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Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan Quotes

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Famous Carl Sagan Quotes

“If we could travel into the past, it's mind-boggling what would be possible. For one thing, history would become an experimental science, which it certainly isn't today. The possible insights into our own past and nature and origins would be dazzling. For another, we would be facing the deep paradoxes of interfering with the scheme of causality that has led to our own time and ourselves. I have no idea whether it's possible, but it's certainly worth exploring.”

IfsMindIdeasWould BeTodayPastOne ThingInsightNo IdeaParadoxSchemesInterfereExploringDazzlingCausalityExperimental ScienceMind Boggling
Author:Carl Sagan
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“My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a god. We would be unappreciative of those gifts (as well as unable to take such a course of action) if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves. On the other hand, if such a traditional god does not exist, our curiosity and our intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival. In either case, the enterprise of knowledge is consistent with both science and religion, and is essential for the welfare of the human species.”

IfsHumansWellsDoeHandsWould BeActionUniversePassionCoursesBeliefCasesEssentialsSurvivalToolsSpeciesCuriosityTraditionalWelfareEnterpriseConsistentScience And ReligionHuman Species
Book:Broca's brain: reflections on the romance of science
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“If we teach only the findings and products of science - no matter how useful and even inspiring they may be - without communicating its critical method, how can the average person possibly distinguish science from pseudoscience?”

IfsMayPersonsMatterPainTeachProductsFindingsMethodAverageCommunicateCriticalTherapyInjuryAverage PersonPseudoscience
Book:Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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“The claim is also sometimes made that science is as arbitrary or irrational as all other claims to knowledge, or that reason itself is an illusion. As Ethan Allen said Those who invalidate reason ought seriously to consider whether they argue against reason with or without reason; if with reason, then they establish the principle that they are labouring to dethrone. If they argue without reason, which they must do, in order to be consistent with themselves, they are out of reach of rational conviction, nor do they deserve a rational argument.”

IfsMadeSaidSometimesReasonScienceOrderPrinciplesOughtIllusionDeserveArgumentClaimsConvictionArguingRationalConsistentIrrationalArbitrary
Author:Carl Sagan
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“The cosmic calendar compresses the local history of the universe into a single year. If the universe began on January 1st it was not until May that the Milky Way formed. Other planetary systems may have appeared in June, July and August, but our Sun and Earth not until mid-September. Life arose soon after. We humans appear on the cosmic calendar so recently that our recorded history occupies only the last few seconds of the last minute of December 31st.”

IfsWayYearsHumansMayEarthLastsUniverseSunMinutesLocalsSecondsCosmicSeptemberJuneJulyAugustDecemberJanuaryCalendarsLast MinuteMilky WayLocal HistoryJanuary 1st
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Science arouses a soaring sense of wonder. But so does pseudoscience. Sparse and poor popularizations of science abandon ecological niches that pseudoscience promptly fills. If it were widely understood that claims to knowledge require adequate evidence before they can be accepted, there would be no room for pseudoscience.”

IfsDoeWould BePoorRoomsWonderUnderstoodEvidenceClaimsAcceptedAbandonSoarAdequateNicheEcologicalSense Of WonderPseudoscience
Book:Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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“When you buy a used car, you kick the tires, you look at the odometer, you open up the hood. If you do not feel yourself an expert in automobile engines, you bring a friend who is. And you do this with something as unimportant as an automobile. But on the issues of the transcendent, of ethics, of morals, of the origins of the world, of the nature of human beings, on those issues should we not insist upon at least equally skeptical scrutiny?”

IfsWorldFeelsShouldHumansLooksUsedHuman BeingsMoralIssuesCarEthicsExpertsKicksEnginesTireSkepticalAutomobileHoodUnimportantTranscendentScrutinyUsed Car
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Indeed the reasoned criticism of a prevailing belief is a service to the proponents of that belief; if they are incapable of defending it, they are well advised to abandon it. This self-questioning and error-correcting aspect of the scientific method is its most striking property.”

IfsWellsSelfBeliefAspectCriticismMethodPropertyErrorsAbandonQuestioningIncapablePrevailingScientific MethodCorrectingSelf Questioning
Book:Broca's brain: reflections on the romance of science
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“...the idea of a spiritual part of our nature that survives death, the notion of an afterlife, ought to be easy for religions and nations to sell. This is not an issue of which we might anticipate widespread skepticism. People will want to believe it, even if the evidence is meager to nil... compelling testimony ... provides that our personality, character, memory ... resides in the matter of the brain, it is easy not to focus on it, to find ways to evade the weight of the evidence.”

PeopleIfsWayWantBelieveIdeasMatterCharacterMightSpiritualNationsEasyMemoriesBrainIssuesFocusPersonalityOughtEvidenceWeightSellsNotionAfterlifeCompellingSkepticismTestimonyAnticipate
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive.”

IfsWorldLongReasonRunningTermSpaceResponsibilityAliveCivilizationSurvivalImpactSpeciesPracticalsLong TermStayingExplorationStakesLong RunsVentureSurvivingObligedZealOther WorldsSpace ExplorationStaying AliveSpace Program
Author:Carl Sagan
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“What is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish useful ideas from the worthless ones.”

