--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to have a program for moving…" description: "\"If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades.\" — Freeman Dyson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png" --- # If you want to have a program for moving out into the… ![“If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades.” quote by Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png) > “If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades.” [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote emphasizes that planning for space colonization requires a long‑term perspective, thinking in centuries rather than short politicalterm political. **In simple terms:** Think centuries ahead for space programs. Key Takeaway Adopt a long‑term vision for space initiatives. Themes vision future space planning Mood inspirational forward‑looking Type strategic philosophical When to use this quote - space agency strategy - government funding - private sector investment - educational curricula Key Concepts long‑term thinking intergenerational planning technological foresight Questions to Reflect On - How can we align short‑term politics with centuries‑scale goals? - What incentives sustain long‑term projects? A Different Perspective Centuries‑scale thinking may clash with political election cycles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Centuries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centuries/) [Centuries Decades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centuries-decades-5074790/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Decades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decades/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Moving out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-out/) [Moving Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-universe-2752601/) [Program](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/program/) [Programming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/programming/) [Star gazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-gazing/) [Think Centuries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-centuries-5074789/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Universe Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe-think-563250/) [Walking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walking/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [“It is the human habit to think in centuries from a grandparent to a grandchild because it just does take about a hundred years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/it-is-the-human-habit-to-think-in-centuries-from-a-grandparent-to-a/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [Global warming is already acting upon us with an accelerated feedback and compounded effect that may be irreversible! We do not have eons or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-parenti/global-warming-is-already-acting-upon-us-with-an-accelerated-feedback/) [Michael Parenti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-parenti/) > [“You are whole. All by yourself, a complete moving universe. You keep rising, expanding, freely giving Yet, never in lack of your core.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinonye-j-chidolue/you-are-whole-all-by-yourself-a-complete-moving-universe-you-keep/) [Chinonye J. Chidolue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chinonye-j-chidolue/) > [“I am moving as one with the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-marie-bergman/i-am-moving-as-one-with-the-universe/) [Catherine Marie Bergman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-marie-bergman/) > [It's not going to be just humans colonizing space, it's going to be life moving out from the Earth, moving it into its kingdom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-s-not-going-to-be-just-humans-colonizing-space-it-s-going-to-be/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [It is in the long run essential to the growth of any new and high civilization that small groups of men can escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-is-in-the-long-run-essential-to-the-growth-of-any-new-and-high/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [There are three reasons, . . . apart from scientific considerations, mankind needs to travel in space. The first . . . is garbage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/there-are-three-reasons-apart-from-scientific-considerations-mankind/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [If we want to go to space with humans, that's for fun not for science. Human adventures in space are just sporting events.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/if-we-want-to-go-to-space-with-humans-that-s-for-fun-not-for-science/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/sometimes-i-think-we-re-alone-in-the-universe-and-sometimes-i-think/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [If I could start over today, I would choose literature again. If the answers exist in the world or in the universe, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elif-batuman/if-i-could-start-over-today-i-would-choose-literature-again-if-the/) [Elif Batuman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elif-batuman/) > [One of the things I do know is we know very little about our universe. Even though we think we know a lot, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-a-ford/one-of-the-things-i-do-know-is-we-know-very-little-about-our-universe/) [Kevin A. Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-a-ford/) > [You think you want to know the secrets of the universe. You think you want to see the way things all fit together. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/you-think-you-want-to-know-the-secrets-of-the-universe-you-think-you/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. —Nokola Tesla; inventor, physicist, supergenius”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-want-to-find-the-secrets-of-the-universe-think-in-terms-of-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.     —Nikola Tesla; inventor, physicist, supergenius When”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-sincero/if-you-want-to-find-the-secrets-of-the-universe-think-in-terms-of/) [Jen Sincero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-sincero/) > [“The argument that Hawking has offered may be conveyed by question-and-answer, as in the Catholic catechism.   A Catechism of Quantum Cosmology Q: From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berlinski/the-argument-that-hawking-has-offered-may-be-conveyed-by-question-and/) [David Berlinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berlinski/) ## More by Freeman Dyson > [For a physicist mathematics is not just a tool by means of which phenomena can be calculated, it is the main source of concepts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/for-a-physicist-mathematics-is-not-just-a-tool-by-means-of-which/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“It is impossible to make real progress in technology without gambling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-is-impossible-to-make-real-progress-in-technology-without-gambling/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“Sanity is, in essence, nothing more than the ability to live in harmony with nature's laws.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/sanity-is-in-essence-nothing-more-than-the-ability-to-live-in-harmony/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [“I do not feel like an alien in this universe. The more I examine the universe and study the details of its architecture, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/i-do-not-feel-like-an-alien-in-this-universe-the-more-i-examine-the/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [It makes very little sense to believe the output of the climate models.