Quotes - Reader (Burlington, MA) Showing 1-24 of 24

#1

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
― Carl Sagan

tags: evidence, faith, science, skepticism

#2

“Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?”
― Carl Sagan

1476 likes

#3

“I don't want to believe. I want to know.”
― Carl Sagan

tags: atheism, education, religion, science

820 likes

#4

“If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.”
― Carl Sagan

tags: destruction, inspirational, truth

363 likes

#5

“But I could be wrong.”
― Carl Sagan

204 likes

#6

“You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe”
― Carl Sagan

109 likes

#7

“Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

tags: science

25 likes

#8

“Gullibility kills.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

17 likes

#9

“If we know only our own side of the argument, we hardly know even that; it becomes stale, soon learned only by rote, untested, a pallid and lifeless truth.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

11 likes

#10

“The many sorrows of our recent history suggest that we humans have a learning disability.”
― Carl Sagan, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

tags: civilization, death, extinction, history, society, sorrow

10 likes

#11

“Thomas Jefferson taught that a democracy was impractical unless the people were educated.”
― Carl Sagan, Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Life & Death at the Brink of the Millennium

8 likes

#12

“We tend not to be especially critical when presented with evidence that seems to confirm our prejudices.”
― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

8 likes

#13

“I would rather be a transformed ape than a degenerate son of Adam.”
― Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science

8 likes

#14

“I remind myself that madmen really exist. Sometimes they achieve the highest levels of political power in modern industrial nations.”
― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

tags: authority, civilization, history, madmen, tyranny

7 likes

#15

“One of the great commandments of science is, “Mistrust arguments from authority.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

7 likes

#16

“In any case, we do not advance the human cause by refusing to consider ideas that make us frightened.”
― Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science

7 likes

#17

“I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.”
― Carl Sagan

7 likes

#18

“It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little about it.”
― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

tags: carl-sagan, carl-sagan-pale-blue-dot, knowledge, pale-blue-dot, romance, science, sunset, wisdom

6 likes

#19

“the lack is not in intelligence, which is in plentiful supply; rather, the scarce commodity is systematic training in critical thinking.”
― Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science

6 likes

#20

“The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

6 likes

#21

“...is it really true that we can't afford one attack helicopter's worth of seed corn to listen to the stars?”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

5 likes

#22

“But if they called everything divine which they do not understand, why, there would be no end of divine beings.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

tags: divine, religion, religion-and-philosophy

5 likes

#23

“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you
can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out.
Do something. You are by accident of fate alive at an absolutely
critical moment in the history of our planet.”
― Carl Sagan

5 likes

#24

“But if we do not destroy ourselves, I believe that we will one day venture to the stars.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

tags: science

4 likes

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