We are, in the most profound sense, children of the Cosmos. Carl Sagan More Quotes by Carl Sagan More Quotes From Carl Sagan Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive. Carl Sagan space responsibility running It will not be we who reach Alpha Centauri, and the other nearby stars. It will be a species very like us - but with more of our strengths and fewer of our weaknesses. Carl Sagan thrive weakness stars I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this cosmos in which we float, like a mote of dust in the morning sky. Carl Sagan dust morning believe We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. Carl Sagan destiny stars taken We have heard the rationales offered by the nuclear superpowers. We know who speaks for the nations. But who speaks for the human species? Who speaks for Earth? Carl Sagan nuclear speak earth If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along. Carl Sagan rambling political religious For all its material advantages, the sedentary life has left us edgy, unfulfilled, even after 400 generations in villages and cities, we haven't forgotten: The open road still softly calls like a nearly forgotten song of childhood. Carl Sagan childhood cities song An atheist is someone who is certain that God does not exist, someone who has compelling evidence against the existence of God. I know of no such compelling evidence. Carl Sagan certain atheist doe There are many other (besides testosterone) behaviour-eliciting hormones fundamental for humen well-being, including estrogen and progesterone in females. The fact that complex behavioural patterns can be triggered by a tiny concentration of moleculas coursing through the bloodstream, and that different animals of the same species generate different amounts of these hormones, is something worth thinking about when it's time to judge such matters as free will, individual responsibility, and law and order. Carl Sagan responsibility animal thinking Except for fools and madmen, everyone knows that nuclear war would he an unprecedented human catastrophe. Carl Sagan nuclear fool war At a few hundred kilometers altitude, the Earth fills half your sky, and the band of blue that stretches from Mindanao to Bombay, which your eye encompasses in a single glance, can break your heart with its beauty. Home you think. Home. This is my world. This is where I come from. Everyone I know, everyone I ever heard of, grew up down there, under that relentless and exquisite blue. Carl Sagan eye home heart Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us - then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. Carl Sagan self-esteem challenges past The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five. Carl Sagan race two enemy Some 5 billion years from now, there will be a last perfect day on Earth... then the sun will begin to die, life will be extinguished, the oceans will boil and evaporate away. Carl Sagan perfect-days ocean years I am not an atheist. An atheist is someone who has compelling evidence that there is no Judeo-Christian-Islamic God. I am not that wise, but neither do I consider there to be anything approaching adequate evidence for such a god. Why are you in such a hurry to make up your mind? Why not simply wait until there is compelling evidence? Carl Sagan atheist christian wise It's hard to kill a creature once it lets you see its consciousness. Carl Sagan vastness creatures consciousness If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. Carl Sagan scientific-method hands thinking There is a report that says that kids who watch violent TV programs tend to be more violent when they grow up. But did the TV cause the violence, or do violent children preferentially enjoy watching violent programs? Carl Sagan growing-up kids children Your god is too small for my universe. Carl Sagan universe A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later such a religion will emerge. Carl Sagan stressed science religion
