There are no forbidden questions in science, no matters too sensitive or delicate to be probed, no sacred truths.

In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with Annie.

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.

We are made of starstuff.

The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir.

Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.

You could just as well say that an agnostic is a deeply religious person with at least a rudimentary knowledge of human fallibility.