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-makes-very-little-sense-to-believe-the-output-of-the-climate-models/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [The laws of nature are constructed in such a way as to make the universe as interesting as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-laws-of-nature-are-constructed-in-such-a-way-as-to-make-the/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [The history of mathematics is a history of horrendously difficult problems being solved by young people too ignorant to know that they were impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/the-history-of-mathematics-is-a-history-of-horrendously-difficult/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [You ask: what is the meaning or purpose of life? I can only answer with another question: do you think we are wise enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/you-ask-what-is-the-meaning-or-purpose-of-life-i-can-only-answer-with/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [When World War II came along, which was when I was a teenager, we all expected we would have anthrax bombs and this kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/when-world-war-ii-came-along-which-was-when-i-was-a-teenager-we-all/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [It has become part of the accepted wisdom to say that the twentieth century was the century of physics and the twenty-first century will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/it-has-become-part-of-the-accepted-wisdom-to-say-that-the-twentieth/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Lucky individuals in each generation find technology appropriate to their needs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/lucky-individuals-in-each-generation-find-technology-appropriate-to/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [A model is done when nothing else can be taken out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/a-model-is-done-when-nothing-else-can-be-taken-out/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [I am hoping that the scientists and politicians who have been blindly demonizing carbon dioxide for 37 years will one day open their eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/i-am-hoping-that-the-scientists-and-politicians-who-have-been-blindly/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Intelligence may indeed be a benign influence creating isolated groups of philosopher-kings far apart in the heavens... On the other hand, intelligence may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/intelligence-may-indeed-be-a-benign-influence-creating-isolated/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) > [Most of the crackpot papers which are submitted to The Physical Review are rejected, not because it is impossible to understand them, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/most-of-the-crackpot-papers-which-are-submitted-to-the-physical/) [Freeman Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) [Explore all 241 Freeman Dyson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/) ## More Centuries quotes > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [“Time overlaps itself. A breath breathed from a passing breeze is not the whole wind, neither is it just the last of what has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/time-overlaps-itself-a-breath-breathed-from-a-passing-breeze-is-not/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-zeldin/the-institution-of-marriage-if-you-look-at-it-over-many-centuries-has/) [Theodore Zeldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-zeldin/) > [A catechism is simply a tool for teaching the fundamentals of the faith. Unlike a creed or confession, a catechism uses questions and answers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-deyoung/a-catechism-is-simply-a-tool-for-teaching-the-fundamentals-of-the/) [Kevin DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-deyoung/) > [The web of time - the strands of which approach one another, bifurcate, intersect, or ignore each other through the centuries - embraces "every"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-web-of-time-the-strands-of-which-approach-one-another-bifurcate/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [Truth takes no account of centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/truth-takes-no-account-of-centuries/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [These movies belonged to the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries that period of great, unsustainable, and hedonistic prosperity, driven by the burning of Earth's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-charles-wilson/these-movies-belonged-to-the-twentieth-and-early-twenty-first/) [Robert Charles Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-charles-wilson/) > [“love was an unstable reaction with a half-life of about eight months. Bullshit, I said, and accused him of wearing cultural blinders; thirty centuries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-haldeman/love-was-an-unstable-reaction-with-a-half-life-of-about-eight-months/) [Joe Haldeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-haldeman/) > [What if miliseconds influence centuries?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-cowley/what-if-miliseconds-influence-centuries/) [Robert Cowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-cowley/) > [My only market analysis was to look around and see that, in one way or another, most watches are inspired by watches that were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-mille/my-only-market-analysis-was-to-look-around-and-see-that-in-one-way-or/) [Richard Mille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-mille/) > [For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-paton/for-it-is-the-dawn-that-has-come-as-it-has-come-for-a-thousand/) [Alan Paton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-paton/) > [If the truth be told, we are a society that is dripping in racism. This is not in the least surprising. For the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jacques/if-the-truth-be-told-we-are-a-society-that-is-dripping-in-racism-this/) [Martin Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-jacques/) > [“The Age of Intellect is accompanied by surprising advances in natural science. In the ninth century, for example, in the age of Mamun, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bagot-glubb/the-age-of-intellect-is-accompanied-by-surprising-advances-in-natural/) [John Bagot Glubb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bagot-glubb/) > [People have been marrying and bringing up children for centuries now. Nothing has ever come of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celia-green/people-have-been-marrying-and-bringing-up-children-for-centuries-now/) [Celia Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celia-green/) > [We read that Adam and Methuselah lived so many centuries; at that time, it was the custom to marry in the family - marry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-heindel/we-read-that-adam-and-methuselah-lived-so-many-centuries-at-that-time/) [Max Heindel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-heindel/) [Browse all 333 Centuries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/centuries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Freeman Dyson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving-out-into-the-universe-you/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Centuries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving-out-into-the-universe-you/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd3/freeman-dyson-1435_centuries_if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving_1427770.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want to have a program for moving out into the universe, you have to think in centuries not in decades.” — Freeman Dyson", "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": "Freeman Dyson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freeman-dyson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you want to have a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving-out-into-the-universe-you/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freeman-dyson/if-you-want-to-have-a-program-for-moving-out-into-the-universe-you/#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 } } ] } ```