In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..." — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
When permitted to listen to alternative opinions and engage in substantive debate, people have been known to change their minds. It can… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
History is full of people who out of fear, or ignorance, or lust for power has destroyed knowledge of immeasurable value which… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
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… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Recent research shows that many children without enough to eat wind up with diminished capacity to understand and learn (“cognitive impairment” ).… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
When a honeybee dies it releases a death pheromone, a characteristic odour that signals the survivors to remove it from the hive.… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
We on Earth have just awakened to the great oceans of space and time from which we have emerged. We are the… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
I believe that part of what propels science is the thirst for wonder. It's a very powerful emotion. All children feel it.… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
“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… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams! — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
“[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
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… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image