A THREAD on timeless quotes by Carl Sagan:
1/
Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.
The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
1/
Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.
The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
2/
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.
The cosmos is within us.
We are made of star-stuff.
We are a way for the universe to know itself.
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.
The cosmos is within us.
We are made of star-stuff.
We are a way for the universe to know itself.
3/
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years.
To read is to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years.
To read is to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.
4/
Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs.
Books break the shackles of time.
A book is proof that humans are capable of magic.
Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs.
Books break the shackles of time.
A book is proof that humans are capable of magic.
5/
The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, & to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species.
The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, & to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species.
6/
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.
I don't want to believe. I want to know.
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.
I don't want to believe. I want to know.
7/
The great radio telescopes of the world are constructed in remote locations for the same reason Paul Gauguin sailed to Tahiti:
For them to work well they must be far from civilization.
The great radio telescopes of the world are constructed in remote locations for the same reason Paul Gauguin sailed to Tahiti:
For them to work well they must be far from civilization.
8/
But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses.
They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers.
But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses.
They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers.
But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.
9/
You're an interesting species. An interesting mix.
You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares.
You're an interesting species. An interesting mix.
You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares.
10/
Exploration is in our nature.
We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still.
Exploration is in our nature.
We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still.
11/
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.
The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way those atoms are put together.
12/
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.
Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.
13/
An organism at war with itself is doomed.
An organism at war with itself is doomed.
14/
Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgement, the manner in which information is coordinated and used.
Knowing a great deal is not the same as being smart; intelligence is not information alone but also judgement, the manner in which information is coordinated and used.
15/
We wish to find the truth, no matter where it lies.
But to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both.
We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact.
We wish to find the truth, no matter where it lies.
But to find the truth we need imagination and skepticism both.
We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact.
16/
If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves.
If we become even slightly more violent, shortsighted, ignorant, and selfish than we are now, almost certainly we will have no future.
If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves.
If we become even slightly more violent, shortsighted, ignorant, and selfish than we are now, almost certainly we will have no future.
17/
Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is.
Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage - at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.
Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is.
Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage - at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.
