Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.

When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it.

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

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

No other planet in the solar system is a suitable home for human beings; it's this world or nothing. That's a very powerful perception.