“These views were voiced by the school of 'optessimists', i.e. philosophers who derived optimism for the future from a pessimistic appraisal of the present." The 21st Voyage, The Star Diaries” — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“It might hear us. But what's its name? We have named all the stars and all the planets, even though they might already have… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“We came here as we truly are, and when the other side shows us that truth—the part of it we pass over in silence—we’re… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“It's true that even though I'm a world unto myself, I've just a speck of dust in the avalanche of events. But nothing will… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“maybe he fought it off and forgot about it, and he wasn’t afraid, because he knew he’d never carry it out. Right, but now,… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“The human mind is only capable of absorbing a few things at a time. We see what is taking place in front of us… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“I don't think anything can behave as unintelligently as intelligence.” — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“Not that this deterred him and his friend Klapaucius from further experimentation, which showed that the extent of a dragon's existence depends mainly on… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“A man craves ultimate truths. Every mortal mind, I think, is that way. But what is ultimate truth? It's the end of the road,… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“Evolution is, as an engineer, an opportunist, not a perfectionist.” — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
“I didn’t believe for a minute that this liquid colossus, which had brought about the death of hundreds of humans within itself, with which… — Stanisław Lem Copy Share Image
