I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any meaning, science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one, of being true. Carl Sagan More Quotes by Carl Sagan More Quotes From Carl Sagan When we look up at night and view the stars, everything we see is shinning because of distant nuclear fusion. Carl Sagan stars views night There is every reason to think that in the coming years Mars and its mysteries will become increasingly familiar to the inhabitants of the Planet Earth. Carl Sagan mars years thinking Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet. Carl Sagan fate air rivers In all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other. Carl Sagan contact emptiness found The sacred truth of science is that there are no sacred truths. Carl Sagan sacred My view is that if there is no evidence for it, then forget about it. An agnostic is somebody who doesn’t believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I’m agnostic. Carl Sagan agnostic views believe For all our failings, despite our limitations and fallibilities, we humans are capable of greatness. Carl Sagan fallibility failing greatness A new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism and recognizes that an organism at war with itself is doomed. We are one planet. Carl Sagan consciousness earth war A googolplex is precisely as far from infinity as is the number 1... no matter what number you have in mind, infinity is larger still. Carl Sagan infinity mind numbers To read is to voyage through time. Carl Sagan rough-times voyages time Recent research shows that many children without enough to eat wind up with diminished capacity to understand and learn (“cognitive impairment” ). Children don't have to be starving for this to happen. Even mild undernourishment — the kind most common among poor people in America — can do it. Carl Sagan wind children america We are made of starstuff. Carl Sagan stars made science We are, in the most profound sense, children of the Cosmos. Carl Sagan cosmos profound children The visions we offer our children shape the future. It _matters_ what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps. Carl Sagan future dream children A millennium before Europeans were willing to divest themselves of the Biblical idea that the world was a few thousand years old, the Mayans were thinking of millions and the Hindus billions. Carl Sagan biblical years thinking The way to find out about our place in the universe is by examining the universe and by examining ourselves - without preconceptions, with as unbiased a mind as we can muster. Carl Sagan unbiased mind way My parents were not scientists. They knew almost nothing about science. But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method. Carl Sagan parent two science One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time. Carl Sagan voice book years Our passion for learning ... is our tool for survival. Carl Sagan passion learning science What is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish useful ideas from the worthless ones. Carl Sagan two hands ideas
