Nature does not always conform to our predispositions and preferences, to what we deem comfortable and easy to understand.

we make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers

The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Jesus and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don’t like that statement, but few can argue with it.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

Man is a transitional animal. He is not the climax of creation

The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.

Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away.