--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Clutching our crystals and religiously…" description: "\"Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg" --- # Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our… ![“Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg) > “Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our reliance on horoscopes and superstition erodes critical thinking, blurring truth and comfort. **In simple terms:** Superstition harms critical thinking. Key Takeaway Prioritize evidence over comforting myths. Themes critical thinking science superstition Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - news consumption - education curricula - public debates - personal reflection Key Concepts cognitive bias media literacy skepticism Questions to Reflect On - How can you challenge your own biases? - What evidence supports your beliefs? A Different Perspective People may cling to comforting beliefs despite evidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consulting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consulting/) [Critical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critical/) [Crystals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crystals/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Faculty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faculty/) [Feel good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-good/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Horoscopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horoscopes/) [Horoscopes Critical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horoscopes-critical-3333735/) [Noticing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticing/) [Noticing Superstition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticing-superstition-272169/) [Slides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slides/) [Steep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steep/) [Steep Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steep-decline-1115214/) [Superstition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstition/) [Superstition Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstition-darkness-1934409/) [Superstitions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superstitions/) ## Related quotes > [ I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time - \[...\] when awesome technological powers are in the hands of… ](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/) > [“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-have-a-foreboding-of-an-america-in-my-children-s-or-grandchildren-s-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-have-a-foreboding-of-an-america-in-my-children-s-or-grandchildren-s/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“The frequent claims that empty churches and low levels of religious activity in Europe today reflect a steep decline in piety are wrong—it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-stark/the-frequent-claims-that-empty-churches-and-low-levels-of-religious/) [Rodney Stark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-stark/) > [The steep decline in America's image and standing after 9/11 is a direct reflection of global distaste for the instruments of American hard power:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-steep-decline-in-america-s-image-and-standing-after-9-11-is-a/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [It's just silly to look at the incredibly steep decline in the mainline and the clear institutional weakening of Catholicism in the 1960s and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/it-s-just-silly-to-look-at-the-incredibly-steep-decline-in-the/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [My proficiency with ballet was on a steep decline the more I skated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-virtue/my-proficiency-with-ballet-was-on-a-steep-decline-the-more-i-skated/) [Tessa Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-virtue/) > [Yes, horoscopes still persist in popular newspapers, but they are there only for the severely scientifically challenged, or for entertainment; the idea that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-j-shiller/yes-horoscopes-still-persist-in-popular-newspapers-but-they-are-there/) [Robert J. Shiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-j-shiller/) > [HOROSCOPE: Today is a good time for making new friends. A good deed may have unforeseen consequences. Don’t upset any druids. You will soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/horoscope-today-is-a-good-time-for-making-new-friends-a-good-deed-may/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [FREEDLEY: Will I feel better after I take it? DR. FITCH (coldly): I, am a physician, Freedley, not an astrologer. If you want a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-j-perelman/freedley-will-i-feel-better-after-i-take-it-dr-fitch-coldly-i-am-a/) [S. J. Perelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-j-perelman/) > [For most of us, when our 'dreams' - I use the word with reservations - came true, and marriage and motherhood became a reality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariella-frostrup/for-most-of-us-when-our-dreams-i-use-the-word-with-reservations-came/) [Mariella Frostrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariella-frostrup/) > [I remember once, I read in a horoscope, because I'm an Aries, I read this terrible thing, which really affected me, which said, "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/i-remember-once-i-read-in-a-horoscope-because-i-m-an-aries-i-read/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [There is no better boat than a horoscope to help a man cross over the sea of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-no-better-boat-than-a-horoscope-to-help-a-man-cross-over-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's surely no accident that there are horoscopes in Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Woman, New Woman, Elle and Cosmo ... but not Sports Illustrated, GQ,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merrill-markoe/it-s-surely-no-accident-that-there-are-horoscopes-in-vogue-glamour/) [Merrill Markoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merrill-markoe/) > [“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-mantel/come-to-that-don-t-pay-out-good-money-for-horoscopes-if-things-are/) [Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-mantel/) ## 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/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More Consulting quotes > [When the Lilliputians first saw Gulliver's watch, that "wonderful kind of engine...a globe, half silver and half of some transparent metal," they identified it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/when-the-lilliputians-first-saw-gulliver-s-watch-that-wonderful-kind/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [I stayed in the astronaut program until 1993. People ask me why I left. I thought I had a lot of things to contribute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/i-stayed-in-the-astronaut-program-until-1993-people-ask-me-why-i-left/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [We want to approach this in a multilateral way, talking with our friends, consulting with our security council colleagues in the United Nations, hoping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/we-want-to-approach-this-in-a-multilateral-way-talking-with-our/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [Many of the mainstream agricultural scientists, especially at the agricultural schools, but at all of our major universities, are tied into all sorts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-rifkin/many-of-the-mainstream-agricultural-scientists-especially-at-the/) [Jeremy Rifkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-rifkin/) > [“Earning is a product of learning. You're only one letter away from earning more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie-norton/earning-is-a-product-of-learning-you-re-only-one-letter-away-from/) [Richie Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie-norton/) > [“Some people say they have 20 years experience, when in reality, they have 1 year's experience repeated 20 times. (Stephen M R Covey to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie-norton/some-people-say-they-have-20-years-experience-when-in-reality-they/) [Richie Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie-norton/) > [Facebook was looking at which links I clicked on, and it was noticing that I was clicking more on my liberal friends' links than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-pariser/facebook-was-looking-at-which-links-i-clicked-on-and-it-was-noticing/) [Eli Pariser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-pariser/) > [“the consultant’s process was the exact process consulting firms value. It was linear, logical, and based on facts (and reasonable estimates of them); it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cheng/the-consultant-s-process-was-the-exact-process-consulting-firms-value/) [Victor Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cheng/) > ["(Big name research firm) says our market will be $50 billion in 2010." Every entrepreneur has a few slides about how the market potential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-kawasaki/big-name-research-firm-says-our-market-will-be-50-billion-in-2010/) [Guy Kawasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-kawasaki/) > [“In consulting, you always pick and choose your words carefully, because you need to be able to back up anything you say. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-cheng/in-consulting-you-always-pick-and-choose-your-words-carefully-because/) [Victor Cheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-cheng/) > [When people, land, and community are as one, all three members prosper; when they relate not as members but as competing interests, all three…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-jackson/when-people-land-and-community-are-as-one-all-three-members-prosper/) [Wes Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-jackson/) > [“We all have a responsibility to be efficient stewards of resources.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr/we-all-have-a-responsibility-to-be-efficient-stewards-of-resources/) [Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr/) > [Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph, is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-weston/consulting-the-rules-of-composition-before-taking-a-photograph-is/) [Edward Weston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-weston/) > [If God gives you a watch, are you honoring Him more by asking Him what time it is or by simply consulting the watch?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/if-god-gives-you-a-watch-are-you-honoring-him-more-by-asking-him-what/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [What I really think of myself as is a person who's great at negotiation coaching and consulting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-voss/what-i-really-think-of-myself-as-is-a-person-who-s-great-at/) [Christopher Voss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-voss/) [Browse all 145 Consulting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consulting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline, unable to distinguish between what's true and what feels good, we slide, almost without noticing, into superstition and darkness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consulting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff9/carl-sagan-160_consulting_clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-c_1974311.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in steep decline…” — Carl Sagan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Carl Sagan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Clutching our crystals and religiously consulting...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/clutching-our-crystals-and-religiously-consulting-our-horoscopes-our/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```