5 Quotes by Carl Sagan That Will Change the Way You Think About the World
“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking.”
Carl Sagan is one of the most popular science communicators of all time. I’ve grown up watching his Cosmos series on Television and reading his books. He has authored some of the most brilliant science books of all time like The Pale Blue Dot, Demon Haunted World, Billions and Billions, etc. Sagan’s had essential contributions to the search for extraterrestrial civilization by pioneering the Pioneer plague and the Golden record for Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft respectively in the 70s. Sagan greatly impacted me as I was growing up reading his works and listening to his words about space, astronomy, and science in general. In this story, I shall share with you five brilliant quotes by Sagan that changed the way I think about the world and the universe.
“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
as mentioned in The Demon-Haunted World, Ch. 1, The Most Precious Thing, p. 12
We, as human beings, I believe, have a great sense of purpose towards the world we live in. The purpose is to try and understand how it really works and how the universe really works. We observe and study the universe through various lenses be it spiritual, religious, artistic, or scientific. We might differ in our understanding and our perspective on the universe. But the fact is, whether we believe it or not, there cannot be more than one truth about reality. Sagan reminds us exactly that. Nature, in its natural form, provides utmost satisfaction to the comprehension we have about it that no other stories can.
“The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”
as stated by him in Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Ep. 1
One of the most poetic things about the universe, as mentioned by Professor Lawrence Krauss in one of his lectures, is that we are made of the stuff that exploded in stars. This is one of the most profound statements in astrophysics and astronomy, and perhaps all of science. In our quest to understand the universe we live in, we are doing nothing but trying to understand ourselves because the cosmos resides within us. The molecules and compounds that make up our bodies, the atoms that make up our bodies originally came from the explosion of stars millions and billions of years ago. Next time when you feel insignificant about yourself, tell yourself that you are made of star stuff!
“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”
as mentioned in Sagan’s Cosmos, 1980 book, Page no. 30
This quotation shows the immensity of time and space that we live in. Our lives are full of ups and downs, sometimes we feel utmost happiness and sometimes we feel like giving up. And in those moments we feel like that is it and that is all we have. Whenever we feel happy about ourselves we shouldn’t presume that it will last forever, and on the contrary, when we feel sad about ourselves we shouldn’t feel that it will last forever either. Time is immense, and it’s all upon us on how we want to deal with it. Nothing lasts forever.
“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.”
as mentioned in the book Cosmos, 1980, page no. 282
I’ve always been an avid book reader. Reading books is one of the most productive habits that you can develop. They are not just informative and provide you with immense knowledge, but also help you build perspective towards things, they can transform your thinking process and enhance your imagination skills. By simply, indulging yourself in this activity, you not just consume information but also learn how to create your own information.
“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking.”
as mentioned in his book Demon-Haunted world, 1995
Do not believe what everyone else is believing. A rational mind always believes in something which is backed by evidence and facts because the way we think and perceive things also affects our decision-making process. To think scientifically is to be able to question, and doubt the things we are taught and think rationally. Dr. Sagan, in this quote, tries to exhibit one such value of science where it does not just provide knowledge about the world and the universe but also helps us think in a way that we perceive the world scientifically. It’s more about how you think about the world than scientific facts and figures.
There are many wonderful pieces of advice that Sagan has provided in his interviews, his shows as a science communicator, and his books, which can be found online. Science communication is one of the most important fields of communication because it helps people become scientifically literate. You don't need to be a scientist to be scientifically literate and Sagan taught us just that. His wisdom and lessons are going to be remembered for ages.
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