Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen.

If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Facts are more mundane than fantasies, but a better basis for conclusions.

But scientists, who ought to know Assure us that it must be so. Oh, let us never, never doubt What nobody is sure about.

There is not a single truth of science upon which we ought to bet more than about a million of millions to one.

Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.

We can only reason from what is; we can reason on actualities, but not on possibilities.

You should never bet against anything in science at odds of more than about 1012 to 1.

All writers are going to have to learn more about science, because it's such an interesting part of their environment.

We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology.

People are saying I don't need science, I have everything, but everything is based on science.

There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.

A thousand probabilities don't make one fact.

Modern civilization depends on science …

The engineer is the key figure in the material progress of the world. It is his engineering that makes a reality of the potential value of science by translating scientific knowledge into tools, resources, energy and labor to bring them to the service of man ... To make contribution of this kind the engineer requires the imagination to visualize the needs of society and to appreciate what is possible as well as the technological and broad social age understanding to bring his vision to reality

Never bet against science!

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth. A man would perish of hunger and thirst, if he refused to eat or drink, till he had obtained positive proof that food and drink would be good for him. But in philosophic reflection this is not so. On the contrary, we must take care not to admit as true anything, which is only probable. For when one falsity has been let in, infinite others follow.

Science plays a huge role in our lives. We're surrounded by technology, we depend on it.

Everyone who's rational should have an interest in science. The future of our planet depends on our understanding of science... It's something I value immensely.

Science makes no claim to infallibility; it leaves that claim to be made by theologians.

I have often wondered and even laughed at those who fancied that everything had been so consummately and absolutely investigated by an Aristotle or a Galen or some other mighty name, that nothing could by any possibility be added to their knowledge.

Without science, there would be no such hope.

Science as such assuredly has no authority, for she can only say what is, not what is not.

You'll often hear the phrase "science doesn't know everything." Well, of course it doesn't know everything. But just because science doesn't know everything doesn't mean that it knows nothing.

Dilbert: I'm obsessed with inventing a perpetual motion machine. Most scientists think it's impossible, but I have something they don't. Dogbert: A lot of spare time? Dilbert: Exactly.