On the day that we do discover that we are not alone, our society may begin to evolve and transform in some incredible and wondrous new ways.

What's the harm of a little mystification? It sure beats boring statistical analyses.

In a lot of scientists, the ratio of wonder to skepticism declines in time. That may be connected with the fact that in some fields-mathematics, physics, some others-the great discoveries are almost entirely made by youngsters.

In all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.

Better the hard truth, I say, than the comforting fantasy. And in the final tolling it often turns out that the facts are more comforting than the fantasy.

Valid criticism does you a favor.

For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations.