Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar", every "supreme leader", every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known. —Carl Sagan More about this quote Tags: wonder humanity inspiration kindness space vastness Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
If you pay attention to the world, it’s an amazing place. If you don’t, it’s whatever you think it is. —Reggie Watts More about this quote Tags: attention wonder amazing delusion Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox. We live in trapped loops, reliving a few days over and over, and we envision only a handful of paths laid out ahead of us. We see the same things each day, we respond the same way, we think the same thoughts, each day a slight variation of the last, every moment smoothly following the the gentle curves of societal norms. we act like if we just get through today, tomorrow our dreams will come back to us. And no, I don't have all the answers. I don't know how to jolly myself into seeing what each moment could become. But I do know one thing: the solution doesn't involve watering down my every little idea and creative impulse for the sake of some day easing my fit into a mold. It doesn't involve tempering my life to better fit someone's expectations. It doesn't involve constantly holding back for fear of shaking things up. This is very important, so I want to say it as clearly as I can: Fuck. That. Shit. —Randall Munroe More about this quote Tags: wonder fear power change boredom comfort possibilities loops societal norms Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
I see myself as a huge fiery comet, a shooting star. Everyone stops, points up and gasps "Oh look at that!" Then — whoosh, and I'm gone... and they'll never see anything like it ever again... and they won't be able to forget me — ever. —Jim Morrison More about this quote Tags: wonder potential fame Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. —Bertrand Russell More about this quote Tags: wonder magic Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
We are an impossibility in an impossible universe. —Ray Bradbury More about this quote Tags: wonder Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful. —A.R. Ammons More about this quote Tags: attention wonder beauty Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. —Albert Einstein More about this quote Tags: wonder mind religion perception Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. —William S. Burroughs More about this quote Tags: wonder questions learning knowledge Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
I remember a medicine man in Africa who said to me almost with tears in his eyes: "We have no dreams anymore since the British are in the country." When I asked him why, he answered, "The District Commissioner knows everything." —Carl Jung More about this quote Tags: wonder power knowledge dreams Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The attitude that I take is that everyday life is more interesting than forms of celebration, when we become aware of it. That when is when our intentions go down to zero. Then suddenly you notice that the world is magical. —John Cage More about this quote Tags: wonder life joy interesting celebration noticing Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. —Bertrand Russell More about this quote Tags: wonder doubt Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
When we stand beneath the night sky, we stand beneath the history of the whole of creation. It is a miracle that so much of it is perceptible — a miracle we might appreciate more if it had not occurred and we did not have senses to discern it. —Richard Grossinger More about this quote Tags: wonder creation awe Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
What humbugs we are, who pretend to live for Beauty, and never see the Dawn! —Logan Pearsall Smith More about this quote Tags: wonder patience Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
They say that every snowflake is different. If that were true, how could the world go on? How could we ever get up off our knees? How could we ever recover from the wonder of it? —Jeanette Winterson More about this quote Tags: wonder mystery awe surprise Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email