Since, in the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994)
In the vastness of the Cosmos there must be other civilizations far older and more advanced than ours. Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1990)
We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster. Bringing Science Down to Earth (1994)
I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries. Cosmos (1980)
We have designed our civilization based on science and technology and at the same time arranged things so that almost no one understands anything at all about science and technology. This is a clear prescription for disaster. interview with Anne Kalosh (1995)