“Except in pure mathematics, nothing is known for certain (although much is certainly false).”

Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.

We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.

Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.

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

The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.

Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy.

The price we pay for anticipation of the future is anxiety about it.

We can’t help it. Life looks for life.

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

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

There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths.

Those at too great a distance may, I am well are, mistake ignorance for perspective.

Arguments from authority carry little weight, authorities have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.

Other things being equal, it is better to be smart than to be stupid.

I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.

Don’t judge everyone else by your own limited experience.