Carl Sagan

"The size and age of the world must be taken into account when we are trying to understand it."

"I am convinced that we are living in an era of unprecedented importance."

"The distinction between art and science is not nearly as clear-cut as many people think."

"We live on a small world that is politically fractured and intellectually fractured."

"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."

"For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love."

"Science is not only a disciple of reason but also one of romance and passion."

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

"Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge."

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

"We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology and yet the scientific literacy is abysmally low."

"The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

"All civilizations become either spacefaring or extinct."

"When you're in love you want to do things for them. You want to sacrifice for them."

"In the long run the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always."

"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle."

"Science is a collaborative effort across generations."

"The brain does much more than recollect; it reconstructs."

"We are made of starstuff brought into being through processes we are only beginning to understand."

"A new consciousness is developing which sees the earth as a single organism."

"To understand the thing, you must love the thing."

"Books are a tool for consciousness expansion."

"Skepticism should not be confused with cynicism or bitterness."

"The visions of science and spirituality are not necessarily in conflict."

"We make up the stories about ourselves that help us survive."

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known, but only if we pursue knowledge."

"Science is not a body of facts; it is a way of thinking."

"Nations are not just physical entities but also intellectual and spiritual ones."