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There is no rational reason to doubt that the universe has existed indefinitely, for an infinite time. It is only myth that attempts to say how the universe came to be, either four thousand or twenty billion years ago.

— Hannes Alfvén Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

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Space

More quotes by Hannes Alfvén

Scientists tend to resist interdisciplinary inquiries into their own territory.

Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

The key is not to confuse myth and empirical results, or religion and science.

Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

I have no trouble publishing in Soviet astrophysical journals, but my work is unacceptable to the American astrophysical journals.

Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

The peer review system is satisfactory during quiescent times, but not during a revolution in a discipline such as astrophysics, when the establishment seeks to preserve the status quo.

Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

Most people today still believe, perhaps unconsciously, in the heliocentric universe ... every newspaper in the land has a section on astrology, yet few have anything at all on astronomy.

Dean of the Plasma Dissidents (1988)

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