But the only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. Arthur C. Clarke More Quotes by Arthur C. Clarke More Quotes From Arthur C. Clarke Some dangers are so spectacular and so much beyond normal experience that the mind refuses to accept them as real, and watches the approach of doom without any sense of apprehension. The man who looks at the onrushing tidal wave, the descending avalanche, or the spinning funnel of the tornado, yet makes no attempt to flee, is not necessarily paralyzed with fright or resigned to an unavoidable fate. He may simply be unable to believe that the message of his eyes concerns him personally. It is all happening to somebody else. Arthur C. Clarke realfearbelieve It is a good principle in science not to believe any 'fact'---however well attested---until it fits into some accepted frame of reference. Occasionally, of course, an observation can shatter the frame and force the construction of a new one, but that is extremely rare. Galileos and Einsteins seldom appear more than once per century, which is just as well for the equanimity of mankind. Arthur C. Clarke principlesbelievefacts I am an optimist. Anyone interested in the future has to be otherwise he would simply shoot himself. Arthur C. Clarke optimistoptimistic Perhaps no other year before or since 1984 has been awaited with such eager anticipation. Arthur C. Clarke has-beensanticipationyears To find anything comparable with our forthcoming ventures into space, we must go back far beyond Columbus, far beyond Odysseus-far, indeed, beyond the first ape-man. We must contemplate the moment, now irrevocably lost in the mists of time, when the ancestor off all of us came crawling out of the sea. Arthur C. Clarke spaceseamen Utopia was here at last: its novelty had not yet been assailed by the supreme enemy of a ll Utopias - boredom. Arthur C. Clarke boredomlastsenemy When I start on a book, I have been thinking about it and making occasional notes for some time... So I have lots of theme, locale, subjects and technical ideas... I don't worry about long periods of not doing anything. I know my subconscious is busy. Arthur C. Clarke bookideasthinking Since women are better at producing babies, presumably Nature has given men some talent to compensate. But for the moment I can't think of it. Arthur C. Clarke babymenthinking Any path to knowledge is a path to God-or Reality, whichever word one prefers to use Arthur C. Clarke usepathreality As his body became more and more defenseless, so his means of offense became steadily more frightful. Arthur C. Clarke offensebodymean Death focuses the mind on the things that really matter: why are we here, and what should we do? Arthur C. Clarke shouldmattermind I will not be afraid because I understand ... And understanding is happiness. Arthur C. Clarke understanding A single test which proves some piece of theory wrong is more valuable than a hundred tests showing that idea might be true. Arthur C. Clarke piecesmightideas SETI is probably the most important quest of our time , and it amazes me that governments and corporations are not supporting it sufficiently. Arthur C. Clarke questsgovernmentimportant The more wonderful the means of communication, the more trivial, tawdry, or depressing its contents seemed to be. Arthur C. Clarke depressingcommunicationmean Why, Robert Singh often wondered, did we give our hearts to friends whose life spans are so much shorter than our own? Arthur C. Clarke singhheartgiving At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years. Arthur C. Clarke progressscienceyears I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so commonplace a simile, we have set off the fire alarm and have nothing to do but to wait. I do not think we will have to wait for long. Arthur C. Clarke starsfirethinking I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development. I think that religion may be some random by-product of mammalian reproduction. If that's true, would non-mammalian aliens have a religion? Arthur C. Clarke evilplaythinking A man who grows that much hair,' critics were fond of saying, 'must have a lot to hide. Arthur C. Clarke criticshairmen
