I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development. I think that religion may be some random by-product of mammalian reproduction. If that's true, would non-mammalian aliens have a religion?

Getting information from the internet is like getting a glass of water from the Niagara Falls.

As three laws were good enough for Newton, I have modestly decided to stop there.

But he knew well enough that any man in the right circumstances could be dehumanised by panic.

When you finally understand the universe, it will not only be stranger than you imagine, it will be stranger than you can imagine.

What was more, they had taken the first step toward genuine friendship. They had exchanged vulnerabilities.

The crossing of space ... may do much to turn men's minds outwards and away from their present tribal squabbles. In this sense, the rocket, far from being one of the destroyers of civilisation, may provide the safety-value that is needed to preserve it.