We batter this planet as if we had someplace else to go. Ann Druyan More Quotes by Ann Druyan More Quotes From Ann Druyan The greatest thing that science teaches you is the law of unintended consequences. Ann Druyan unintended-consequences teach law Interviewer: "Didn't [Sagan] want to believe?" Druyan: "He didn't want to believe. He wanted to know. Ann Druyan atheism want believe This planet seems to be in such sorry shape. And I can't ever think about the rest of the universe without coming back home and thinking what the implications for life here would be if we were to really have some definitive proof of extraterrestrial life. Ann Druyan sorry home thinking We may be living at that moment, on the cusp, when we go from being a species that feels a kind of loneliness in the cosmos to actually one sometime in the not too distant future being able to confirm the existence of other intelligent life. Ann Druyan cosmos intelligent loneliness Science reserves the highest reward for those of you who disprove our most cherished beliefs. At any moment someone from any walk of life could come forward and be responsible for a complete revision of our view of everything. Ann Druyan revision views science As a species, we tend to lie quite a bit - to ourselves and to each other. It's a primate thing. So, a reason to go into a career in science and technology, or to learn more about these subjects, is to become a more powerful person. Ann Druyan technology powerful lying People think that if you are a scientist you have to give up that joy of discovery, that passion, that sense of the great romance of life. I say thats completely opposite of the truth. Ann Druyan passion giving-up thinking The Universe revealed by science is one of far more awesome grandeur than any religion has ever posited. Ann Druyan grandeur universe Science has the cold facts, but lacks religion's social organization and ability to inspire that moves people to act. Ann Druyan organization people moving My knowledge of science came from being with Carl, not from formal academic training. Carl gave me a thrilling tutorial in science and math that lasted the 20 years we were together. Ann Druyan training math years If you have a beating heart, that's good enough. Ann Druyan good-enough enough heart Carl took on the military-industrial complex. He campaigned around the world for an end to the production of weapons of mass destruction. To him it was a perversion of science. Ann Druyan mass-destruction military world Well, I actually grew up in the sixties. I feel very lucky, actually, that that was my slice of time that I was dealt. Let's remember that the real motivation in the sixties, and even in the fifties, was the Cold War. Ann Druyan motivation real war In the 1970s, I think that there was probably a higher degree of respect for science, of hope about the future, and the future-oriented vision. Ann Druyan degrees vision thinking All of science to me, everything that we have learned, is important to the extent that it brings us to our senses. Ann Druyan senses important The way he treated me & the way I treated him, the way we took care of each other & our family, while he lived. That is so much more important than the idea I will see him someday. Ann Druyan husband death ideas No single step in the persuit of enlightenment should ever be considered sacred; only the search was. Ann Druyan enlightenment sacred steps I found that it was easiest to convey the information in the context of the life of the scientist or in the context of our own personal experience, and there was no idea that was too complicated that couldn't be explained clearly and directly. Ann Druyan information complicated ideas Knowing a deep thing well, which is what science asks of its practitioners, is an empowerment that is very profound. It's a liberation. Ann Druyan empowerment knowing profound In 1974, I first met Carl. I was 25 years old. I am 51 now. Ann Druyan old i-am first now
