There is perhaps no better a demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world.

The prediction I can make with the highest confidence is that the most amazing discoveries will be the ones we are not today wise enough to foresee.

We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands. The loom of time and space works the most astonishing transformations of matter.

To read is to voyage through time.

Our ancestors worshipped the Sun, and they were not that foolish. It makes sense to revere the Sun and the stars, for we are their children.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience..... To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

If we can't think for ourselves, if we're unwilling to question authority, then we're just putty in the hands of those in power.