When Kepler found his long-cherished belief did not agree with the most precise observation, he accepted the uncomfortable fact. He preferred the hard truth to his dearest illusions, that is the heart of science.

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

Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.

If some good evidence for life after death were announced, I'd be eager to examine it; but it would have to be real scientific data, not mere anecdote. As with the face on Mars and alien abductions, better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy.

The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.

We are made of star-stuff. Our bodies are made of star-stuff. There are pieces of star within us all.

We are an intelligent species and the use of our intelligence quite properly gives us pleasure. In this respect the brain is like a muscle. When we think well, we feel good. Understanding is a kind of ecstasy.