Perhaps, in retrospect, there would be little motivation even for malevolent extraterrestrials to attack the Earth; perhaps, after a preliminary survey, they… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
There is no other species on Earth that does science. It is, so far, entirely a human invention, evolved by natural selection… — 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
One of the reasons for its success is that science has a built-in, error-correcting machinery at its very heart. Some may consider… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self esteem or nerve, when we… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance , the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe are challenged by this point… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred. — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Science is not perfect. It's often misused; it's only a tool, but it's the best tool we have. Self-correcting , ever changing,… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
All of us cherish our beliefs. They are, to a degree, self-defining. When someone comes along who challenges our belief system as… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
The visions we offer our children shape the future. It _matters_ what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Perhaps the depth of love can be calibrated by the number of different selves that are actively involved in a given relationship. — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That’s perfectly all right: it’s the aperture to finding out what’s right. Science… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
The vast distances that separate the stars are providential. Beings and worlds are quarantined from one another. The quarantine is lifted only… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
We are made of stellar ash. Our origin and evolution have been tied to distant cosmic events. The exploration of the cosmos… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Indeed the reasoned criticism of a prevailing belief is a service to the proponents of that belief; if they are incapable of… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
[Science] is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
The gears of poverty, ignorance, hopelessness and low self-esteem interact to create a kind of perpetual failure machine that grinds down dreams… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
Scientists make mistakes. Accordingly, it is the job of the scientist to recognize our weakness, to examine the widest range of opinions,… — Carl Sagan Copy Share Image
There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the… — 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
![“[Science] is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. It has two rules. First: there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined; arguments from authority are worthless…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0b3/carl-sagan-160_argument_science-is-not-perfect-it-can-be-misused_2558360.jpg)
![“[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion, why do you not believe in materialistic science, which has an unparalleled record of fulfilled prophecy? Consider, for example, eclipses.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/875/carl-sagan-160_belief_when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-a_25095.jpg)
