We are, in the most profound sense, children of the Cosmos. Carl Sagan More Quotes by Carl Sagan More Quotes From Carl Sagan He didn't want to believe. He wanted to know. Carl Sagan atheism believe thinking Ask courageous questions. Carl Sagan courageous answers wonder Much of human history can, I think, be described as a gradual and sometimes painful liberation from provincialism, the emerging awareness that there is more to the world than was generally believed by our ancestors. Carl Sagan belief world thinking Maxwell's Equations have had a greater impact on human history than any ten presidents. Carl Sagan maxwell impact president We have entered, almost without noticing, an age of exploration and discovery unparalleled since the Renaissance. Carl Sagan innovation age discovery The uniqueness of humans has been claimed on many grounds, but most often because of our tool-making, culture, language, reason and morality. We have them, the other animals don't, and -- so the argument goes -- that's that. Carl Sagan tools animal culture Science ... looks skeptically at all claims to knowledge, old and new. It teaches not blind obedience to those in authority but to vigorous debate, and in many respects that's the secret of its success. Carl Sagan old-and-new secret looks My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings - what we sometimes call "mind" - are a consequence of its anatomy and physiology, and nothing more. Carl Sagan anatomy-and-physiology mind brain Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Carl Sagan cosmos groups awareness Nature does not always conform to our predispositions and preferences, to what we deem comfortable and easy to understand. Carl Sagan preference easy doe Religions contradict one another-on small matters, such as whether we should put on a hat or take one off on entering a house of worship, or whether we should eat beef and eschew pork or the other way around, all the way to the most central issues, such as whether there are no gods, one God, or many gods. Carl Sagan issues religious house Science is merely an extremely powerful method of winnowing what's true from what feels good. Carl Sagan feel-good powerful science 'In his celebrated book, 'On Liberty', the English philosopher John Stuart Mill argued that silencing an opinion is "a peculiar evil." If the opinion is right, we are robbed of the "opportunity of exchanging error for truth"; and if it's wrong, we are deprived of a deeper understanding of the truth in its "collision with error." If we know only our own side of the argument, we hardly know even that: it becomes stale, soon learned by rote, untested, a pallid and lifeless truth.' Carl Sagan truth opportunity book The Romans called the Christians atheists. Why? Well, the Christians had a god of sorts, but it wasn't a real god. They didn't believe in the divinity of apotheosized emperors or Olympian gods. They had a peculiar, different kind of god. So it was very easy to call people who believed in a different kind of god atheists. And that general sense that an atheist is anybody who doesn't believe exactly as I do prevails in our own time. Carl Sagan atheist real christian Present global culture is a kind of arrogant newcomer. It arrives on the planetary stage following four and a half billion years of other acts, and after looking about for a few thousand years declares itself in possession of eternal truths. But in a world that is changing as fast as ours, this is a prescription for disaster. No nation, no religion, no economic system, no body of knowledge, is likely to have all the answers for our survival. There must be many social systems that would work far better than any now in existence. In the scientific tradition, our task is to find them. Carl Sagan survival answers years My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly immiscible parts-the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul. Thomas Jefferson attempted to excise the Pauline parts of the New Testament. There wasn't much left when he was done, but it was an inspiring document. Carl Sagan views two jesus Thus the recent rapid evolution of human intelligence is not only the cause of but also the only conceivable solution to the many serious problems that beset us. Carl Sagan causes serious evolution All of the rocky and metallic material we stand on, the iron in our blood, the calcium in our teeth, the carbon in our genes were produced billions of years ago in the interior of a red giant star. We are made of star stuff. Carl Sagan stars blood years Goddard represented a unique combination of visionary dedication and technological brilliance. He studied physics because he needed physics to get to Mars. In reading the notebooks of Robert Goddard, I am struck by how powerful his exploratory and scientific motivations were - and how influental speculative ideas, even erroneous ones, can be on the shaping of the future. Carl Sagan notebook motivation powerful Curiosity and the urge to solve problems are the emotional hallmarks of our species. Carl Sagan emotional curiosity problem
