Some More Favorite Quotes By Carl Sagan

 

Bust of Carl Sagan

For many months now, I kept collecting quotes by Carl Sagan that I would find on the internet. Usually on Facebook or other social media, since I had subscribed to some fan pages of his. It just seemed that there were so many quotes from him that kind of stopped me, impressed me. But they were disorganized, until it dawned on me that I should collect them here in an unpublished post. Then when the time came, I could simply and finally publish them.

And the time is here now. After all, what better time than on Carl Sagan Day?

So here, below, are some of the quotes (and one Youtube clip) which definitely seemed worth sharing here for any other Carl Sagan enthusiasts out there.

Take a look and enjoy:

The pale blue dot which we call Earth, and which has been our only home throughout history.

“We are star stuff harvesting sunlight.”  

― Carl Sagan   

"If we lived on a planet where nothing ever changed there wouldn't be much to do. There'd be nothing to figure out. There'd be no impetus for science. And if we lived in an unpredictable world where things changed in random or complex ways we wouldn't be able to figure things out. And again, there'd be no such thing as science.  

"But we live in an in-between universe where things change, all right but according to patterns, rules or as we call them, laws of nature. If I throw a stick up in the air it always falls down. If the sun sets in the west it always rises again the next morning in the east. And so, it's possible to figure things out. We can do science, and with it we can improve our lives."  

Carl Sagan ; Cosmos: The Harmony of the Worlds

"What distinguishes our species is thought. The cerebral cortex is in a way a liberation. We need no longer be trapped in the genetically inherited behavior patterns of lizards and baboons: territoriality and aggression and dominance hierarchies. We are each of us largely responsible for what gets put in to our brains. For what as adults we wind up caring for and knowing about. No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain we can change ourselves. Think of the possibilities." 

~ Carl Sagan ; Cosmos "The Persistence of Memory" 

“Every 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.” 

― Carl Sagan

“The words “question” and “quest” are cognates. Only through inquiry can we discover the truth.” 

~ Carl Sagan, Broca’s Brain “The Quest for Truth”

Carl Sagan Quotes on Religion (9 quotes) 

https://todayinsci.com/S/Sagan_Carl/SaganCarl-Religion-Quotations.htm

"In theological discussion with religious leaders, I often ask what their response would be if a central tenet of their faith were disproved by science. When I put this question to the current, Fourteenth, Dalai Lama, he unhesitatingly replied as no conservative or fundamentalist religious leaders do: in such a case, he said, Tibetan Buddhism would have to change. Even, I asked, if it's a really central tenet, like (I searched for an example) reincarnation? Even then, he answered. However, he added with a twinkle, it's going to be hard to disprove reincarnation.  Plainly, the Dalai Lama is right. Religious doctrine that is insulated from disproof has little reason to worry about the advance of science. The grand idea, common to many faiths, of a Creator of the Universe is one such doctrine - difficult alike to demonstrate or to dismiss." 

Carl Sagan ; The Demon-Haunted World  "Disproving Religion" 

"In matters of religion, Einstein thought more deeply than many others and was repeatedly misunderstood. On the occasion of Einstein's first visit to America, Cardinal O'Connell of Boston warned that the relativity theory "cloaked the ghastly apparition of atheism." This alarmed a New York rabbi who cabled Einstein:  "Do you believe in God?" Einstein cabled back: "I believe in Spinoza's God, who revealed himself in the harmony of all being, not in the God who concerns himself with the fate and actions of men" a more subtle religious view embraced by many theologians today.  

Einstein's religious beliefs were very genuine. In the 1920s and 1930s he expressed grave doubts about a basic precept of quantum mechanics: that at the most fundamental level of matter, particles behave in an unpredictable way, as expressed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Einstein said, "God does not play dice with the cosmos." And on another occasion he asserted, "God is subtle, but he is not malicious." In fact, Einstein was so fond of such aphorisms that the Danish physicist Niels Bohr turned to him on one occasion and with some exasperation said, "Stop telling God what to do." But there were many physicists who felt that if anyone knew God's intentions, it was Einstein."