IfsNeedsTwoIdeasHandsBalanceOpennessNew IdeasWorthlessHypothesisSkepticalExquisiteScrutinyGullibility
Author:Carl Sagan
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“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

IfsGivingLongEnoughScienceReligionTakenLessonsFindingsEvidenceScientistPainfulCorruptionAcknowledgeRejectsOver YouCapturedSaddestCharlatansFinding Out The TruthCorrupt PowerPower And CorruptionPower CorruptionBamboozle
Book:Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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“The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by 'God,' one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.”

IfsMeanDoeIdeasLawScienceReligionFallUniverseWhiteSkyPrayingMalesAtheistGravityAgnosticBeardSparrowsSubtle Atheist
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of confusion and bamboozle requires intelligence, vigilance, dedication, and courage. But if we don't practice these tough habits of thought, we cannot hope to solve the truly serious problems that face us --- and we risk becoming a nation of suckers, up for grabs by the next charlatan who comes along.”

IfsProblemFacesReligionNextNationsPracticeRiskSeriousBecomingHabitOceanFindingsToughAtheistIndividualitySolveConfusionDedicationOccasionalSuckerStrawsNonconformityVigilanceCharlatansConformity And IndividualityBamboozle
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and 'animals' is essential if we are to bend them to our will, make them work for us, wear them, eat them — without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret. It is unseemly of us, who often behave so unfeelingly toward other animals, to contend that only humans can suffer. The behavior of other animals renders such pretensions specious. They are just too much like us.”

IfsFeelsHumansPainSufferingAnimalCompassionToo MuchRegretEssentialsBehaviorGuiltExperimentsBehaveDistinctionVegetarianPretendingVeganAnimal RightsPretensionHumans And AnimalsAnimal BehaviorAnimal Suffering
Author:Carl Sagan
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“If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didn't he start the universe out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Why's he constantly repairing and complaining? No, there's one thing the Bible makes clear: The biblical God is a sloppy manufacturer. He's not good at design, he's not good at execution. He'd be out of business, if there was any competition.”

IfsWayWantFirstsUniverseClearOne ThingDesignCompetitionComplainingExecutionBiblicalOmnipotentSloppyOmniscientRepairing
Book:Contact
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“If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.”

IfsThinkingWorldShouldHumansMayChildrenCountryReasonHandsFormScienceSpiritCertainCommunityOpinionDarknessVirtueRightsTeachingHumilityCitizensAuthorityOur ChildrenMethodBillsPositive AtheismEducatedDemonSkepticismBeing HumanDecencyUnwillingBill Of RightsScientific MethodCommunity Spirit
Author:Carl Sagan
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“The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined only by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life's meaning. We long for a Parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal.”

IfsLongHardCarePurposeParentGoalMistakeOur LivesIgnorancePlanetsEmbraceForgivingErrorsWorthyDeterminedSignificanceFragileCosmicCraveFablesReassuringHard TruthsCustodiansPale Blue Dot
Book:Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
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“In the way that scepticism is sometimes applied to issues of public concern, there is a tendency to belittle, to condescend, to ignore the fact that, deluded or not, supporters of superstition and pseudoscience are human beings with real feelings, who, like the sceptics, are trying to figure out how the world works and what our role in it might be. Their motives are in many cases consonant with science. If their culture has not given them all the tools they need to pursue this great quest, let us temper our criticism with kindness. None of us comes fully equipped.”

IfsWorldWayNeedsTryingHumansRealSometimesFactsFeelingsMightCultureGivenFearHuman BeingsRolesKindnessCasesIssuesAtheismFiguresConcernToolsCriticismRageTendenciesPursueMotiveTemperQuestsSuperstitionsSupporterDeludedBelittlePseudoscienceScepticismScepticConsonantsReal Feelings
Book:The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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“A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being?”

IfsKnowsHumansWould BeEarthValuesHuman BeingsMiracleGreenGrassMarsBladesPatchesCommonplacePricelessSpace ExplorationCosmologyDescendantsBlades Of Grass
Book:Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
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“If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and progress.”

IfsWorldWayPersonsIdeasScienceTurnsCoursesUnderstandingSupportToo MuchProgressWonderfulMissingHabitStandingMarkConvincedDataNonsenseNow And ThenSkepticismNew IdeasRulingSkepticalResentSkepticSupport YouOld PersonRuling The World
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely critical moment in the history of our planet.”

IfsMomentsHappensWaterAliveFateAirPlanetsDrinkRiversEnvironmentalCriticalBreatheAccidentsSustainabilityOur PlanetOur EnvironmentSustainable DevelopmentGreen LivingSustainable LivingRivers And WaterAir And WaterClimate ActionCritical MomentsWater Is Life
Author:Carl Sagan
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“(When asked merely if they accept evolution, 45 percent of Americans say yes. The figure is 70 percent in China.) When the movie Jurassic Park was shown in Israel, it was condemned by some Orthodox rabbis because it accepted evolution and because it taught that dinosaurs lived a hundred million years ago-when, as is plainly stated at every Rosh Hashonhan and every Jewish wedding ceremony, the Universe is less than 6,000 years old.”

IfsYearsReligionUniverseAcceptingMillionsFiguresTaughtEvolutionPercentHundredYears AgoAtheistIsraelChinaAcceptedParksOrthodoxCeremonyDinosaursRabbiWedding CeremonyJurassic Park
Book:Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
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