--- title: "7 Critical Quotes By Carl Sagan" description: "7 Critical quotes by Carl Sagan. Plus more from Carl Sagan and more Critical sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/carl-sagan-160_average_if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-produc_123346.jpg" --- > [If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-products-of-science-no-matter-how/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/carl-sagan-160_average_if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-produc_123346.jpg) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/anything-else-you-re-interested-in-is-not-going-to-happen-if-you-can/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/carl-sagan-160_accidents_anything-else-you-re-interested-in-is-no_587383.jpg) > [“I promise to question everything my leaders tell me. I promise to use my critical faculties. I promise to develop my independence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-promise-to-question-everything-my-leaders-tell-me-i-promise-to-use/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/165/carl-sagan-160_carl-sagan_i-promise-to-question-everything-my-lead_1036277.jpg) > [ I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - \[...\] when awesome technological powers are in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-have-a-foreboding-of-an-america-in-my-children-s-or-grandchildren-s-3/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcb/carl-sagan-160_ability_i-have-a-foreboding-of-an-america-in-my_1789747.jpg) > [Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg) > [These are all cases of proved or presumptive baloney. A deception arises, sometimes innocently but collaboratively, sometimes with cynical premeditation. Usually the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/these-are-all-cases-of-proved-or-presumptive-baloney-a-deception/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/484/carl-sagan-160_acceptance_these-are-all-cases-of-proved-or-presump_2287720.jpg) > [Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of the scientist to recognize our weakness, to examine the widest range of opinions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it-is-the-job-of-the-scientist/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a7/carl-sagan-160_collectives_scientists-make-mistakes-accordingly-it_2695917.jpg) ## Other authors on Critical ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critical/carl-sagan/#itemlist", "name": "7 Critical Quotes By Carl Sagan", "numberOfItems": 7, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be - without communicating its critical method, how can the average person possibly distinguish science from pseudoscience?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-products-of-science-no-matter-how/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/carl-sagan-160_average_if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-produc_123346.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/carl-sagan-160_average_if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-produc_123346.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed5/carl-sagan-160_average_if-we-teach-only-the-findings-and-produc_123346.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be…” — Carl Sagan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. 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