Carl Sagan Quotes

We don't regard any scientific theory as the absolute truth.

As scientists, we need to not be afraid of the truth.

The good thing about science is that it is true whether or not you believe in it.

Embrace truth as it is revealed to-day by human reason.

Now is the time for everyone who believes in the rule of reason to speak up against pathological science and its purveyors.

Science teaches us, in effect, to submit our reason to the truth and to know and judge of things as they are-that is to say, as they themselves choose to be and not as we would have them to be.

It is in the best interests of civilization and our economy and our nation to understand what objective truths are as revealed by the methods and tools of science.

Truth does not demand belief. Scientists do not join hands every Sunday, singing, 'Yes, gravity is real! I will have faith!'

For me science is not different from art, except in the one small, crucial detail that experiments speak their own truths, not ours.

My passion is for scientific truth. I don't much care about good and evil. ... I care about what's true.

One of the reasons I've gotten so attached to talking to scientists is that... they know there is a reality.

The scientist is a lover of truth for the very love of truth itself, wherever it may lead.

True science is never speculative; it employs hypotheses as suggesting points for inquiry, but it never adopts the hypotheses as though they were demonstrated propositions.

Only science and the spirit of seeking truth from facts can save China. I firmly believe in this.

Ecclesiasticism in science is only unfaithfulness to truth.

Not so the scientist. The very essence of his life is the service of truth.

Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself.

It is not his possession of knowledge, of irrefutable truth, that makes the man of science, but his persistent and recklessly critical quest for truth.

The great tragedy of Science --- the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact

Science is true, whether you believe it or not.

In fact, scientific results are a careful attempt to objectively measure reality, and although they may be refined over time, they are always our best hope of getting at the truth.

Something my father dearly loved is the scientific method, and it's founded in this element of humility. The idea is that you pursue the truth wherever it goes; you need to evidence, and you can - you see if it's repeatable.

Educated guesswork' is what science is. You form hypotheses, test them against the evidence, and if they fit the evidence, you can assume you've got close to the truth.

We're awash in toxic memes right now. One of the most toxic, I think because it enables so many others, is the idea that truth doesn't matter, that truth is just relative, that there's no such thing as establishing the truth of anything. Your truth, my truth, we're all entitled to our own truths. That's pernicious, it's attractive to many people, and it is used to exploit people in all sorts of nefarious ways. The truth really does matter.

The public has a distorted view of science because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.