I would rather enlighten the electorate so that when it's time for them to put somebody in Congress, it will be self-evident that they will embrace the message and tools and discovery of science in a way that can transform our culture and even our civilization.

Don't get in the way of children who find it natural and obvious to explore the world around them - even if it means they make a mess of your kitchen or living room. It's all about your perspective on these things. Let them play. When you do, the kids do not have to be reintroduced to ways of questioning nature, and the task of promoting science would be a trivial exercise.

Chimpanzees are an evolutionary hair's-width from us.... Now imagine a species on Earth, or anywhere else, as smart compared with humans as humans are compared with chimpanzees. How much of the universe might they figure out?

In the end, it's the people who are curious who change the world.

People like it when they understand something that they previously thought they couldn't understand. It's a sense of empowerment.

Space in general gave us GPS - that's not specifically NASA, but it's investments in space.

The tenacity of life is mind-boggling. We keep finding it where no one thought it could be.