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A mystery of the universe is how it has managed to survive with so much volunteer help.

— Norman Maclean Young Men and Fire (1992)

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Space

More quotes by Norman Maclean

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

A River Runs Through It (1976)

The brain gives up a lot less easily than the body.

A River Runs Through It (1976)

"It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us."

A River Runs Through It (1976)

In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.

A River Runs Through It (1976)

At a high level of universality, to write anything well, whether it be intellectual or imaginative, is to assume at least two obligations: to be intelligible and to be interesting.

All Norman Maclean quotes →

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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.

Carl Sagan Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994)

The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance.

Ralph Waldo Emerson Nature (1836)

Her blue eyes sought the west afar,
For lovers love the western star.

Walter Scott The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805)

Einstein's space is no closer to reality than Van Gogh's sky.

Arthur Koestler The Act of Creation (1964)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Norman Maclean (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.