My father was not only a planetary scientist and a great popularizer of science, but he thought very deeply about the world. He was a scholar, he studied history. He taught a class in critical thinking, and he was very, very aware of the directions we might go.
Nick Sagan
Related Of course, Einstein was a very great scientist indeed, and I have enormous respect for him, and grea... JOHN POLKINGHORNE He was a little of both. I didn't know much in those days, because it was only my third film. I was ... ROBERT WISE My father was an immigrant who literally walked across Europe to get out of Russia. He fought in Wor... ARLEN SPECTER As a person, he was wonderful. He really was a great person. He was full of life. He had a great sen... PRISCILLA PRESLEY My father was a successful real estate developer, and he was a very tough man but a good man. My fat... DONALD TRUMP My father was career military. He was a veteran, he was a doctor of political science, he taught at ... SUZANNE COLLINS Relaxing, experiencing nature and laughing are what rejuvenate me and make me feel happy. I believe ... SUI HE Since raised blood pressure is the major cause of stroke, the blood pressure lowering effect of pota... FENG HE As a young child, I suffered from poor health. My parents encouraged me to swim, which really improv... SUI HE I like to find old things and I picked up that arrowhead in tears, that broken point ... LI HE These findings provide strong support for the recommendations encouraging the public to consume more... FENG HE The average fruit and vegetable intake in most developed countries is about three servings per day, ... FENG HE They are the Chinese heroes. I am happy for their performance and the result is not the most importa... HE ZHENLIANG This will be conducive to the development of Sino-US relations and China's relationships with the re... HE YAFEI The best way to resolve Sino-US trade imbalance is to expand bilateral trade cooperation. Restrictin... HE YAFEI They are sorry there is no more Soviet Union and they don't know how to act. HE YAFEI We are willing to import more U.S. goods. HE YAFEI Even when he's making dumplings with peasants, he speaks memorized words and sounds like a People's ... HE WEIFANG This is a critical moment. There is a lot of opposition to continuing the reforms as they are today. HE WEIFANG I unequivocally state the wish that the Communist Party should become two parties. HE WEIFANG The situation exists in almost every well-known Chinese university. HE WEIFANG The government really wants to slow down investment, but it can't control local governments who have... HE FAN The new managed floating currency regime is just an interim system. There is a chance of a further w... HE FAN Eventually, we found that the situation there was more serious than what we imagined. HE CHANGCHUI Part of our mission is to find out what kind of assistance is required. HE CHANGCHUI My father was my main influence. He was a preacher, but he was also a history and political science ... DAVID SOUL He was a very special man. He was a strong supporter of our program and he really, really cared. We'... BOBBY ROSS He was like a father to me. He was a down-to-earth guy, very straight forward. He let you know what ... GARY MARSH Mark Twain was very unhappy with himself for various reasons. He was very unhappy with America of th... JOYCE CAROL OATES My father was a very good Boy Scout. He was very skilled with knots, and he showed me how to tie a b... BILL NYE He didn’t know if that was really true or not, but he discovered something which was tremendously ... STEPHEN KING He was very smart and he was very passionately committed to the causes he believed in. He was always... GEORGINE GETTY My dad was a terrible father. Dreadful. But he had a very difficult childhood. He was fostered - he ... MARK BILLINGHAM DiMaggio was never a rube. He was very smart and very urban. Coming out of the Great Depression, he ... RICHARD BEN CRAMER My father was a very warm, gregarious, sociable person who had many interests. He lived his life ver... DIANA QUICK I remember one time I wrote something very, very critical about Wilt Chamberlain. The next time I sa... FRANK DEFORD I know that he was very intelligent. He was as good in school as he was in sports. He was very good ... MARTIN BRIERE I remember him as a very special young man. He was very positive and he was a young man who was a jo... EVELYN FOX He was one of a kind. Not only did he have a great voice, he didn't pander to the lowest common deno... RAY WALKER When we first came to Pascagoula, we saw him quite a lot. He came in here a lot and we always though... MARY ANDERSON Gorillas remind me of my father. He was a very big, physically strong man but also very sensitive. ANTHONY BROWNE I knew Sinatra for 38 years. He was like my father. Frank Sinatra was my 'dad.' He treated m... TRINI LOPEZ I thought our guys wrestled really well today. Alex and Nick wrestled very well. Alfred was a little... ZACH ERRETT He was so pleased when he qualified and thought he might not make it. It was very important to him t... ARBERDELLA DAVIS My father and I had a good relationship, it was very relaxed. He had a lot of humour. He looked a li... MICHAEL HANEKE He was a very soft-spoken, quiet guy who thought deeply. He was a very kind colleague who didn't try... DAN SMITH He was kind of the odd man out because there weren't enough passes to go around. But he was a great ... HENRY MASON My father was champion of North Africa and he beat the European champ. He was very good, a professio... OLIVIER MARTINEZ I thought Mark Wilson did very well tonight. He worked very hard in midfield and it's nice to get th... COLIN CLARKE I had a coach that was not a great player, but he taught with kids and juniors so that by