"What did I want?"

"I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, 'The games' afoot!' I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin. I wanted Prester John and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon.

I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be -- instead of the tawdry, lousy, fouled-up mess it is." -- Glory Road, Robert Heinlein

Incidentally, the 1st Heinlein Prize for Advances in Space Commercialization has been awarded to Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. He'll receive $500,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion, the Lady Vivamus Sword as shown above, and a Laureate’s Diploma.