American - Scientist | November 9, 1934 - December 20, 1996
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
Carl Sagan
EvidenceAbsence
Even these stars, which seem so numerous, are as sand, as dust - or less than dust - in the enormity of the space in which there is nothing.
StarsSpaceSandNothingDustSeem
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
SpaceBetterUniverseDelusionFar
The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.
AmbitionUniversePerfectHarmony
Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.
SurvivalExtinctionRuleException
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.
GreatLightUniverseLonelyDark
We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.
TechnologyPowerScienceIgnorance
In our obscurity - in all this vastness - there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. It is up to us.
HelpWillUpUsComeSave
Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense.
ScienceReligionThoughtsDeepMeans
Today, we're still loaded down - and, to some extent, embarrassed - by ancient myths, but we respect them as part of the same impulse that has led to the modern, scientific kind of myth. But we now have the opportunity to discover, for the first time, the way the universe is in fact constructed as opposed to how we would wish it to be constructed.
OpportunityTodayRespectTimeWish
We start out a million years ago in a small community on some grassy plain; we hunt animals, have children, and develop a rich social, sexual, and intellectual life, but we know almost nothing about our surroundings.
LifeCommunityChildrenSmallStart
We're in very bad trouble if we don't understand the planet we're trying to save.
TryingBadTroubleUnderstandPlanet
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