Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

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

The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.

The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.

I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction: It is impossible — don’t waste my time. It is possible, but not worth doing. I said it was a good idea all along.

In science fiction, we have to depict the future, and we have a magic wand called imagination.

The road to the future leads us smack into the wall. We simply ricochet off the alternatives that destiny offers.

I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.

All human plans [are] subject to ruthless revision by Nature, or Fate, or whatever one preferred to call the powers behind the Universe.

The best measure of a man’s honesty isn’t his income tax return. It’s the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.

Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.

It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God but to create him.

I’m not a prophet; I can only use the instruments of my time.

Perhaps it’s in the natural order of things for an older generation to be appalled by the young.

The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn’t have a space program.

The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.

I’m sure we would not have had men on the Moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I’m rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books.

The only thing we can be sure of is that change will come.

I think the human race doesn’t have a future if it doesn’t go into space.

We have to abandon the idea that schooling is something restricted to youth. How can it be, in a world where half the things a man knows at 20 are no longer true at 40 — and half the things he knows at 40 hadn’t been discovered when he was 20?

It’s no use crying over spilt milk, because all of the forces of the universe were bent on spilling it.

The limits of science fiction, in some senses, are the limits of human imagination.

Science fiction is something that could happen – but usually you wouldn’t want it to.

The basis of all life on Earth is organic molecules, so any system anywhere life might exist will probably have organic molecules as well.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.

Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets.

I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish opinions just because they are yours.

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

I don’t believe in astrology; I’m a Sagittarius and we’re skeptical.

The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.

I don’t believe in God but I’m very interested in her.

One of the great tragedies of mankind is that morality has been hijacked by religion.

Any tried-and-true scientific technique will be dubbed artificial and primitive as soon as New Yorkers finds a use for it.

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!

It is not easy to see how the more bizarre theories of the universe can be tested for correctness since their predictions are generically wrong.

If we have learned one thing from the history of inventions, it is that in the long run— and often in the short one— the most daring prophecies, seem laughably conservative.

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Sometimes I think we’re alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the idea is quite staggering.

There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

Whetever the future holds for me, I am in the hands of God.

The universe may not only be queerer than we think, but queerer than we can think.

In physics, you don’t have to go around making trouble for yourself – nature does it for you.

Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.