The passion to explore is at the heart of being human.

By exploring other worlds we safeguard this one. By itself, I think this fact more than justifies the money our species has spent in sending ships to other worlds. It is our fate to live during one of the most perilous and, at the same time, one of the most hopeful chapters in human history.

I find science so much more fascinating than science fiction. It also has the advantage of being true.

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

That kind of skeptical, questioning, "don't accept what authority tells you" attitude of science - is also nearly identical to the attitude of mind necessary for a functioning democracy. Science and democracy have very consonant values and approaches, and I don't think you can have one without the other.

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.

All inquires carry with them some element of risk. There is no guarantee that the universe will conform to our predispositions.