Carl Sagan Quotes - Page 13

Quotes about:

• My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a god. We would be unappreciative of those gifts (as well as unable to take such a course of action) if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves. On the other hand, if such a traditional god does not exist, our curiosity and our intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival. In either case, the enterprise of knowledge is consistent with both science and religion, and is essential for the welfare of the human species.

  Carl Sagan

  Passion, Hands, Survival

  Carl Sagan, Jerald F. TerHorst, Allan J. Mayer, Sharon S. McKern, Laurence J. Peter (1980). “Broca's brain: reflections on the romance of science”

  4 Copy quote

• The passion to explore is at the heart of being human.

  Carl Sagan

  Nature, Passion, Heart

  4 Copy quote

• You can get into a habit of thought in which you enjoy making fun of all those other people who don't see things as clearly as you do. We have to guard carefully against it.

  Carl Sagan

  Fun, Science, People

  "The Burden of Skepticism". Book by Carl Sagan, 1987.

  8 Copy quote

• Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others, if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out.

  Carl Sagan

  Death, History, Would Be

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science”, p.355, Ballantine Books

  31 Copy quote

• Absolute certainty will always elude us. We will always be mired in error. The most each generation can hope for is to reduce the error. . . .

  Carl Sagan

  Errors, Elude Us, Generations

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.52, Ballantine Books

  11 Copy quote

• If chimpanzees have consciousness, if they are capable of abstractions, do they not have what until now has been described as 'human rights'? How smart does a chimp have to be before killing him constitutes murder?

  Carl Sagan

  Smart, Animal, Rights

  Carl Sagan (2012). “Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence”, p.126, Ballantine Books

  10 Copy quote

• Except for children (who don't know enough not to ask the important questions), few of us spendtime wondering why nature is the way it is . . .

  Carl Sagan

  Nature, Children, Important

  4 Copy quote

• There are huge advertising budgets only when there's no difference between the products. If the products really were different, people would buy the one that's better. Advertising teaches people not to trust their judgment. Advertising teaches people to be stupid.

  Carl Sagan

  Stupid, Differences, People

  Carl Sagan (2016). “Contact”, p.225, Simon and Schuster

  5 Copy quote

• Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy. And in the final tolling it often turns out that the facts are more comforting than the fantasy.

  Carl Sagan

  Comforting, Religion, Finals

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.263, Ballantine Books

  5 Copy quote

• Organic as a dandelion seed, [the ship of our imagination] will carry us to worlds of dreams and worlds of facts

  Carl Sagan

  Dream, Imagination, World

  23 Copy quote

• The illegality of cannabis is outrageous.

  Carl Sagan

  Cannabis, Outrageous

  "Mr. X". Essay by Carl Sagan, hermiene.net. 1969.

  4 Copy quote

• The visions we offer our children shape the future.

  Carl Sagan

  Children, Vision, Shapes

  Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan (2011). “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”, p.90, Ballantine Books

  8 Copy quote

• Writing a novel is like trying to solve a very long mathematical equation. Changing anything can change everything else.

  Carl Sagan

  Writing, Mathematical Equations, Long

  7 Copy quote

• Those who seek power at any price detect a societal weakness, a fear that they can ride into office.

  Carl Sagan

  Office, Weakness

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.518, Ballantine Books

  4 Copy quote

• Religions are often state-protected nurseries of pseudoscience, although there's no reason why religions have to play that role. In a way, it's an artefact from times long gone.

  Carl Sagan

  Play, Nurse, Long

  Carl Sagan (2011). “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.15, Ballantine Books

  6 Copy quote

• It seems madness to say, 'We're worried that they're going to become addicted to marijuana' -- there's no evidence whatever that it's an addictive drug, but even if it were, these people are dying, what are we saving them from?

  Carl Sagan

  Marijuana, People, Drug

  4 Copy quote

• I set before you two ways: You can use your technology to destroy yourselves or to carry you to the planets and the stars. It's up to you.

  Carl Sagan

  Stars, Technology, Two

  "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage". TV Series, Episode 13: Who Speaks for Earth?, 1990.

  7 Copy quote

• Except for fools and madmen, everyone knows that nuclear war would he an unprecedented human catastrophe.

  Carl Sagan

  War, Nuclear, Fool

  7 Copy quote

• The Earth is a place. It is by no means the only place. It is not even a typical place.

  Carl Sagan

  Mean, Typical, Earth

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Cosmos”, p.26, Ballantine Books

  4 Copy quote

• I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this cosmos in which we float, like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

  Carl Sagan

  Morning, Believe, Dust

  "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage". Book by Carl Sagan, p. 4, 1980.

  34 Copy quote

• If some good evidence for life after death were announced, I'd be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere anecdote. As with the face on Mars and alien abductions, better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy.

  Carl Sagan

  Atheist, Real, Data

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.263, Ballantine Books

  7 Copy quote

• How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?

  Carl Sagan

  Smart, Doe, Murder

  "Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence".

  4 Copy quote

• For all our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness.

  Carl Sagan

  Greatness, Failing, Fallibility

  Carl Sagan (1994). “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”, Random House Incorporated

  8 Copy quote

• Eratosthenes's only tools were sticks, eyes, feet, and brains; plus a zest for experiment. With those tools he correctly deduced the circumference of the Earth, to high precision, with an error of only a few percent. That's pretty good figuring for 2200 years ago.

  Carl Sagan

  Eye, Errors, Zest

  4 Copy quote

• Demon mean knowledge in Greek, especially about the material world. Science means knowledge in Latin. A jurisdictional dispute is exposed, even if we look no further

  Carl Sagan

  Latin, Mean, Science

  9 Copy quote

Page 13 of 24

First

← Prev

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

Next →

• facebook
• twitter
• googleplus
• email
• linkedin