The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos.

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.

If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realize that we were alone?

Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.

We've tended in our cosmologies to make things familiar. Despite all our best efforts, we've not been very inventive. In the West, Heaven is placid and fluffy, and Hell is like the inside of a volcano. In many stories, both realms are governed by dominance hierarchies headed by gods or devils. Monotheists talked about the king of kings. In every culture we imagined something like our own political system running the Universe. Few found the similarity suspicious.

Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred.

The universe forces those who live in it to understand it.