 Carl Sagan ; Broca's Brain :Reflections on the Romance Of Science

"Elegance goes directly to the question of how the laws of nature are constructed. Nobody knows the answer to that. Nobody! Its a perfectly legitimate hypothesis, in any view, to say that some extremely elegant creator made those laws. But I think if you go down that road, you must have the courage to ask the next question, which is: Where did that creator come from? And where did his, her, or its elegance come from? And if you say it was always there, then why not say that the laws of nature were always there and save a step?" 

Carl Sagan "The Laws of Nature" (Excerpt from Conversations with Carl Sagan

"Does trying to understand the universe at all betray a lack of humility? I believe it is true that humility is the only just response in a confrontation with the universe, but not a humility that prevents us from seeking the nature of the universe we are admiring. If we seek that nature, then love can be informed by truth instead of being based on ignorance or self-deception. If a Creator God exists, would He or She or It or whatever the appropriate pronoun is, prefer a kind of sodden blockhead who worships while understanding nothing? Or would He prefer His votaries to admire the real universe in all its intricacy? 

I would suggest that science is, at least in part, informed worship. My deeply held belief is that if a god of anything like the traditional sort exists, then our curiosity and intelligence are provided by such a god. We would be unappreciative of those gifts if we suppressed our passion to explore the universe and ourselves. On the other hand, if such a traditional god does not exist, then our curiosity and our intelligence are the essential tools for managing our survival in an extremely dangerous time. In either case the enterprise of knowledge is consistent surely with science; it should be with religion, and it is essential for the welfare of the human species." 

Carl Sagan ; The Varieties Of Scientific Experience : A Personal View Of the Search for God

"Science is so exciting today that I don't think it's necessary to embellish it or distort it in order to blow the minds of the readers.

 Carl Sagan "Science Is Exciting" (Analog: Science Fiction and Fact August 1976)

"Many visionary leaders have imagined a time when the allegiance of an individual human being is not to his particular nation-state, religion, race, or economic group, but to mankind as a whole; when the benefit to a human being of another sex, race, religion, or political persuasion ten thousand miles away is as precious to us as to our neighbor or our brother. The trend is in this direction, but it is agonizingly slow. There is a serious question whether such a global self identification of mankind can be achieved before we destroy ourselves with the technological forces our intelligence has unleashed." 

Carl Sagan : The Cosmic Connection : An Extraterrestrial Perspective  

"Religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the toughmindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration were needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry." 

Carl Sagan ; Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance Of Science

"We can pray over the cholera victim, or we can give her 500 milligrams of tetracycline every twelve hours. There is still a religion, Christian Science, that denies the germ theory of disease; if prayer fails, the faithful would rather see their children die than give them antibiotics. The scientific treatments are hundreds or thousands of times more effective than the alternatives. Abandoning science means abandoning much more than air conditioning, CD players, hair dryers and fast cars." 

Carl Sagan ; The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

"Well, if we say that the definition of God is reality, or the definition of God is love, I have no quarrel with the existence of reality or love. However, it does not follow that God defined in that way has anything to do with the creation of the world or of any events in human history. It does not follow that there's anything that is omnipotent or omniscient about God defined in such a manner. If we muddle up all the definitions of God, then it's very confusing what's being talked about. There is a great opportunity for error in that case. So my proposal is that we call reality "reality," that we call love "love," and not call either of them God."     

Carl Sagan ; The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View in the Search for God

"Science is an enterprise hat vies its highest rewards to those who disprove the views of its most revered figures. Religion is exactly the opposite. Religion doesn't want any criticism of its most revered figures. Science makes progress."

Carl Sagan "The Enterprise of Science" (Science Friday NPR Interview) 

“If I look at the Bible I see, especially in the King James translation, great literature, great poetry. I see some powerful ethical and moral prescriptions, including the importance of charity. I also saw some dreadful stuff including mass murder of whole people with God cheering one side on. I see rituals and a sense of community. A lot of things that are really terrific and I'm completely for them. And it's hard to see how science could be opposed. But the Bible is not a work of science." 