the time h... GUY FORGET My grandfather was a very elegant individual. My father also. He was a lawyer and farmer in Cuba. In... ANDY GARCIA My father was a doctor, but he was what I would call an intellectual - very well-read and very inter... SHIRIN NESHAT My father was an engineer - he wasn't literary, not a writer or a journalist, but he was one of ... JANET FITCH He was extremely talented, but in a different way. His images are very vivid. He used empty space in... FRANCESCO BONAMI I was just studying with my father, a very difficult task for me since he was a great, great Qawwali... NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN Some of us claim that he was a messiah, and some think that he was just a man with very special powe... NEIL GAIMAN My father was a golden boy from a very small town. He won a very prestigious law scholarship to NYU ... BLAKE BAILEY I'm 100 percent convinced that Pablo Escobar was a human being. And he was a very interesting on... WAGNER MOURA Bryan played very hard tonight, very well. He was moving the puck and he was very responsible. They ... BRYAN MURRAY I've met the Dalai Lama briefly, but I would probably say my grandfather was the wisest person I... SALMAN RUSHDIE He was very concerned about atomic science, ... He took one of the first classes ever offered in the... SUSAN TAYLOR He told me he was hopeful of getting Negro players into the game. He was very sure about it. He was ... HOWDY GROSKLOSS He was very cagey with his directions LINDSAY MORAN I was always very aware of drummers. My oldest brother Henry was a drummer, and he drummed on everyt... DAVE BRUBECK It was about 1951. She had written me and said he was very special and he thought she was very speci... EDYTHE SCOTT BAGLEY He was a very caring father. All he talked about is his baby. I'm just so sorry. They are very good ... LINDA GREEN At times he was very lucid and very aware. Other times it was like he would just clam up. MARY BAMONTE He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape ... HAILE GEBRSELASSIE My father was a very good craftsman. He made furniture, he made silverware and he had an incredible ... JONATHAN IVE He's a very hard horse to ride. He came out a little bit at the end, but as soon as he came out, I t... JAVIER CASTELLANO Mick's a wonderful person. He has * fantastic qualities. He's a great father, he's very funny and we... JERRY HALL That's the duality of Johnny: he was very, very family-oriented, and yet he was also a s---kicker. JOAQUIN PHOENIX My father, Oliver Hynes, was an educator. He was originally just a teacher, a very good one, but the... GARRY HYNES I mean you might say he had a travelling post office, but also Barney was very, very active. He was ... BETTY HILL My father left Nazi Germany a year after Dr. Kissinger, and so in my household he was very much an i... EUGENE JARECKI In the 1970s, we had Carl Sagan, and he was so suave with his turtleneck and his tweed jacket. And h... GREG GRAFFIN It was a very hard battle because he had a lot of medical issues and side effects. He was very limit... DEBORAH FORBIS I did not know anything about his history as an actor in New York. He was a total stranger to me. He... DENNIS STOCK My paternal grandfather, when he was in the army in World War II - he was over in the South Pacific,... STURGILL SIMPSON My dad was great. He was very droll, very dry. ALBERT FINNEY He was very concerned about his family. But as a soldier, he was ready to step up and do his duty. H... BOB KING I thought he was very nice. It wasn't love at first sight, but he was very nice. GOSIA SOBALA When Collin was here he was a very good player, obviously, and he was a very good student. JACK MORAN He was very, very talented. In the beginning, he is a little obnoxious, but he learns humanity near ... CHARLIE SKELTON He not only was my soccer coach, but a mentor for life. He was a friend. I have nothing but best wis... CHAD BROWN My dad was an amazing father. He was very loving and supportive. He was the best dad you could ever ... KRISTIN HAWKINS He was a giver. He took all of the good things our mother and father taught. He was the best son a m... BILL HARMON When I was 5, my father was very much my hero. And he ran for political office in a very thankless c... HOWARD WARREN BUFFETT My dad grew up in a mud hut and studied by candlelight. He was 14 when he got a scholarship to Russi... M.I.A. My father was a brew master. He was the one who I was very close to, he influenced me in many many w... KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW The angle he was on, it was a very hard degree of difficulty. He had an open net, but it was very di... ANDY GATES He was bilingual and really able to relate to the 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds, especially those coming ou... KEN SCHNACKE Jason knew his life would never be the same again. British intelligence now had an ace up their slee... MARK A. COOPER I'm very happy about that and so was he. He was disappointed because he fumbled on the last carry an... MIKE HOLMGREN I was thinking that he was going to slow down, maybe. But he was very strong. BENJAMIN MAIYO My father was not comfortable working with very articulate people. He and Willie Wyler got along bec... SAMUEL GOLDWYN, JR. He did a great job this week and came so very close, but he was a little bit unlucky in the end. ROGER FEDERER He was a very pragmatic leader, and he was very successful in provincial level market reforms in the... TANG WENFANG He trained some of the best human geneticists in the world. He was inspiring and was very enthusiast... DAVID PATTERSON He was clearly a very, very bright guy. He was a very hardworking guy in addition to being brilliant... PURDUE PRESIDENT MARTIN JISCHKE
More Nick Sagan
