Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
Some 5 billion years from now, there will be a last perfect day on Earth... then the sun will begin to die, life will be extinguished, the oceans will boil and evaporate away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the inevitable end of life on Earth as the sun changes, emphasizing the transient nature of existence.
Carl Sagan highlights the eventual fate of our planet, reminding us that despite the beauty and perfection of life on Earth, it is temporary. This poignant reflection serves as a reminder of the cosmic timescale and the ultimate fate of the universe, urging us to appreciate the present while contemplating the vastness of time and space.
Themes
EarthSunLifeTransienceCosmos
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on climate change, one might say this quote to emphasize the urgency of taking care of our planet.
More from Carl Sagan
All quotes →In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
Carl SaganRead
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
Carl SaganRead
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
Carl SaganRead
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
Carl SaganRead
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
Carl SaganRead
Similar quotes
Equipped with our five senses - along with telescopes and microscopes and mass spectrometers and seismographs and magnetometers and particle accelerators and detectors sensitive to the entire electromagnetic spectrum - we explore the universe around us and call the adventure science.
Edwin Powell HubbleRead
As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.
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When I started working with NASA in 1989 as part of a mission to send spacecraft to Pluto, I knew it would take at least 10-15 years to see results of my efforts.
Alan SternRead
No new creation or destruction of matter is within the reach of chemical agency. We might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solar system, or to annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen.
John DaltonRead
Without theory, practice is but routine born of habit. Theory alone can bring forth and develop the spirit of invention. ... [Do not] share the opinion of those narrow minds who disdain everything in science which has not an immediate application. ... A theoretical discovery has but the merit of its existence: it awakens hope, and that is all. But let it be cultivated, let it grow, and you will see what it will become.
Louis PasteurRead
Overall, the human brain is the most complex object known in the universe - known, that is, to itself.
E. O. WilsonRead