- [talking about Donald Campbell]
- David Wynne-Morgan: He would always talk about getting the records for *Britain*, never talking about just for himself. I've heard him say many times that to be born British was to win the first prize in life.
- [after Donald Campbell's crash at Lake Bonneville]
- David Wynne-Morgan: We met at the Dorchester in London. And it was the only time I've ever met him when he was visibly short on confidence. He was very unsure what his future was - and indeed whether he *had* one. He'd smashed his skull and this had obviously shaken him considerably, but he *had* to do more record attempts because he didn't have any money and it was his only means of making money.
- [John Pearson recounts what Donald Campbell said to him just before his fatal water speed record attempt]
- John Pearson: He said to me "I think it will probably kill me but I've *got* to do it."
- John Pearson: His father had a much easier job, driving his simpler cars at lower speeds, and becoming a great national hero and getting his knighthood. Donald tried the same thing on much more difficult cars, going at much faster speeds in a very different world, but he wasn't taken seriously in the way his father was. I think, though, that when you go beneath the surface of what was going on, you realise that this really was a man who was a much greater man than his father, a much more heroic man, a much nicer man, and a genuine hero.
- Donald Campbell: [archive footage] Probably, also, I haven't grown up, and if that's so, well I'm quite prepared to accept it and I'm in no hurry. There's too much time to grow up and grow old.
- John Pearson: I think Donald is the sort of hero we really need today, someone who is not phoney but, on the other hand, is not a pompous git. He wasn't a pompous git, he was a good guy, and he was very honourable.