Cosmology Quotes

• I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe.

  Richard P. Feynman

  Atoms, Universe

  Richard P. Feynman (2015). “The Quotable Feynman”, p.65, Princeton University Press

  69 Copy quote

  Show source

• The universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.

  Kurt Vonnegut

  Science, Mystery, Wonder

  24 Copy quote

• And when the universe has finished exploding all the stars will slow down, like a ball that has been thrown into the air, and they will come to a halt and they will all begin to fall towards the centre of the universe again. And then there will be nothing to stop us seeing all the stars in the world because they will all be moving towards us, gradually faster and faster, and we will know that the world is going to end soon because when we look up into the sky at night there will be no darkness, just the blazing light of billions and billions of stars, all falling.

  Mark Haddon

  Stars, Moving, Fall

  FaceBook post by Mark Haddon from Jul 26, 2012

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.

  Arthur C. Clarke

  Science, Thinking, Ideas

  "The Eerie Silence by Paul Davies - review" by Nicholas Lezard, www.theguardian.com. April 28, 2011.

  19 Copy quote

  Show source

• Something deeply hidden had to be behind things.

  Albert Einstein

  Behinds

  Quoted in N.Y. Times Magazine, 2 Aug. 1964

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.

  Harlow Shapley

  Astronomy, Theory, Observation

  23 Copy quote

• We find, therefore, under this orderly arrangement, a wonderful symmetry in the universe, and a definite relation of harmony in the motion and magnitude of the orbs, of a kind that is not possible to obtain in any other way.

  Johannes Kepler

  Way, Orbs, Kind

  14 Copy quote

• [The evidence from cosmology] determines that the cause of the universe is functionally equivalent to the God of the Bible, a Being beyond the matter, energy, space, and time of the cosmos.

  Hugh Ross

  Space, Scary, Energy

  18 Copy quote

• The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons.

  Edwin Powell Hubble

  History, Horizon, Hubble Space Telescope

  Edwin Powell Hubble (1936). “The Realm of the Nebulæ”

  39 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

  Carl Sagan

  Death, Witty, Atheist

  Carl Sagan (2011). “Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark”, p.32, Ballantine Books

  167 Copy quote

  Show source

• Creativity is essential to particle physics, cosmology, and to mathematics, and to other fields of science, just as it is to its more widely acknowledged beneficiaries - the arts and humanities.

  Lisa Randall

  Art, Creativity, Science

  Lisa Randall (2012). “Knocking On Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate our Universe”, p.398, Random House

  63 Copy quote

  Show source

• Astronomy, as nothing else can do, teaches men humility.

  Arthur C. Clarke

  Humility, Men, Astronomy

  Arthur C. Clarke (2011). “Report on Planet Three”, p.26, Hachette UK

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• Each person discovers a field of allurements, the totality of which bears the unique stamp of that person’s personality. Destiny unfolds in the pursuit of individual fascinations and interests... By pursuing your allurements, you help bind the universe together. The unity of the world rests on the pursuit of passion.

  Brian Swimme

  Passion, Pursuit Of Happiness, Unique

  "The universe is a green dragon". Book by Brian Swimme, www.context.org. 1984.

  78 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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?

  Carl Sagan

  Miracle, Would Be, Mars

  Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan (2011). “Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space”, p.309, Ballantine Books

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• The asymmetry of time, the arrow that points from past to future, plays an unmistakable role in our everyday lives: it accounts for why we cannot turn an omelet into an egg, why ice cubes never spontaneously unmelt in a glass of water, and why we remember the past but not the future. And the origin of the asymmetry we experience can be traced all the way back to the orderliness of the universe near the big bang. Every time you break an egg, you are doing observational cosmology.

  Sean M. Carroll

  Time, Past, Arrows

  62 Copy quote

• Human beings have become so afraid of the unknown, themselves, and each other that they deprive themselves of that innate ecstasy and love of life which comes with a human body, mind and spirit, by hiding behind the empty shell of their ego.

  Frederick Lenz

  Buddhist, Love Life, Ego

  9 Copy quote

• We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy which is one of billions of other galaxies which make up a universe which may be one of a very large number, perhaps an infinite number, of other universes. That is a perspective on human life and our culture that is well worth pondering.

  Carl Sagan

  Stars, Rocks, Circles

  48 Copy quote

• Those who study the stars have God for a teacher.

  Tycho Brahe

  God, Teacher, Stars

  86 Copy quote

• Astronomy? Impossible to understand and madness to investigate.

  Sophocles

  Impossible, Madness, Astronomy

  8 Copy quote

• We need a new cosmology. New gods. New sacraments. Another drink.

  Patti Smith

  Needs, Drink, Sacraments

  14 Copy quote

• A lot of people feel like urban fantasy is a shortcut that gets you around world-building, because it's set "in the real world." But it doesn't really work that way, as I found out. You have to come up with just as consistent an internal cosmology and magic system as you would if you were writing high fantasy.

  Cassandra Clare

  Real, Writing, People

  "Author Interview: Cassandra Clare on City of Bones (Book One, The Mortal Instruments)". Interview with Cynthia Leitich Smith, cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com. March 8, 2008.

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Cosmology is serious business and in our hearts we are nothing if not cosmologists, hanging in a cold cage sifting the ruthless jewels of existence.

  Dennis Overbye

  Heart, Jewels, Sifting

  8 Copy quote

• I put a lot of effort into writing 'A Briefer History' at a time when I was critically ill with pneumonia because I think that it's important for scientists to explain their work, particularly in cosmology. This now answers many questions once asked of religion.

  Stephen Hawking

  Writing, Thinking, Pneumonia

  "Return of the time lord". Interview With Emma Brockes, www.theguardian.com. September 27, 2005.

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• On scientific grounds this big bang assumption is much less the palatable of the two. For it is an irrational process that cannot be described in scientific terms. . . . On philosophical grounds too I cannot see any good reason for preferring the big bang idea. Indeed it seems to me in the philosophical sense to be a distinctly unsatisfactory notion, since it puts the basic assumption out of sight where it can never be challenged by a direct appeal to observation.

  Fred Hoyle

  Philosophical, Sight, Ideas

  Fred Hoyle (1960). “The nature of the universe”

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• I also think we need to maintain distinctions - the doctrine of creation is different from a scientific cosmology, and we should resist the temptation, which sometimes scientists give in to, to try to assimilate the concepts of theology to the concepts of science.

  John Polkinghorne

  Thinking, Giving, Temptation

  18 Copy quote