161 quotes
Overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out.
The Nine Billion Names of God (1953)
Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.
Our age is in many ways unique, full of events and phenomena that never occurred before and can never happen again.
We'll Never Conquer Space (1960)
“My system saves lives!”
Crane sighed and took a long pull from his bottle. “Few would consider that a compelling argument, doctor. Saving money is more to peoples tastes.”
Richter 10 (1996)
Though I've often made fun of the scientists, they've freed us forever from the stagnation that was overtaking your race.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
For what is life but organized energy?
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
Just as the human memory is not a passive recorder but a tool in the construction of the self, so history has never been a simple record of the past, but a means of shaping peoples.
The Light of Other Days (2000)
Maybe those nihilist philosophers are right; maybe this is all we can expect of the universe, a relentless crushing of life and spirit, because the equilibrium state of the cosmos is death...
The Light of Other Days (2000)
Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as by disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware, the non-existence of Zeus or Thor — but they have few followers now.
Childhood's End (1953)
Communication technologies are necessary, but not sufficient, for us humans to get along with each other.
The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.
I want to be remembered most as a writer — one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well.
There was only one thing of which he could be certain now. Boredom would not be a serious problem for a considerable time to come.
The City and the Stars (1956)
One fail-safe after another had let them down. Helped by the ionospheric storm, the sheer perversity of inanimate things struck again.
The Fountains of Paradise (1979)
You won’t be an artist if you live a thousand years. You’re merely an expert, and you know it. Those who can—do, those who can’t—criticise.
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
But no one expected he had ever get very far, because I don’t suppose he could even integrate e to the x. Is such ignorance possible gasped someone?
His movements, his clothes, everything about him, seemed slightly out of place in this assembly. He spoiled the pattern; like Alvin, he was an anachronism.
One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.
The Making of Kubrick's 2001 (1970)
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we can imagine.
So many people did it that it was no longer an obsession; it was a demographic.
Richter 10 (1996)