1,131 Quotes by Carl Sagan

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

The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent to the concerns of such puny creatures as we are.

We are a way for the cosmos to know itself

I don't want to believe. I want to know.

All that we have seen is something of a vast and intricate and lovely universe. There is no particular theological conclusion that comes out of an exercise such as the one we have just gone through. What is more, when we understand something of the astronomical dynamics, the evolution of worlds, we recognize that worlds are born and worlds die, they have lifetimes just as humans do, and therefore that there is a great deal of suffering and death in the cosmos if there is a great deal of life.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

Could we possible manage the next phase of human history without first dealing with this penchant for dehumanizing the adversary?

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's 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 doesn't 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.