Dad was a difference maker. He reached out to people. He took them by the awe and wonder we feel ove... NICK SAGAN Dad was a world-famous astronomer; Mom was the artist who drew the iconic Pioneer plaque. NICK SAGAN It goes back to the starfish. That's when the light bulb really popped over my head. We'd fo... NICK SAGAN Astonishingly powerful and poignant, 'Gravity' is the rarest of rares: a space survival film... NICK SAGAN British and Canadian sci-fi strikes me as more forward-looking than its American counterpart, as evi... NICK SAGAN Human divisions would be child's play for any reasonably competent alien overlord to exploit - c... NICK SAGAN For a genre that's about looking to the future, science fiction has sure been looking backwards ... NICK SAGAN Higher levels of technology allow fewer people to do more damage. NICK SAGAN Something my father dearly loved is the scientific method, and it's founded in this element of h... NICK SAGAN Because if we were all the same, then we would all share the same weaknesses. NICK Being scared is simply fear of incompetence. NICK One, two, three, Im gon be crazy and free. NICK There is a wide, yawning black infinity. In every direction, the extension is endless; the sensation... CARL SAGAN But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniu... CARL SAGAN In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to sav... CARL SAGAN Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. CARL SAGAN The dangers of not thinking clearly are much greater now than ever before. It's not that there... CARL SAGAN The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition. CARL SAGAN Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception. CARL SAGAN Writing is a question of finding a certain rhythm. I compare it to the rhythms of jazz. Much of the ... FRANCOISE SAGAN If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth. CARL SAGAN It is the tension between creativity and skepticism that has produced the stunning and unexpected fi... CARL SAGAN Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires int... CARL SAGAN Imagine that I am riding a bicycle toward you. As I approach an intersection I nearly collide, so it... CARL SAGAN A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science... CARL SAGAN Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you k... CARL SAGAN Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to ... CARL SAGAN The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself. CARL SAGAN The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pi... CARL SAGAN Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we ... CARL SAGAN A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called CARL SAGAN The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing ... CARL SAGAN The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put toget... CARL SAGAN The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space. CARL SAGAN Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. CARL SAGAN Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. CARL SAGAN In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with... CARL SAGAN Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live... CARL SAGAN Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we r... CARL SAGAN One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to re... CARL SAGAN Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere. CARL SAGAN People are not stupid. They believe things for reasons. The last way for skeptics to get the attenti... CARL SAGAN There is today-in a time when old beliefs are withering-a kind of philosophical hunger, a need to kn... CARL SAGAN The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all ... CARL SAGAN We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and techno... CARL SAGAN We are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self-awareness. We have begun to contemplate our or... CARL SAGAN In the fabric of space and in the nature of matter, as in a great work of art, there is, written sma... CARL SAGAN Books tap the wisdom of our species -- the greatest minds, the best teachers -- from all over the wo... CARL SAGAN Of course the illusion of art is to make one believe that great literature is very close to life, bu... FRANCOISE SAGAN If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. CARL SAGAN When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'... CARL SAGAN It seems to me that there are two kinds of trickery: the fronts people assume before one another's e... FRANCOISE SAGAN Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. ... CARL SAGAN To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter. FRANCOISE SAGAN Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves. CARL SAGAN If we like them, they're freedom fighters . . . If we don't like them, they're terrorists. In the un... CARL SAGAN If the world is to be understood, if we are to avoid such logical paradoxes when traveling at high s... CARL SAGAN Jazz music is an intensified feeling of nonchalance. FRANCOISE SAGAN We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers. CARL SAGAN What's the harm of a little mystification? It sure beats boring statistical analyses. CARL SAGAN They laughed at Galileo. They laughed at Newton. