--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there…" description: "\"I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars. It's hard to talk about the Cosmos without usin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_i-never-said-it-honest-oh-i-said-there-a_2296880.jpg" --- # I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100… ![“I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars. It's hard to talk about the Cosmos without using big numbers. I said "billion" many times on the Cosmos television series, which was seen by a great many people. But I never said "billions and…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_i-never-said-it-honest-oh-i-said-there-a_2296880.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_i-never-said-it-honest-oh-i-said-there-a_2296880.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/278/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_i-never-said-it-honest-oh-i-said-there-a_2296880.jpg) > “I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars. It's hard to talk about the Cosmos without using big numbers. I said "billion" many times on the Cosmos television series, which was seen by a great many people. But I never said "billions and billions." For one thing, it's too imprecise. How many billions are "billions and billions"? A few billion? Twenty billion. A hundred billion? "Billions and billions" is pretty vague. When we reconfigured and updated the series, I checked-and sure enough, I never said it.” [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. Precise language matters; vague terms like “billions and billions” mislead understanding. **In simple terms:** Avoid vague numbers for clarity. Key Takeaway Use specific data to communicate accurately. Themes science communication precision Mood inquisitive analytical Type educational scientific When to use this quote - education - media reporting - science outreach - policy making Key Concepts numeracy public understanding of science Questions to Reflect On - How can you convey scale without over‑simplifying? - What is the impact of vague language on public trust? A Different Perspective Sometimes exact numbers are unavailable or unnecessary. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Billion Galaxies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billion-galaxies-389115/) [Billions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billions/) [Billions Billions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billions-billions-4339110/) [Billions Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billions-thing-5417498/) [Cosmology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmology/) [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Galaxy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/galaxy/) [Great man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) [Great men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-men/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Honest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honest/) [Hundred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hundred/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [One thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-thing/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Series](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/series/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) [Trillion Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trillion-stars-595085/) [Twenties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twenties/) [Vague](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vague/) [Without u](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/without-u/) ## Related quotes > [Billions and billions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/billions-and-billions/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You know; when I look at the night sky and I see this enormous splendor of stars and galaxies, I sometimes ask the question,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/you-know-when-i-look-at-the-night-sky-and-i-see-this-enormous/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [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/) > [There are in fact 100 billion galaxies, each of which contain something like a 100 billion stars. Think of how many stars, and planets,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/there-are-in-fact-100-billion-galaxies-each-of-which-contain/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-a-human-disagrees-with-you-let-him-live-in-a-hundred-billion/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I think there's definitely billions and billions in waste, fraud and abuse. There's billions that can be generated in the economy by eliminating the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-hannity/i-think-there-s-definitely-billions-and-billions-in-waste-fraud-and/) [Sean Hannity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-hannity/) > [“What a day! She had gotten fired, sat in God-knows-what, got rained on, got caught in a traffic jam, been rejected three times, and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dara-joy/what-a-day-she-had-gotten-fired-sat-in-god-knows-what-got-rained-on/) [Dara Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dara-joy/) > [“With considerable security, therefore, we can draw the conclusion that even with a hundred billion trillion stars in the observable universe, the probability of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-ross/with-considerable-security-therefore-we-can-draw-the-conclusion-that/) [Hugh Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-ross/) > [You see billions and billions of stars and recognize that you know some of those have planets, too, and maybe there's life out there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-whitson/you-see-billions-and-billions-of-stars-and-recognize-that-you-know/) [Peggy Whitson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-whitson/) > [“Could a being create the fifty billion galaxies each with two hundred billion stars then rejoice in the smell of burning goat flesh?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-patterson/could-a-being-create-the-fifty-billion-galaxies-each-with-two-hundred/) [Ron Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-patterson/) > [According to inflation, the more than 100 billion galaxies, sparkling throughout space like heavenly diamonds, are nothing but quantum mechanics writ large across the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/according-to-inflation-the-more-than-100-billion-galaxies-sparkling/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [WHO IS LIKE THE LORD OUR GOD, WHO DWELLS ON HIGH, WHO HUMBLES HIMSELF TO BEHOLD THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THE HEAVENS AND…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/js-boegl/who-is-like-the-lord-our-god-who-dwells-on-high-who-humbles-himself/) [JS Boegl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/js-boegl/) > [“Andromeda was discovered to be another island universe, another spiral galaxy almost identical to our own, and one of the more than 100 billion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/andromeda-was-discovered-to-be-another-island-universe-another-spiral/) [Lawrence M. 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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 Astronomy quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. 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Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/from-the-grasses-in-the-field-to-the-stars-in-the-sky-each-one-is/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“Sentinels of trees breathe life into bodies of earthly flesh As their mighty arms reach to the stars we join in their quest for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/sentinels-of-trees-breathe-life-into-bodies-of-earthly-flesh-as-their/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [“If there are no stars on the sky, you must try to be happy with the shining streetlights!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-there-are-no-stars-on-the-sky-you-must-try-to-be-happy-with-the/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. 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The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) [Browse all 6,190 Astronomy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I never said it. Honest. Oh, I said there are maybe 100 billion galaxies and 10 billion trillion stars. It's hard to talk about the Cosmos without using big numbers. I said \"billion\" many times on the Cosmos television series, which was seen by a great many people. But I never said \"billions and billions.\" For one thing, it's too imprecise. How many billions are \"billions and billions\"? A few billion? Twenty billion. A hundred billion? \"Billions and billions\" is pretty vague. 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