 But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown. |
| Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. |
| It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. |
| Personally, I would be delighted if there were a life after death, especially if it permitted me to continue to learn about this world and others, if it gave me a chance to discover how history turns out. |
| The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous. |
| A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism. |
| We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces. |
| The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent. |
| I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set at night, or even that the Sun is a star. |
| When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it. |
| Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. |
| For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. |
| We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. |
| Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. |
| All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value. |
| Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. |
| I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students. |
| The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition. |
| We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. |
| Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works. |
