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. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.

The old appeals to racial, sexual and religious chauvinism to rabid nationalist fervor, are beginning not to work.

Every star may be a sun to someone.

We are made of star stuff. For the most part, atoms heavier than hydrogen were created in the interiors of stars and then expelled into space to be incorporated into later stars. The Sun is probably a third generation star.

In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!

Advances in medicine and agriculture have saved vastly more lives than have been lost in all the wars in history.

Books tap the wisdom of our species -- the greatest minds, the best teachers -- from all over the world and from all our history. And they're patient.