Isaac Asimov Quotes

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

I wish that I could say I was optimistic about the human race. I love us all, but we are so stupid and shortsighted that I wonder if we can lift our eyes to the world about us long enough not to commit suicide.

Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all; who would force their feeble and childish beliefs on us; who would invade our schools and libraries and homes. I personally resent it bitterly.

Isn't it sad that you can tell people that the ozone layer is being depleted, the forests are being cut down, the deserts are advancing steadily, that the greenhouse effect will raise the sea level 200 feet, that overpopulation is choking us, that pollution is killing us, that nuclear war may destroy us -- and they yawn and settle back for a comfortable nap. But tell them that the Martians are landing, and they scream and run.

If all human beings understood history, they might cease making the same stupid mistakes over and over.

What is really amazing, and frustrating, is mankind's habit of refusing to see the obvious and inevitable until it is there, and then muttering about unforeseen catastrophes.

The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists.

Science doesn't purvey absolute truth. Science is a mechanism. It's a way of trying to improve your knowledge of nature. It's a system for testing your thoughts against the universe and seeing whether they match. And this works, not just for the ordinary aspects of science, but for all of life. I should think people would want to know that what they know is truly what the universe is like, or at least as close as they can get to it.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

A poor idea well written is more likely to be accepted than a good idea poorly written

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Sources:

http://www.notable-quotes.com/a/asimov_isaac.html
http://todayinsci.com/A/Asimov_Isaac/AsimovIsaac-Quotations.htm
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/i/isaac_asimov.html?gclid=CPyniM_7oM4CFUclgQodDKgI6g
http://www.quotesigma.com/41-greatest-quotes-by-isaac-asimov/