“We have looked first at man with his vanities and greed and his problems of a day or a year; and then only, and from this biased point of view, we have looked outward at the earth he has inhabited so briefly and at the universe in which our earth is so minute a part. Yet these are the great realities, and against them we see our human problems in a different perspective. Perhaps if we reversed the telescope and looked at man down these long vistas, we should find less time and inclination to plan for our own destruction.” IfsMenShouldYearsFirstsHumansLongDifferentProblemRealityEarthUniverseViewsPlansMinutesPerspectiveDestructionGreedPoint Of ViewVanityInclinationTelescopesBiasedDifferent PerspectiveVistasHuman Problems Author:Rachel Carson
“I am a cautious pilgrim of the night, a tentative wanderer among the stars. My awareness of my home in the universe is fleeting and incomplete. Into the homeless home of the sun-faced buddha I have stepped but briefly. My quest, such as it is, is rewarded with faint lights and scrawny cries, a trait here and trait there, a hint of the infinite and a tingle in the spine. Of "minute particulars" I will make my way.” WayHomeLightNightUniverseStarsSunAtheismMinutesAwarenessCryInfinitePositive AtheismMy WayTraitsQuestsHomelessFleetingHintsCautiousIncompleteSpinePilgrimWanderers Author:Chet Raymo
“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
“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute that it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive, many others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear, others are slowly being devoured from within by rasping parasites, thousands of all species are dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference.” IfsWorldShouldYearsRunningPurposeSufferingUniverseEvilNaturalAnimalAliveMinutesDyingDesignEvolutionAmountDiseasePropertySpeciesBottomSentencesIndifferenceContemplationDecentTake MeThirstNatural WorldStarvationParasitesGod Delusion Author:Richard Dawkins
“The ideas of directing attention outward, trying to imagine other people complexly, trying not to see myself as the center of the universe - these concepts have become important to me, and I hope they're at work in my life on a minute-by-minute basis.” PeopleTryingImportantIdeasUniverseAttentionImagineMinutesConceptsBasesCenter Of The Universe Author:John Green
“To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems. Normal people don't understand this concept; they believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.” PeopleIfsNeedsBelieveTwoMatterEnoughPlayProblemUniverseMinutesNormalConceptsAvailableBrokeFeaturesFixedCategoriesEngineersNo Problem Author:Scott Adams
“In this modern world of ours many people seem to think that science has somehow made such religious ideas as immortality untimely or old fashioned. I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science, for instance, tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. If God applies this fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of His universe, doesn't it make sense to assume that He applies it to the masterpiece of His creation, the human soul?” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWorldHumansDoeMadeIdeasRealSoulSeemsUniverseReligiousPrinciplesModernMinutesCreationTransformationFundamentalsAssumingSurpriseDisappearInstanceMake SenseImmortalityMasterpieceOld FashionedInsignificantExtinctionModern WorldParticlesHuman SoulSkepticFundamental PrinciplesWithout A Trace Author:Wernher von Braun
“To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things that will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them. Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art.” NeedsGivingArtTwoMatterPlayUniverseImaginationModernMinutesObjectsSkillsFixedCategoriesEngineersBasketsModern ArtPicnicsCraftsmanshipPicnic Baskets Author:Tom Stoppard
“The Clinton's secret is that they live in a morally discontinuous universe-events do not have consequences, and what happened 15 minutes ago has no connection to what happens now. Beware of power when it masters the secret of popular amnesia.” HappensUniverseSecretHappenedMinutesEventsMastersConsequenceConnectionsClintonAmnesia Author:Lance Morrow