Comet Quotes

“Всяка среща с Халеевата комета е била повод за изразяване на надежди и страхове. Същото се отнася и до появата на ярки непериодични комети. Почти ритуално това е било време да се помолим. Ето защо за следващата поява на Халеевата комета и на кометата Хейл-Боп ние предлагаме една своя молитва: Живеем на крехка планета, от чийто грижливо опазване зависи дали ще има бъдеще за нашите деца. Ние сме само временните попечители на един свят, който сам по себе си не е нищо повече от една прашинка в невъобразимо необятна и стара Вселена. Затова нека се научим да постъпваме преди всичко в интерес на вида и планетата ни.
Тогава още неизброимо много нощи ще има хора, които да бъдат свидетели на величието на кометите, благословили земното небе.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“The dangers that we face are part of the process, now well underway, of the unification of the planet--in language, culture, science, and commerce. They are both driven by the identical technological advances--this critical and delicate time coincides with the widespread availability of nuclear weapons. At the present rate of change, it seems likely that in the period between now and 2061, the turning point for the human species will have been reached.

If we survive until then, our passage to the next apparition of Halley's Comet should be comparatively easy. That perihelion passage will be in March 2134, when the comet will make an unusually close encounter with the Earth. It will come as close as 0.09AU or 14 million kilometers, less than half the distance of the 1910 encounter. It will then be brighter than the brightest star. If there are those to do the commemorating, the years 2061 and 2134 should be celebrated for the courage, intelligence, and common purpose of a species forced by urgent necessity to come to its senses.”
― Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, Comet

“Contemplated as one grand whole, astronomy is the most beautiful monument of the human mind; the noblest record of its intelligence.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“Cuando los hombres descubren algo nuevo sienten una inclinación natural a hacer uso de ello, probablemente en respuesta a sus circuitos cerebrales. Esa extraña proclividad, que no comparten de modo sistemático las demás bestias o plantas de la Tierra, constituye tanto una causa principal del éxito humano como un motivo básico de que estemos despojando una parte tan considerable de la superficie terráquea. Las aves saben, mejor que los humanos, que no deben ensuciar su nido.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“Los viajes inaugurales son siempre los más peligrosos.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“Cuando dirigimos nuestra vista al espacio vemos reflejadas en él las múltiples variedades de nuestra naturaleza.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“La extinción es la regla. La supervivencia es la excepción.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“Como es lógico, existe un ritmo constante y básico de extinciones. En nuestra época, las especies se extinguen cada año a consecuencia de las actividades humanas: la urbanización, la caza, la contaminación industrial o la destrucción de los bosques tropicales.”
― Carl Sagan, Comet

“If the structure of the world with all its order and beauty is only an effect of matter left to its own universal laws of motion, and if the blind mechanics of the natural forces can evolve so glorious a product out of chaos, and can attain to such perfection of themselves, then the proof of the Divine Author which is drawn from the spectacle of the beauty of the universe wholly loses its force. Nature is thus sufficient for itself; the Divine government is unnecessary.…”
― Carl Sagan, Comet