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The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.

— Stanley Kubrick

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Space

More quotes by Stanley Kubrick

I have always enjoyed dealing with a slightly surrealistic situation and presenting it in a realistic manner.

Kubrick : Inside a Film Artist's Maze (2000)

I don't like doing interviews. There is always the problem of being misquoted or, what's even worse, of being quoted exactly.

Kubrick on Barry Lyndon : An interview with Michel Ciment (1982)

The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes.

Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.

Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine (2013)

I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation.

Stanley Kubrick at Look Magazine (2013)

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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: Stanley Kubrick (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.