6 Carl Sagan Quotes on Philosophy

Carl Sagan quotes on philosophy

16. For most of human history we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Who are we? What are we? We find that we inhabit an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. This perspective is a courageous continuation of our penchant for constructing and testing mental models of the skies; the Sun as a red-hot stone, the stars as a celestial flame, the Galaxy as the backbone of night.

20. A googolplex is precisely as far from infinity as is the number 1... no matter what number you have in mind, infinity is larger.

29. We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter.

39. The major religions on the Earth contradict each other left and right. You can't all be correct. And what if all of you are wrong? It's a possibility, you know. You must care about the truth, right? Well, the way to winnow through all the differing contentions is to be skeptical. I'm not any more skeptical about your religious beliefs than I am about every new scientific idea I hear about. But in my line of work, they're called hypotheses, not inspiration and not revelation.

62. It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

94. We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it's forever.