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Arthur C. Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

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Famous Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

“Finally, I would like to assure my many Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim friends that I am sincerely happy that the religion which Chance has given you has contributed to your peace of mind (and often, as Western medical science now reluctantly admits, to your physical well-being). Perhaps it is better to be un-sane and happy, than sane and un-happy. But it is the best of all to be sane and happy. Whether our descendants can achieve that goal will be the greatest challenge of the future. Indeed, it may well decide whether we have any future.”

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Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Perhaps the adjective 'elderly' requires definition. In physics, mathematics, and astronautics it means over thirty; in the other disciplines, senile decay is sometimes postponed to the forties. There are, of course, glorious exceptions; but as every researcher just out of college knows, scientists of over fifty are good for nothing but board meetings, and should at all costs be kept out of the laboratory!”

KnowsShouldMeanSometimesStatesCoursesImpossibleCollegeDisciplineCostScientistMathematicsMeetingsDefinitionsPhysicsBoardsThirtyGloriousFiftyExceptionFortyDecayDistinguishedElderlyLaboratoryResearchersAdjectivesSenileBoard Meetings
Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“The choice, as Wells once said, is the Universe-or nothing. . . . The challenge of the great spaces between the worlds is a stupendous one; but if we fail to meet it, the story of our race will be drawing to its close. Humanity will have turned its back upon the still untrodden heights and will be descending again the long slope that stretches, across a thousand million years of time, down to the shores of the primeval sea.”

IfsWorldYearsWellsLongSaidStillsStoriesHumanityChoicesUniverseChallengesSpaceRaceMillionsFailingSeaFutureThousandDrawingHeightShorePredictionsSpace BetweenSlopesDescendingPrimeval
Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“Across the gulf of centuries, the blind smile of Homer is turned upon our age. Along the echoing corridors of time, the roar of the rockets merges now with the creak of the wind-taut rigging. For somewhere in the world today, still unconscious of his destiny, walks the boy who will be the first Odysseus of the Age of Space.”

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Book:By Space Possessed
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“Every age has its dreams, its symbols of romance. Past generations were moved by the graceful power of the great windjammers, by the distant whistle of locomotives pounding through the night, by the caravans leaving on the Golden Road to Samarkand, by quinqueremes of Nineveh from distant Ophir . . . Our grandchildren will likewise have their inspiration-among the equatorial stars. They will be able to look up at the night sky and watch the stately procession of the Ports of Earth-the strange new harbors where the ships of space make their planetfalls and their departures.”

LooksDreamInspirationAgeAbleEarthPastRomanceNightStarsSpaceWatchesGenerationsSkyStrangeFutureMovedLeavingShipsGoldenSymbolsLook UpPredictionsGrandchildrenHarborsPortDepartureNight SkyProcessionCaravansLocomotivesPast GenerationsSamarkand
Book:the Promise of Space
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“Nowhere in space will we rest our eyes upon the familiar shapes of trees and plants, or any of the animals that share our world. Whatsoever life we meet will be as strange and alien as the nightmare creatures of the ocean abyss, or of the insect empire whose horrors are normally hidden from us by their microscopic scale.”

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Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“Mars is the next frontier, what the Wild West was, what America was 500 years ago. It's time to strike out anew....Mars is where the action is for the next thousand years....The characteristic of human nature, and perhaps our simian branch of the family, is curiosity and exploration. When we stop doing that, we won't be humans anymore. I've seen far more in my lifetime than I ever dreamed. Many of our problems on Earth can only be solved by space technology....The next step is in space. It's inevitable.”

YearsHumansProblemActionEarthAmericaNextSpaceStepsTechnologyHuman NatureThousandYears AgoLifetimeWestCuriosityStrikesInevitableCharacteristicsBranchesExplorationThousand YearsMarsFrontiersSpace ExplorationNext StepsWild West
Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“Deep beneath the surface of the Sun, enormous forces were gathering. At any moment, the energies of a million hydrogen bombs might burst forth in the awesome explosion.... Climbing at millions of miles per hour, an invisible fireball many times the size of Earth would leap from the Sun and head out across space.”

MomentsMightEarthUniverseEnergyForceHoursSpaceMillionsSunSizeSurfaceMilesInvisibleEnormousBombsLeapClimbingGatheringExplosionsHydrogenBeneath The SurfaceHydrogen Bomb
Author:Arthur C. Clarke
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“Invade me now, my ruthless friend, And make me cower in the dark. Remind me that I'm all alone And draw upon my face your mark. How is it that you capture me, When all my thoughts deny your force? Is it the reptile in my brain That lets your terror run its course? Baseless Fear undoes us all Despite our quest for lofty goals. We would-be Galahads don't die, Fear just freezes all our souls. It keeps us mute when feeling love, Reminding us what we might lose. And if by chance we meet success, Fear tells us which safe route to choose.”

IfsSoulFeelingsMightWould BeRunningFacesDiesCoursesForceFearGoalLosesDarkChanceBrainSafeDrawsMarkTerrorDenyDespiteCaptureQuestsRoutesMy ThoughtsRuthlessFreezeLoftyRemindingAll AloneMuteReptilesLofty GoalsGalahad
Book:Rama Revealed
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