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Quote by Carl Sagan

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Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence

This book delves into the theory that dragons played a significant role in the development of human intelligence. It examines the evolutionary path that led to modern human cognition and speculates on the influence of ancient creatures on human evolution. more

Author

Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, cosmologist, author, and science communicator, born on November 9, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. He is renowned for his profound research into the cosmos and his dedication to popularizing science. Sagan proposed numerous theories about the origin of the universe and life, and he made complex scientific knowledge accessible to the public with his unique perspective and clear, engaging writing style. more

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“Why do some die and some live? The answer was clearly, that on the whole the best fitted live. From the effects of disease the most healthy escaped; from enemies, the strongest, swiftest, or the most cunning; from famine, the best hunters or those with the best digestion; and so on. Then it suddenly flashed upon me that this self-acting process would necessarily improve the race, because in every generation the inferior would inevitably be killed off and the superior would remain-that is, the fittest would survive.”

SelfWholeScienceDiesProcessAnswersActingRaceEnemyGenerationsEffectsEvolutionHealthyDiseaseSurvivalSuperiorsStrongestInferiorsHuntersCunningFamineDigestion
Author:Alfred Russel Wallace
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“Yet man does recognise himself [as an animal]. But I ask you and the whole world for a generic differentia between man and ape which conforms to the principles of natural history, I certainly know of none... If I were to call man ape or vice versa, I should bring down all the theologians on my head. But perhaps I should still do it according to the rules of science.”

IfsKnowsMenWorldShouldDoeStillsWholeScienceAsksNaturalAnimalPrinciplesEvolutionVicesWhole WorldConformTheologianApesRecogniseVice VersaGenericNatural History
Author:Carl Linnaeus
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“You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think there were shells, then fishes; then we came-let me see-did we come next? Never mind that; we came at last. And at the next change there will be something very superior to us-something with wings. Ah! That's it: we were fishes, and I believe we shall be crows.”

ThinkingKnowsMindFirstsBelieveLastsScienceNextI BelieveForgetPrinciplesDevelopmentEvolutionLet MeWingsFishesSuperiorsShellsCrow
Book:Tancred: Or, The New Crusade
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“You must not say that this cannot be, or that that is contrary to nature. You do not know what Nature is, or what she can do; and nobody knows; not even Sir Roderick Murchison, or Professor Huxley, or Mr. Darwin, or Professor Faraday, or Mr. Grove, or any other of the great men whom good boys are taught to respect. They are very wise men; and you must listen respectfully to all they say: but even if they should say, which I am sure they never would, 'That cannot exist. That is contrary to nature,' you must wait a little, and see; for perhaps even they may be wrong.”

IfsKnowsMenShouldMayLittlesScienceWaitingCan DoBoysWiseTaughtEvolutionContraryGreat MenProfessorsHypothesisNobody KnowsGroveVery WiseHuxleyGood Boy
Book:The Water-Babies
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“Our own existence once presented the greatest of all mysteries, but ... it is a mystery no longer because it is solved. Darwin and Wallace solved it ... I was surprised that so many people seemed not only unaware of the elegant and beautiful solution to this deepest of problems but, incredibly, in many cases actually unaware that there was a problem in the first place!”

PeopleFirstsProblemBeautifulScienceExistenceCasesMysteryEvolutionSolutionsElegant
Book:The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design
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“Capitalism and socialism are two distinct patterns of social organization. Private control of the means of production and public control are contradictory notions and not merely contrary notions. There is no such thing as a mixed economy, a system that would stand midway between capitalism and socialism.”

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Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“Capitalism means free enterprise, sovereignty of the consumers in economic matters, and sovereignty of the voters in political matters. Socialism means full government control of every sphere of the individuals life and the unrestricted supremacy of the government in its capacity as central board of production management.”

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Book:Bureaucracy
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