He found it both sad and fascinating that only through an artificial universe of video images could she establish contact with the real world. Arthur C. Clarke More Quotes by Arthur C. Clarke More Quotes From Arthur C. Clarke Science fiction seldom attempts to predict the future. More often than not, it tries to prevent the future. Arthur C. Clarke science-fiction trying fiction It is vital to remember that information - in the sense of raw data - is not knowledge, that knowledge is not wisdom, and that wisdom is not foresight. But information is the first essential step to all of these. Arthur C. Clarke data essentials knowledge The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars. Arthur C. Clarke space stars moon I sometimes think that the universe is a machine designed for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers. Arthur C. Clarke astonishment machines thinking The universe must be full of voices, calling from star to star in a myriad tongues. One day we shall join that cosmic conversation. Arthur C. Clarke one-day voice stars I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about. Arthur C. Clarke questions-and-answers writing thinking A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. Arthur C. Clarke regret truth faith The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That's why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system. Arthur C. Clarke unemployment goal play No utopia can ever give satisfaction to everyone, all the time. As their material conditions improve, men raise their sights and become discontented with power and possessions that once would have seemed beyond their wildest dreams. And even when the external world has granted all it can, there still remain the searchings of the mind and the longings of the heart. Arthur C. Clarke dream heart men You can't have it both ways. You can't have both free will and a benevolent higher power who protects you from yourself. Arthur C. Clarke free-will protect-you way But please remember: this is only a work of fiction. The truth, as always, will be far stranger. Arthur C. Clarke stranger remember fiction I would defend the liberty of consenting adult creationists to practice whatever intellectual perversions they like in the privacy of their own homes; but it is also necessary to protect the young and innocent. Arthur C. Clarke practice home death Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all. Arthur C. Clarke learning technology perception Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Arthur C. Clarke ratios alive men We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planets and set up new laboratories in space. They are as much beyond our vision today as fire or electricity would be beyond the imagination of a fish. Arthur C. Clarke space fire discovery When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory! Arthur C. Clarke elderly college mean The information age has been driven and dominated by technopreneurs. We now have to apply these technologies in saving lives, improving livelihoods and lifting millions of people out of squalor, misery and suffering. In other words, our focus must now move from the geeks to the meek. Arthur C. Clarke technology people moving There is no reason to assume that the universe has the slightest interest in intelligence—or even in life. Both may be random accidental by-products of its operations like the beautiful patterns on a butterfly's wings. The insect would fly just as well without them. Arthur C. Clarke butterfly wings beautiful Religion is a by-product of fear. For much of human history it may have been a necessary evil, but why was it more evil than necessary? Isn’t killing people in the name of god a pretty good definition of insanity? Arthur C. Clarke atheist names people Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: 1- It's completely impossible. 2- It's possible, but it's not worth doing. 3- I said it was a good idea all along. Arthur C. Clarke funny science ideas
