49 quotes
American astrophysicist, cosmologist and author (1934–1996)
“One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time.”
"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
on Philosophy
"The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself."
"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
on Truth
"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
on Curiosity
"There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths."
on Science
"The prediction I can make with the highest confidence is that the most amazing discoveries will be the ones we are not today wise enough to foresee."
on Innovation
"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."
"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself"
"Modern science has been a voyage into the unknown, with a lesson in humility waiting at every stop. Many passengers would rather have stayed home."
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
"For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."
on Love
"It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
"Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense."
on Critical Thinking
"Books are like seeds. They can lie dormant for centuries and then flower in the most unpromising soil."
on Writing
"Across the sea of space, the stars are other suns."
on Nature
"The secrets of evolution, are time and death. There's an unbroken thread that stretches from those first cells to us."
on Life
"We are all flawed and creatures of our times. Is it fair to judge us by the unknown standards of the future?"
on Ethics
"We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands."
"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."
on Imagination
