336 quotes
“Surely you believe in God?”
“Well, said R.E., “I believed a lot of things about Him that would probably startle you.”
The Complete Stories, Volume 1 (1990)
I consider one of the most important duties of any scientist the teaching of science to students and to the general public.
Science is in far greater danger from the absence of challenge than from the coming of any number of even absurd challenges.
Private profit is often hidden under a careful coating of great patriotism.
The Roman Republic (1966)
Good literature, all if it, is supposed to illuminate the human condition.
“Is that important?”
“Everything is important till proven otherwise.”
Robot series (1950)
All mankind, right down to those you most despise, are your neighbors.
Lost in Non-Translation (1989)
We might not be able to give out the news for security reasons—that’s the excuse they always advance for hiding bad news—but I would know.
The Foundation series (1951)
Stories grow by accretion. Tales accumulate — like dust.
The Foundation series (1951)
If one thing goes without saying, almost anything can.
In the Beginning (1981)
As far as we know, the human species is the only one that understands that death is inevitable, not only in general but in every individual’s case.
I. Asimov: A Memoir (1994)
It is surely better to be wronged than to do wrong.
In Memory Yet Green (1979)
The dullness of fact is the mother of fiction.
Fact and Fancy (1962)
There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don’t come to understand that right soon, there will be no nations, because there will be no humanity.
I. Asimov: A Memoir (1994)
The foundation of all technology is fire.
Asimov's Chronology of the World (1991)
Tritt listened placidly, clearly understanding nothing, but content to be listening; while Odeen, transmitting nothing, was as clearly content to be lecturing.
The Gods Themselves (1972)
I accept nothing on authority. A hypothesis must be backed by reason, or else it is worthless.
Robot series (1950)
It's a system for testing your thoughts against the universe and seeing whether they match.
There are degrees of justice, Elijah. When the lesser is incompatible with the greater, the lesser must give way.
Robot series (1950)
It is not important what can or cannot be done. What is important is what people will or will not believe can be done.
The Foundation series (1951)