Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
You mean am I for it or against it? You think this is a key question I'm going to be asked on Vega, and you want to make sure I give the right answer? Okay. Overpopulation is why I'm in favor of homosexuality and a celibate clergy. A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote discusses the complexities of societal issues like overpopulation and how it influences views on sexuality and clergy behavior.
In this quote, Carl Sagan reflects on how pressing issues such as overpopulation affect societal norms and individual beliefs, particularly regarding homosexuality and the expectations of a celibate clergy. He suggests that embracing homosexuality and promoting a celibate clergy can mitigate problems associated with overpopulation and curtail fanaticism, indicating the profound interrelation between personal choices and larger societal challenges.
Themes
OverpopulationHomosexualityCelibacyClergyFanaticism
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on modern societal issues, I quoted Sagan to emphasize the connection between personal beliefs and societal challenges.
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
Grief and disappointment are like hate: they make men ugly with self-pity and bitterness. And how selfish they make us too.
Graham GreeneRead
We do not live in several different, or even two different, worlds, a mental world and a physical world, a scientific world and a world of common sense. Rather, there is just one world; it is the world we all live in, and we need to account for how we exist as part of it.
John SearleRead
Pursued by our origins... we all are.
Emile M. CioranRead
We must, therefore, be here as strangers and pilgrims, that we may plainly declare that we seek a city above.
Anne BradstreetRead
Dreams are the eraser dust I blow off my page._x000D_ _x000D_ They fade into the emptiness, another dark gray day._x000D_ _x000D_ Dreams are only memories of the plans I had back then._x000D_ _x000D_ Dreams are eraser dust and now I use a pen.
Edgar Allan PoeRead
In proportion as the exploitation of one individual by another is put an end to, the exploitation of one nation by another will also be put an end to. In proportion as the antagonism between classes within the nation vanishes, the hostility of one nation to another will come to an end.
Karl MarxRead