We have heard the rationales offered by the nuclear superpowers. We know who speaks for the nations. But who speaks for the human species? Who speaks for Earth?

Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.

I don't want to believe. I want to know.

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

You have to know the past to understand the present.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.

The emotional place where a marriage begins is not nearly as important as the emotional place where a marriage finds itself toward the end, after many years of partnership.

But all the magic I have knownI've had to make myself.

The point of the list wasn't just to tick items off and forget about them, it was to learn something new.

Unless children have strong education and strong families and strong communities and decent housing, it's not enough to go sit in at a lunch counter.

A few question marks are being asked in the Honduran defence

People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to.

Look at light and admire its beauty. Close your eyes, and then look again: what you saw is no longer there; and what you will see later is not yet.

I will not be distracted by noise, chatter, or setbacks. Patience, commitment, grace, and purpose will guide me.

The fact is that great musical pieces take and hold the stage because they provide great emotional experiences.