Daily Inspiration Quote by Philippe Perrin

Perrin’s line reads like the astronaut’s version of a carefully kept promise: treat everyone the same, but quietly acknowledge that the stakes aren’t evenly distributed. On the surface, he’s describing a training mindset - no favoritism, no hierarchy, just the work. That’s the professional ethic NASA and its partners try to cultivate: competence over ego, crew cohesion over star turns.

Then he slips in the human truth. “Of course” is doing the real labor here. He can’t help wanting to “take more care” of the Expedition crew because their mission isn’t a sprint; it’s a long-duration bet against fatigue, isolation, and tiny errors that compound over months. In shuttle-era culture, there was still an implied return-to-Earth rhythm: launch, execute, come home. Expedition crews, by definition, live inside the system they’re maintaining. Perrin is hinting that the moral responsibility of training changes when the exit isn’t immediate.

The intent is partly diplomatic - no one wants to suggest one crew matters more - but also quietly corrective. Long stays demand a different kind of mentorship: more redundancy, more psychological buffering, more attention to habits that keep people functional when novelty wears off. The subtext is that equality is a principle; care is situational. He’s describing not just training logistics, but an ethic of stewardship: you don’t love some crewmates more, but you do worry differently when they’re the ones who can’t simply come home next week.