Arthur C. Clarke Quotes

Magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

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

Science fiction is the only literature that consistently anticipates changes in technology, society, and the future.

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

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

The best proof of intelligent life in space is that it hasn’t come here.

We have to abandon the idea that schooling is something restricted to youth.

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction: It’s completely impossible. It’s possible, but it’s not worth doing. I said it was a good idea all along.

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

I don’t pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.

I am an optimist. Anyone interested in the future has to be otherwise he would simply shoot himself.

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

No great discovery was ever made without a bold guess.

The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!,’ but ‘That’s funny…’

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: It’s completely impossible. It’s possible but not worth doing. I said it was a good idea all along.

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

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

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

I don’t pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

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

The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’

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

Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it’s the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself.

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction: It’s completely impossible. It’s possible, but it’s not worth doing. I said it was a good idea all along.

I’m sometimes asked how I would like to be remembered. I’ve had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter, and science popularizer. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer—one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imaginations as well.

Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all.

The only way to find the limits of the possible is by going beyond them to the impossible.

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction: 1) It’s completely impossible. 2) It’s possible, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I said it was a good idea all along!

If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work.

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

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

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction: It is completely impossible. It is possible, but it is not worth doing. I said it was a good idea all along.

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

Science fiction is the one field that reaches out ahead and points the way, and science fiction can continue to do that, not only in a predictive way but also in the way of showing us what we are now, what we have done in the past so that we can examine it, criticize it, correct it, and maybe exaggerate it a little bit to point out the worse effects we should be careful to avoid.

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