Paul Davies Quotes

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.

The Eerie Silence: are we alone in the universe?

I suppose my interest in looking for life elsewhere in the universe really dates back to my teens. What teenager doesn't look up at the sky at night and think am I alone in the universe? Well most people get over it, but I never did and though I made a career more in physics and cosmology than astrobiology I've always had a soft spot for the subject of life because it does seem so mysterious.

That is a big question we all have: are we alone in the universe? And exoplanets confirm the suspicion that planets are not rare.

I believe alien life is quite common in the universe, although intelligent life is less so. Some say it has yet to appear on planet Earth.

It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, when asked about Western civilization, remarked, 'I think it would be a good idea.' That's how I feel about intelligent life on Earth, especially when I think about the question of what truly intelligent life might look like elsewhere in the universe.

Human beings have long wondered whether they are alone in the universe.

I believe we are the only sentient beings in the universe, and I believe that 500 years from now, we will still be the only sentient beings around.

It's hard enougth to find intelligent life right here in Washington!

It seems unlikely that we're alone in the universe. But I'm pretty sure nobody's hiding any contact.

Our sun is one of a 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living thing in that enormous immensity.

The best proof that there's intelligent life in the universe is that it hasn't come here.

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.

Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?

Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it.

The belief that there are other life forms in the universe is a matter of faith. There is not a single shred of evidence for any other life forms, and in forty years of searching, none has been discovered. There is absolutely no evidentiary reason to maintain this belief.

Most of the intelligence out there must be artificial intelligence. We keep looking for critters like us living on a planet like ours, where in fact the majority of the intelligence out there is not biological. That would be my argument.

I believe in aliens. I think it would be way too selfish of us as mankind to believe we are the only lifeforms in the universe.

The universe is large and old, and the ingredients for life as we know it are everywhere, so there's no reason to think that Earth would be unique in that regard. Whether of not the life became intelligent is a different question, and we'll see if we find that.

People quite often think of the question 'Are we alone in the universe?' in terms of other civilizations out there: life forms that have reached at least our level of technological development.

How can the human race be, like, the only living form in the universe? There have to be other life forms out there. I believe it.

I look out of this window and I think this is a cosmos, this is a huge creation, this is one small corner of it. The trees and birds and everything else and I'm part of it. I didn't ask to be put here, I've been lucky in finding myself here.

If there are other worlds elsewhere in the universe, I would conjecture they are governed by the same laws of natural selection.

I think there's all kinds of life out there, including intelligent life, but the reason we haven't found each other is because of vast distances.

There's no doubt that the search for planets is motivated by the search for life. Humans are interested in whether or not life evolves on other planets. We'd especially like to find communicating, technological life, and we look around our own solar system, and we see that of all the planets, there's only one that's inhabited.