Carl Sagan Quotes

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.

It is said that men may not be the dreams of the god, but rather that the gods are the dreams of men...

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live...

We are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to contemplate our or...

Those at too great a distance may, I am well are, mistake ignorance for perspective.

...two chimpanzees were observed maltreating a chicken: One would extend some food to the fowl, enco...

There are many hypotheses in physics of almost comparable brilliance and elegance that have beenreje...

The sleeping style of each organism is exquisitelyadapted to the ecology of the animal. It is concei...

It is interesting that it is not the getting of any sort of knowledge that God has forbidden, but, s...

When all is said and done, the invention of writing must be reckoned not only as a brilliant innovat...

I know of no significant advance in science that did not require major inputs from both cerebral hem...

Intuitive: The word conveys, I think, a diffuse annoyance at our inability to understand how we come...

And despite the insignificance of the instant we have so far occupied in cosmic time, it is clear th...

the future belongs to those societies that treat new ideas as delicate, fragile and immensely valuab...

The time scale for evolutionary or genetic change is very long. A characteristic period for the emer...

While ritual, emotion and reasoning are all significant aspects of human nature, the most nearly uni...

It is very difficult to evolve by altering the deep fabric of life; any change there is likely to be...

The time scale for evolutionary or genetic change is very long. A characteristic period for the emer...

Russell commented that the development of such gifted individuals (referring to polymaths) required ...

Dartmouth College employs computer learning techniques in a very broad array of courses. For example...

Our probable ancestors, Homo erectus and Homo habilis -now extinct- are classified as of the same ge...

Much of the difficulty in attempting to restructure American and other societies arises form this re...

In addition to Ameslan, chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates are being taught a variety of other ...

In addition, human beings have, in the most recent few tenths of a percent of our existence, invente...

Washburn has reported that infant baboons and other young primates appear to be born with only three...

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this entire subject is that there are nonhuman primates so close...

Significant change might require those who are now high in the hierarchy to move downward many steps...

The price we pay for the anticipation of our future is anxiety about it.

As a consequence of the enormous social and technological changes of the last few centuries, the wor...

Curiosity and the urge to solve problems are theemotional hallmarks of our species

MacLean has shown that the R-complex plays an important role in aggressive behavior, territoriality,...

I find these comparisons particularly poignant: life versus death, hope versus fear. Space explorati...

Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Ta...

n every culture, the sky and the religious impulse are intertwined. I lie back in an open field and ...

We tend to hear much more about the splendors returned than the ships that brought them or the shipw...

The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and c...

A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars w...

It is now almost possible to assign color combinations, based on the colors of clouds and sky, to ev...

Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we ...

Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. ...

The Cosmos extends, for all practical purposes, forever. After a brief sedentary hiatus, we are resu...

It is precisely our plasticity, our long childhood, that prevents a slavish adherence to genetically...

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you k...

I do not think it irresponsible to portray even the direst futures if we are to avoid them we must u...

How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than w...

Science cuts two ways, of course; its products can be used for both good and evil. But there's no tu...

Once we lose our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome Univer...

Or consider a story in the Jewish Talmud left out of the Book of Genesis. (It is in doubtful accord ...

These days there seems to be nowhere left to explore, at least on the land area of the Earth. Victim...

There is something stunningly narrow about how the Anthropic Principle is phrased. Yes, only certain...

Once upon a time, we soared into the Solar System. For a few years. Then we hurried back. Why? What ...

The visions we offer our children shape the future. It _matters_ what those visions are. Often they ...

Whatever the reason we first mustered the _Apollo_ program, however mired it was in Cold War nationa...

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no...

On Titan the molecules that have been raining down like manna from heaven for the last 4 billion yea...

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it's d...

The Apollo pictures of the whole Earth conveyed to multitudes something well known to astronomers: O...

The symbolism seemed so apt. The same technology that can propel apocalyptic weapons from continent ...

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by th...

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you k...

Science cuts two ways, of course; its products can be used for both good and evil. But there's no tu...

The vast distances that separate the stars are providential. Beings and worlds are quarantined from ...

Consider again that dot [Earth]. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, every...

There is every reason to think that in the coming years Mars and its mysteries will become increasin...

Sailors on a becalmed sea, we sense the stirring of a breeze.

Fireflies out on a warm summer's night, seeing the urgent, flashing, yellow-white phosphorescence be...

Many religions have attempted to make statues of their gods very large, and the idea, I suppose, is ...

Even if we ourselves are not personally scandalized by the notion of other animals as close relative...

Every now and then, I'm lucky enough to teach a kindergarten or first-grade class. Many of these chi...

One of the great commandments of science is, 'Mistrust arguments from authority'. (Scientists, being...

I don't think science is hard to teach because humans aren't ready for it, or because it arose only ...

I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States...

When I wake up I go through an abbreviated process of mourning all over again. Plainly, there’s some...

Nevertheless, (Jefferson) believed that the habit of skepticism is an essential prerequisite for res...

Claims that cannot be tested, assertions immune to disproof are veridically worthless, whatever valu...

[In] everyday life, it is very rare that we are confronted with new facts about events of long ago. ...

In college, in the early 1950s, I began to learn a little about how science works, the secrets of it...

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we r...

All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who ch...

You squeeze the eyedropper, and a drop of pond water drips out onto the microscope stage. You look a...

Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly o...

Cutting off fundamental, curiosity-driven science is like eating the seed corn. We may have a little...

Why do we put up with it? Do we like to be criticized? No, no scientist enjoys it. Every scientist f...

There is much that science doesn't understand, many mysteries still to be resolved. In a Universe te...

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however ...

At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an op...

Liberation from superstition is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for science.

Often, superstition and injustice are imposed by the same ecclesiastical and secular authorities, wo...

The same few dozen organic molecules are used over and over again in biology for the widest variety ...

Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge. It is a bulwark against m...

Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get ...

But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - ar...

One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reje...

Arguments from authority carry little weight – authorities have made mistakes in the past. They will...

It is certainly true that all beliefs and all myths are worthy of a respectful hearing. It is not tr...

But I try not to think with my gut. If I'm serious about understanding the world, thinking with anyt...

All over the world there are enormous numbers of smart, even gifted, people who harbor a passion for...

The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them — the sense th...

It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good, ...

Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the war...