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Quotes from Cosmos — Carl Sagan

1934–1996 United States

← All quotes by Carl Sagan

43 quotes

Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group.

Cosmos (1980)

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Cosmos (1980)

As the ancient myth makers knew, we are children equally of the earth and the sky.

Cosmos (1980)

It is all a matter of time scale. An event that would be unthinkable in a hundred years may be inevitable in a hundred million.

Cosmos (1980)

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

Cosmos (1980)

If we long for our planet to be important, there is something we can do about it. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers.

Cosmos (1980)

Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred.

Cosmos (1980)

The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding.

Cosmos (1980)

The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.

Cosmos (1980)

I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

Cosmos (1980)

Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.

Cosmos (1980)

Relativity does set limits on what humans can ultimately do. But the universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human aspirations.

Cosmos (1980)

If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth.

Cosmos (1980)

The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such puny creatures as we are.

Cosmos (1980)

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever.

Cosmos (1980)

Other things being equal, it is better to be smart than to be stupid.

Cosmos (1980)

The fossil record implies trial and error, an inability to anticipate the future, features inconsistent with an efficient Great Designer.

Cosmos (1980)

In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise.

Cosmos (1980)

With insufficient data it is easy to go wrong.

Cosmos (1980)

The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.

Cosmos (1980)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Carl Sagan (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.