The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

—Carl Sagan in Broca's Brain

About Carl Sagan

Portrait of Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan (; SAY-gən; November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell, where he was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and directed the Laboratory for Planetary...

More quotations from Carl Sagan

The entire recent history of biology shows that we are, to a remarkable degree, the results of the interactions of an extremely complex array of molecules; and the aspect of biology that was once considered its holy of holies, the nature of the genetic material, has now been fundamentally understood in terms of the chemistry of its constituent nucleic acids, DNA and RNA, and their operational agents, the proteins.

—Carl Sagan in The Dragons of Eden

biology protein DNA genetics

My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings—what we sometimes call "mind"—are a consequence of its anatomy and physiology, and nothing more.

—Carl Sagan in The Dragons of Eden

mind brain anatomy phsiology

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

Humans—who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals—have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain. A sharp distinction between humans and "animals" is essential if we are to bend them to our will, wear them, eat them—without any disquieting tinges of guilt or regret.

regret pain guilt animals humans

Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.

More quotations tagged with “humor”

I’m all for gun control. Sometimes I shake a little; I’ve got to use two hands.

politics humor guns

They say, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” But I think the guns help. Just standing there saying, “Bang!” doesn’t really hurt anybody.

—Eddie Izzard

politics humor guns

Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.

—Laurence J. Peter

politics humor democracy anger blame

A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.

—Samuel Johnson

I like a woman with a head on her shoulders. I hate necks.

—Steve Martin

History

25 Nov 2013 Added