Elon Musk has always been a quotable guy--and this week has been no exception for the 43-year-old Tesla and SpaceX CEO. His recent media appearances ahead of a yet-unknown big announcement have him in the spotlight again. At Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit in San Francisco, he riffed on everything from the dangers of flying cars to the potential for artificial intelligence to destroy human life.



We take a look at Musk’s top recent quotes, as well as a few classics:



1. “I’m not sure about the flying cars. If the sky was full of cars flying all over the place, it would affect how things look. It would affect the skyline. And it would be noisier and there would be a greater probability of something falling on your head. Those are not good things.” --October 8, 2014, at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit



2. “If there’s some digital super-intelligence, and its optimization or utility function is something that’s detrimental to humanity, it will have a very bad effect. It could be just something like getting rid of spam email. And it’s like, ‘The best way to get rid of spam is to get rid of humans.’” --October 8, 2014, at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit



3. “The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs. I’d be super-duper bored. I like high intensity.” --February 5, 2013, at the Computer History Museum



4. On his most common hiring mistake: “Weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.” --March 9, 2013, at South by Southwest



5. On the homemade explosives and rockets he made as a child: “It is remarkable how many things you can explode. I’m lucky I have all my fingers.” --September 13, 2012, speaking to Businessweek



6. “Optimism, pessimism, f*** that--we're going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I’m hell-bent on making it work.” --August 5, 2008, speaking to Wired



7. “When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars people said, ‘Nah, what's wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.” --April 22, 2003, speaking to the Los Angeles Times