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.
CARL SAGANEvery kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact.
More Carl Sagan Quotes
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Our ancestors lived out of doors. They were as familiar with the night sky as most of us are with our favorite television programs.
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If we ruin the earth, there is no place else to go.
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The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.
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The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.
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We all have a thirst for wonder. It’s a deeply human quality. Science and religion are both bound up with it.
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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.
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Books break the shackles of time, proof that humans can work magic.
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If we continue to accumulate only power and not wisdom, we will surely destroy ourselves.
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If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.
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The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
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And you are made of a hundred trillion cells. We are, each of us, a multitude.
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Your god is too small for my universe.
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The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what’s true.
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Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
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People are not stupid. They believe things for reasons.
CARL SAGAN