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. CARL SAGAN I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set ... CARL SAGAN A central lesson of science is that to understand complex issues (or even simple ones), we must try ... CARL SAGAN In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfill... CARL SAGAN The significance of a finding that there are other beings who share this universe with us would be a... CARL SAGAN For the first time, we have the power to decide the fate of our planet and ourselves, ... This is a ... CARL SAGAN Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. CARL SAGAN Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. -Carl Sa... CARL SAGAN We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and techno... CARL SAGAN Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere. CARL SAGAN It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English - up to fif... CARL SAGAN Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere. CARL SAGAN The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition. . -Carl Sagan. CARL SAGAN Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it i... CARL SAGAN Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people r... CARL SAGAN All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single lar... CARL SAGAN All inquires carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will c... CARL SAGAN We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows a... CARL SAGAN Art must take reality by surprise. F. SAGAN Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus. FRANçOISE SAGAN Our ancestors worshipped the Sun, and they were not that foolish. It makes sense to revere the S... CARL SAGAN But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geni... CARL SAGAN I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudo-science and superstition will seem y... CARL SAGAN I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever ... CARL SAGAN I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary s... CARL SAGAN Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowe... CARL SAGAN It's been said that astronomy is a humbling and, I might add, a character-building experience. CARL SAGAN Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. CARL SAGAN The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous. CARL SAGAN Even these stars, which seem so numerous, are as sand, as dust - or less than dust - in the enormity... CARL SAGAN Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucke... CARL SAGAN For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however ... CARL SAGAN Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in ... CARL SAGAN It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfyi... CARL SAGAN The one thing I regret is that I will never have time to read all the books I want to read. FRANCOISE SAGAN No other planet in the solar system is a suitable home for human beings; it's this world or noth... CARL SAGAN Today, we're still loaded down - and, to some extent, embarrassed - by ancient myths, but we res... CARL SAGAN We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they... CARL SAGAN Can you be sure that others have not come before you and destroyed the pristine state of the native ... CARL SAGAN Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understand... CARL SAGAN I would suggest that science is, at least in my part, informed worship. CARL SAGAN We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other sta... CARL SAGAN A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars w... CARL SAGAN The Hindu religion is the only one of the world’s great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosm... CARL SAGAN How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than... CARL SAGAN Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people r... CARL SAGAN All over the world there are enormous numbers of smart, even gifted, people who harbor a passion for... CARL SAGAN Arguments from authority carry little weight – authorities have made mistakes in the past. They wi... CARL SAGAN When you're in love, you want to tell the world. My lifelong love affair with science CARL SAGAN Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get ... CARL SAGAN I don't think science is hard to teach because humans aren't ready for it, or because it arose only ... CARL SAGAN Christianity may be good and Satanism evil. Under the Constitution, however, both are neutral. This ... CARL SAGAN But I try not to think with my gut. If I'm serious about understanding the world, thinking with anyt... CARL SAGAN Not explaining science seems to me perverse. When you're in love, you want to tell the world. CARL SAGAN One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its... CARL SAGAN In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to ... CARL SAGAN I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and superstition will seem ye... CARL SAGAN Now, what's the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fir... CARL SAGAN I find many adults are put off when young children pose scientific questions. Why is the Moon round?... CARL SAGAN There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate ... CARL SAGAN There are wonders enough out there without our inventing any. CARL SAGAN We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and... CARL SAGAN The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Je... CARL SAGAN If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in ... CARL SAGAN Avoidable human misery is more often caused not so much by stupidity as by ignorance, particularly o... CARL SAGAN An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on Earth - scrutinizing what we mainly present to our child... CARL SAGAN The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them — the sense ... CARL SAGAN But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine. CARL SAGAN Books, purchasable at low cost, permit us to interrogate the past with high accuracy; to tap the wis... CARL SAGAN I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States... CARL SAGAN Marriage? It's like asparagus eaten with vinaigrette or hollandaise, a matter of taste but of no... FRANCOISE SAGAN We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and te... CARL SAGAN We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a pre... CARL