Carl Sagan Quotes - Page 6

Quotes about:

• An organism at war with itself is doomed.

  Carl Sagan

  War, Doomed, Organisms

  "Cosmos". TV Mini-Series, www.imdb.com. 1980.

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• The fact that someone says something doesn't mean it's true. Doesn't mean they're lying, but it doesn't mean it's true.

  Carl Sagan

  Education, Lying, Mean

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• My view is that if there is no evidence for it, then forget about it. An agnostic is somebody who doesn’t believe in something until there is evidence for it, so I’m agnostic.

  Carl Sagan

  Believe, Views, Agnostic

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• [Science] is not perfect. It can be misused. It is only a tool. But it is by far the best tool we have, self-correcting, ongoing, applicable to everything. It has two rules. First: there are no sacred truths; all assumptions must be critically examined; arguments from authority are worthless. Second: whatever is inconsistent with the facts must be discarded or revised. ... The obvious is sometimes false; the unexpected is sometimes true.

  Carl Sagan

  Science, Self, Two

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Cosmos”, p.362, Ballantine Books

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• There are as many atoms in one molecule of DNA as there are stars in a typical galaxy.

  Carl Sagan

  Stars, Dna, Typical

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• Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

  Carl Sagan

  Home, Blue, Cosmos

  Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan (2011). “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”, p.29, Ballantine Books

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• Ask courageous questions. Do not be satisfied with superficial answers.

  Carl Sagan

  Answers, Courageous, Superficial

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• An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on Earth - scrutinizing what we mainly present to our children in television, radio, movies, newspapers, magazines, the comics, and many books - might easily conclude that we are intent on teaching them murder, rape, cruelty, superstition, credulity, and consumerism. We keep at it, and through constant repetition many of them finally get it.

  Carl Sagan

  Children, Book, Teaching

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.66, Ballantine Books

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• Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a safe course. Microbiology and meteorology now explain what only a few centuries ago was considered sufficient cause to burn women to death.

  Carl Sagan

  Successful, Meteorology, World

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.50, Ballantine Books

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• National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars.

  Carl Sagan

  Religious, Stars, Science

  "Cosmos". p. 318. Book by Carl Sagan, 1980.

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• There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths.

  Carl Sagan

  Matter, Sacred, Sensitive

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.56, Ballantine Books

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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.

  Carl Sagan

  Pain, Regret, Compassion

  "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors". Book by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan, 1992.

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• The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable. Science and democracy began - in their civilized incarnations - in the same time and place, Greece in the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. . . . Science thrives on, indeed requires, the free exchange of ideas; its values are antithetical to secrecy. Science holds to no special vantage points or privileged positions. Both science and democracy encourage unconventional opinions and vigorous debate. Both demand adequate reason, coherent argument, rigorous standards of evidence and honesty.

  Carl Sagan

  Honesty, Ideas, Democracy

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• What a marvelous cooperative arrangement - plants and animals each inhaling each other's exhalations, a kind of planet-wide mutual mouth-to-stoma resuscitation, the entire elegant cycle powered by a star 150 million kilometers away.

  Carl Sagan

  Stars, Animal, Mouths

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Cosmos”, p.54, Ballantine Books

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• A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.

  Carl Sagan

  Atheist, Science, Ideas

  "Contact". Book by Carl Sagan. Chapter 14, p. 244, 1985.

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• But I try not to think with my gut. If I'm serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble.

  Carl Sagan

  Science, Thinking, Understanding

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.234, Ballantine Books

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• 

  For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

  Carl Sagan

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Carl Sagan (1997). “Contact”, p.430, Simon and Schuster

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• War is murder writ large.

  Carl Sagan

  War, Murder

  "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage". Book by Carl Sagan, p. 326, 1980.

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• My wonder button is being pushed all the time.

  Carl Sagan

  Buttons, Wonder

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• Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.

  Carl Sagan

  Children, Kids, Science

  Psychology Today Interview, www.psychologytoday.com. January 1, 1996.

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• Our ancestors lived out of doors. They were as familiar with the night sky as most of us are with our favorite television programs.

  Carl Sagan

  Night, Doors, Sky

  Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan (2011). “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”, p.32, Ballantine Books

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• If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate....Try science.

  Carl Sagan

  Atheist, Children, Religion

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• We are star stuff harvesting sunlight.

  Carl Sagan

  Stars, Stuff, Sunlight

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• There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That’s perfectly all right: it’s the aperture to finding out what’s right. Science is a self-correcting process.

  Carl Sagan

  Truth, Self, Aperture

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• At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes-an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.

  Carl Sagan

  Attitude, Heart, Science

  "The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark". Ch. 17 : The Marriage of Skepticism and Wonder. Book by Carl Sagan, 1995.

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