Quotes by Carl Sagan

If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didnt he start the universe out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Whys he constantly repairing and complaining? No, theres one thing the Bible makes clear: The biblical God is a sloppy manufacturer. Hes not good at design, hes not good at execution. Hed be out of business, if there was any competition.

Im frequently asked, Do you believe theres extraterrestrial intelligence? I give the standard arguments- there are a lot of places out there, the molecules of life are everywhere, I use the word billions, and so on. Then I say it would be astonishing to me if there werent extraterrestrial intelligence, but of course there is as yet no compelling evidence for it.Often, Im asked next, What do you really think?I say, I just told you what I really think.Yes, but whats your gut feeling?But I try not to think with my gut. If Im serious about understanding the world, thinking with anything besides my brain, as tempting as that might be, is likely to get me into trouble. Really, its okay to reserve judgment until the evidence is in.

It is said that men may not be the dreams of the god, but rather that the gods are the dreams of men.

Or consider a story in the Jewish Talmud left out of the Book of Genesis. (It is in doubtful accord with the account of the apple, the Tree of Knowledge, the Fall, and the expulsion from Eden.) In The Garden, God tells Eve and Adam that He has intentionally left the Universe unfinished. It is the responsibility of humans, over countless generations, to participate with God in a glorious experiment - the completing of the Creation. The burden of such a responsibility is heavy, especially on so weak and imperfect a species as ours, one with so unhappy a history. Nothing remotely like completion can be attempted without vastly more knowledge than we have today. But, perhaps, if our very existence is at stake, we will find ourselves able to rise to this supreme challenge.

Our God Is Alive and Well. Sorry About Yours.

A new concept of god: “something not very different from the sum total of the physical laws of the universe; that is, gravitation plus quantum mechanics plus grand unified field theories plus a few other things equaled god. And by that all they meant was that here were a set of exquisitely powerful physical principles that seemed to explain a great deal that was otherwise inexplicable about the universe. Laws of nature…that apply not just locally, not just in Glasgow, but far beyond: Edinburgh, Moscow…Mars…the center of the Milky Way, and out by the most distant quarters known. That the same laws of physics apply everywhere is quite remarkable. Certainly that represents a power greater than any of us.

Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. 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.

The visions we offer our children shape the future. It _matters_ what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps.

I do not think it irresponsible to portray even the direst futures if we are to avoid them we must understand that they are possible. But where are the alternatives Where are the dreams that motivate and inspire We long for realistic maps of a world we can be proud to give to our children. Where are the cartographers of human purpose Where are the visions of hopeful futures of technology as a tool for human betterment and not a gun on hair trigger pointed at our heads

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called leaves) imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.

What an astonishing thing a book is. Its a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and youre inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic. (1980)]

In science it often happens that scientists say, You know thats a really good argument; my position is mistaken, and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesnt happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

I dont want to believe. I want to know.

The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which theres little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.

You see, the religious people — most of them — really think this planet is an experiment. Thats what their beliefs come down to. Some god or other is always fixing and poking, messing around with tradesmens wives, giving tablets on mountains, commanding you to mutilate your children, telling people what words they can say and what words they cant say, making people feel guilty about enjoying themselves, and like that. Why cant the gods leave well enough alone? All this intervention speaks of incompetence. If God didnt want Lots wife to look back, why didnt he make her obedient, so shed do what her husband told her? Or if he hadnt made Lot such a shithead, maybe she wouldve listened to him more. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why didnt he start the universe out in the first place so it would come out the way he wants? Whys he constantly repairing and complaining? No, theres one thing the Bible makes clear: The biblical God is a sloppy manufacturer. Hes not good at design, hes not good at execution. Hed be out of business if there was any competition.

Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense of wonder and awe. Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.

Your religion assumes that people are children and need a boogeyman so theyll behave. You want people to believe in God so theyll obey the law. Thats the only means that occurs to you: a strict secular police force, and the threat of punishment by an all-seeing God for whatever the police overlook. You sell human beings short.

You could just as well say that an agnostic is a deeply religious person with at least a rudimentary knowledge of human fallibility.