SAGAN We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows a... CARL SAGAN The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. CARL SAGAN The boundary between space and the earth is purely arbitrary. And I'll probably always be intere... CARL SAGAN If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. CARL SAGAN Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how ... CARL SAGAN For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love. CARL SAGAN The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent. CARL SAGAN Nothing brings on jealousy like laughter. FRANçOISE SAGAN The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matc... CARL SAGAN Some information is classified legitimately; as with military hardware, secrecy sometimes really is ... CARL SAGAN Understanding is a kind of ecstasy CARL SAGAN You probably don't need more weapons than what's required to destroy every city on earth. Th... CARL SAGAN We've been told that there exists no other trove of rock-and-roll history that is anywhere near the ... BILL SAGAN The quality is unbelievable. I give the BGP people a lot of credit. They kept [the tapes] cold and a... BILL SAGAN In my opinion it's worth a significant amount more. It certainly is in excess of $50 million. It's p... BILL SAGAN It's tough to do your job because it's so tempting to go down and just listen to audio or go look at... BILL SAGAN I thought there was maybe a half million to a million slides and negatives. As it turned out, there'... BILL SAGAN It was 25 feet high in height, below ground. Part of it was below ground. And there were, I thought,... BILL SAGAN In the audio and video archives, there are 7,000 taped concerts alone. I'm a rock fan who wanted to ... BILL SAGAN Bill Graham was a pack rat. I think Bill Graham just put everything down in that storage area and wa... BILL SAGAN The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may... CARL SAGAN Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever t... CARL SAGAN Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. CARL SAGAN The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps pr... CARL SAGAN It seems to me that there are two kinds of trickery: the "fronts" people assume before one another'... FRANCOISE SAGAN What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on whic... CARL SAGAN You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on ... CARL SAGAN It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English - up to fift... CARL SAGAN You have to know the past to understand the present. CARL SAGAN We are star stuff harvesting sunlight. CARL SAGAN Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envisio... CARL SAGAN It is healthier to see the good points of others than to analyze our own bad ones. FRANCOISE SAGAN Every little girl knows about love. It is only her capacity to suffer because of it that increases. FRANCOISE SAGAN In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my positio... CARL SAGAN A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity... CARL SAGAN Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowe... CARL SAGAN One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years.... CARL SAGAN It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fif... CARL SAGAN In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bil... CARL SAGAN If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe... CARL SAGAN It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most sk... CARL SAGAN We are the representatives of the cosmos; we are an example of what hydrogen atoms can do, given 15 ... CARL SAGAN Are we an exceptionally unlikely accident or is the universe brimming over with intelligence? (It's)... CARL SAGAN The one thing I regret is that I will never have time to read all the books I want to read. F. SAGAN When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - ... CARL SAGAN It seems to me that there are two kinds of trickery: the 'fronts' people assume before one a... FRANCOISE SAGAN We start out a million years ago in a small community on some grassy plain; we hunt animals, have ch... CARL SAGAN Black holes may be apertures to elsewhen. Were we to plunge down a black hole, we would re-emerge, i... CARL SAGAN It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out. CARL SAGAN The earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all ... CARL SAGAN I don't want to believe. I want to know. CARL SAGAN In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my positio... CARL SAGAN You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such... CARL SAGAN I've written a number of books that have to do with the evolution of humans, human intelligence,... CARL SAGAN Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us ... CARL SAGAN The vast distances that separate the stars are providential. Beings and worlds are quarantined from ... CARL SAGAN The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and c... CARL SAGAN The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars. CARL SAGAN The near side of a galaxy is tens of thousands of light-years closer to us than the far side; thus w... CARL SAGAN [When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 ... CARL SAGAN I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering ... CARL SAGAN It is said that men may not be the dreams of the Gods, but rather that the Gods are the dreams of me... CARL SAGAN The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us ... CARL SAGAN The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ours... CARL SAGAN Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Ta... CARL SAGAN To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter F. SAGAN We are not without empathetic terror when we open Pascal's 'Pensees' and read, 'I am... CARL SAGAN