Carl Sagan "Looking At The Bible" (NPR Fresh Air Interview)

"The ink was barely dry on the Bill of Rights before politicians found a way to subvert it, by cashing in on fear and patriotic hysteria. In 1798, the ruling Federalist Party knew that the button to push was ethnic and cultural prejudice. Exploiting tensions between France and the US, and a widespread fear that French and Irish immigrants were somehow intrinsically unfit to be Americans, the Federalists passed a set of laws that have come to be known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. One law upped the residency requirement for citizenship from five to fourteen years. The Alien Act gave President John Adams the power to deport any foreigner who aroused his suspicions. Making the President nervous, said a member of Congress, 'is the new crime' 

The Sedition Act made it unlawful to publish 'false or malicious' criticism of the government or to inspire opposition to any of its acts. Some two dozen arrests were made, ten people were convicted, and many more were censored or intimidated into silence. The act attempted, Jefferson said, 'to crush all political opposition by making criticism of Federalist officials or policies a crime'." 

Carl Sagan ; The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark

It is only in the last day of the Cosmic Calendar that substantial intellectual abilities have evolved on the planet Earth. The coordinated functioning of both cerebral hemispheres is the tool Nature has provided for our survival. We are unlikely to survive if we do not make full and creative use of our human intelligence.\ 

"We are a scientific civilization," declared Jacob Bronowski. "That means a civilization in which knowledge and its integrity are crucial. Science is only a Latin word for knowledge. . . . Knowledge is our destiny." 

-Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence (1977)

"The introduction of mass-market paperback books in the 1940s has brought the world's literature and the insights of its greatest thinkers, present and past, into the lives of ordinary people. And even if the price of paperback books is soaring today, there are still great bargains, such as the dollar-a-volume classics from Dover Books. Along with progress in literacy such trends are the allies of Jeffersonian democracy.  

"On the other hand what passes for literacy in America in the late twentieth century is a very rudimentary knowledge of the English language, and television in particular tends to seduce the mass population away from reading. In pursuit of the profit motive, it has dumbed itself down to lowest-common-denominator programming—instead of rising up to teach and inspire." 

Carl Sagan ; Billions & Billions : Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium

"It's very tempting. We want to be thought of as children being cared for by an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent creator. Think of all the uncertainties and turmoil and terrors of our life, which would be made less terrifying if this were true, but here, if anywhere is a case where we must not believe because we want it to be true." 

Carl Sagan "Children of a Creator"  (TVO Interview Jan 1995)

When Carl Sagan Looks At The Bible (1996) 616 Likes 9,183 Views 22h Ago 

Carl Sagan's May 1996 appearance on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross featured a discussion on science, superstition, and his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Sagan talked about how studying the universe inspires deep emotion. He explained that science does not take away from wonder.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WQLnlRianHM

https://youtube.com/shorts/WQLnlRianHM?si=k_X2OajfVN72Z7FA

When Carl Sagan Looks At The Bible (1996)

How about one last, wonderful quote by Carl Sagan? Felt that this one was particularly relevant, since nearly three decades after his death, many fellow Americans still are skeptical of climate change, to the point where we have a defiant president who openly mocks climate change and systematically refers to it as a "Chinese hoax."

Honestly, I did not think that we would still be here now, all of these decades later. After all, the actual scientific debate has been over for some time. Yet in this day and age, we now understand that for many people, facts and the truth simply do not matter if they refuse to accept them. 

So here is Carl Sagan urging us on, not only to take climate change seriously, but to be active in order to protest our planet. After all, if we have nothing is we do not have our health, then we also have nothing in this life if we do not have a health planet:

"Anything else you're interested in is not going to happen if you can't breathe the air and drink the water. Don't sit this one out. Do something."

~ Carl Sagan