I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Carl Sagan More Quotes by Carl Sagan More Quotes From Carl Sagan When you look more generally at life on Earth, you find that it is all the same kind of life. There are not many different kinds; there's only one kind. It uses about fifty fundamental biological building blocks, organic molecules. Carl Sagan molecules block different A multitude of aspects of the natural world that were considered miraculous only a few generations ago are now thoroughly understood in terms of physics and chemistry. Carl Sagan generations world religion What's the harm of a little mystification? It sure beats boring statistical analyses. Carl Sagan analysis boring littles It seems madness to say, 'We're worried that they're going to become addicted to marijuana' -- there's no evidence whatever that it's an addictive drug, but even if it were, these people are dying, what are we saving them from? Carl Sagan marijuana drug people The understanding of the intent of the artist which I can achieve when high sometimes carries over to when I’m down. This is one of many human frontiers which cannabis has helped me traverse. Carl Sagan understanding artist sometimes One trend that bothers me is the glorification of stupidity, that the media is reassuring people it's alright not to know anything. That to me is far more dangerous than a little pornography on the Internet. Carl Sagan stupidity media people A galaxy is composed of gas and dust and stars - billions upon billions of stars. Every star may be a sun to someone. Carl Sagan dust stars may All inquires carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions. Carl Sagan guarantees-that elements risk How lucky we are to live in this time / the first moment in human history / when we are in fact visiting other worlds Carl Sagan other-worlds lucky firsts The Big Bang is our modern scientific creation myth. It comes from the same human need to solve the cosmological riddle [Where did the universe come from?] Carl Sagan bangs creation needs Valid criticism does you a favor. Carl Sagan favors criticism doe The cannabis experience has greatly improved my appreciation for art, a subject which I had never much appreciated before. Carl Sagan appreciated appreciation art Discussing the possibilities of extraterrestrial life: I would love it even if they were short, sullen, grumpy and sexually obsessed. But there just isn't any good evidence. Carl Sagan grumpy sullen life Our intelligence is imperfect, surely, and newly arisen; the ease with which it can be sweet-talked, overwhelmed, or subverted by other hardwired propensities - sometimes themselves disguised as the cool light of reason - is worrisome. Carl Sagan light truth sweet Probably a dozen times since their death I've heard my mother or father, in an ordinary conversational tone of voice, call my name. They had called my name often during my life with them ... It doesn't seem strange to me. Carl Sagan mother science father Is it fair to be suspicious of an entire profession because of a few bad apples? There are at least two important differences, it seems to me. First, no one doubts that science actually works, whatever mistaken and fraudulent claim may from time to time be offered. But whether there are any miraculous cures from faith-healing, beyond the body's own ability to cure itself, is very much at issue. Secondly, the expose' of fraud and error in science is made almost exclusively by science. But the exposure of fraud and error in faith-healing is almost never done by other faith-healers. Carl Sagan issues atheist healing We are a way of the universe knowing itself. Carl Sagan thrive knowing way What does it mean for a civilisation to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades; our technical civilisation is a few hundred years old ... an advanced civilisation millions of years old is as much beyond us as we are beyond a bushbaby or a macaque Carl Sagan technology mean years I believe that even a smattering of such findings in modern science and mathematics is far more compelling and exciting than most of the doctrines of pseudoscience, whose practitioners were condemned as early as the fifth century B.C. by the Ionian philosopher Heraclitus as “nigh -walkers, magicians, priests of Bacchus, priestesses of the wine-vat, mystery-mongers.” But science is more intricate and subtle, reveals a much richer imiverse, and powerfully evokes our sense of wonder. Carl Sagan wine night science We are at a crossroads in human history. Never before has there been a moment so simultaneously perilous and promising. We are the first species to have taken evolution into our own hands. Carl Sagan taken hands firsts
