS’s wordy comments do nothing for Petrolicious.

1
Patrick Andrews
Patrick Andrews
8 years ago
Reply to  Ashley Mathews

The Internet offers lots of folk an opportunity to seem significant that real life correctly denies them. Let’s not give such laughable illiterati any notoriety by banning them. I became immune to trolling when I realised that my beloved 996 was actually running fine, despite all the dire online claptrap 😉
I’ve used my own name to register here (by far my favourite website). Perhaps this should be mandatory?

1
Jon Ulrich
Jon Ulrich
8 years ago

Stirling Moss was the only sports figure I was genuinely interested in. I was fortunate to see him race in Europe in the early 60s. His iconic relaxed style was a pleasure to watch. I remember watching him drive through the esses at Le Mans and noted that while others sawed at the wheel as if in a frenzy Moss barely moved the wheel. Smooth and confident was his manner both on and off the track. After his first tour on the track at Le Mans a young friend of mine approached him in the paddock behind the pits. He graciously signed my friend’s race prgram and posed for a picture. He was very approachable. Even now I consider him one of the greatest racing drivers ever to have raced.

1
Nicolas Moss
Nicolas Moss
8 years ago

My favorite, although not from the man himself but from his young son after a ride-along: “Oh, Daddy, it makes my willy tingle.”

-2
landie lover
landie lover
8 years ago

Wouldn’t life be great if Mr Guitar Slinger produced his own website full of his hilarious musings, so that we could all learn about why his opinions are more correct than those of the talented journalists of Petrolicious. I think it would benefit from a name which combined the automotive with a general bitterness and need to douse anyone else’s informed writings or passion. Perhaps it could be called ‘Choke’, ‘Crank’ or ‘Pisst-on’?

2
Guitar Slinger
Guitar Slinger
8 years ago

Lets put a little perspective on this . Much like Senna and any other man/woman placed on a pedestal Moss was at best a very flawed genius .. behind the wheel . The rest of his life ? Suffice it to say he made some of the worst career moves imaginable , was and still is less than an amiable individual to be in the company of and not exactly the kind of person I’d chose to break bread with even if I were being payed to do so … never mind like some paying for the privilege .

Which is to say … with no personal insult intended toward Sir Sterling what so ever .. don’t ever meet your heros /legends . You won’t much like what you’ll see / learn if you do . Cause to put it simply … we’re all a bunch of very flawed ( censored ) … hardly worth your attention …never mind your adoration in the slightest . e.g. Love what our accomplishments were in what ever specific field [ fields ] we excelled in … but don’t make the mistake of worshiping / adoring the person behind them or thinking our lives are/were perfect or worth emulating .

To borrow the words from the 60’s/70’s of Fireside Theater .. ” We’re all just Bozo’s on this bus ”

Or to reiterate the quote from the TV series ” FireFly ” [ ” Janesville ” } .. ” Seems to me every man ever had a statue made of him was one kind of an SOB or another ”

In closing one last bit of wisdom . Just because I or anyone else is/was good at one thing … doesn’t make us good at everything else . e.g. The ‘ Cult ‘ of Celebrity is vastly overblown in our entertainment addicted/addled society

1
Nick Gower
Nick Gower
8 years ago
Reply to  Guitar Slinger

Thanks for the inspiring words, you always make a trip to the comment section of petrolicious feel like YouTube. X

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