Arthur C. Clarke quotes - page 10

The false logic involved is: "We exist; therefore something-call it X-created us.”. (Arthur C. Clarke)
I am the King. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
That's what I think they're doing, eating themselves alive. They murder in the name of God and blindly destroy the very ecosystem that sustains them. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
What we find incredible is the way that people - right up to the early 2000s! View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
Of course, we in the so-called developed countries thought we were civilized. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
The piece of equipment I'm most found off is my telescope. The other night I had a superb view of the moon. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
When the pioneers and adventurers of our past left their homes in search of new lands, they said good-bye forever to the place of their birth and the companions of their youth. Only a lifetime ago, parents waved farewell to their emigrating children in the virtual certainty that they would never meet again. And now, within one incredible generation, all this has changed. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
Clarke's Law of Revolutionary Ideas: Every revolutionary idea - in science, politics, art, or whatever - seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:(1) "It's completely impossible - don't waste my time"; (2) "It's possible, but it's not worth doing"; (3) "I said it was a good idea all along." View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. Two-thirds of 2001 is realistic - hardware and technology - to establish background for the metaphysical, philosophical, and religious meanings later. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
The nature of life is struggle, doctor,” Brother Ishmael said. Crane stopped walking and addressed the man. "And the nature of man is to try and rise above the struggle.” "To deny God!” Ishmael persisted. "To make a better world. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
Crane, I love you, but you're bullheaded and blind when you want to be. You preach tolerance, politeness, but you do the same thing everyone else does-you try and build some cumulative tally of pain and loss, then compete to see who got hurt more. You can't base your relationship with the world on that. (Arthur C. Clarke)
Within a few days he was being measured for his wings, not in the least like the elegant versions worn by the performers of Swan Lake. Instead of feathers there was a flexible membrane, and when he grasped the hand-holds attached to the supporting ribs, Poole realized that he must look much more like a bat than a bird.... For his first lessons he was restrained by a light harness, so that he did not move anywhere while he was taught the basic strokes - and, most important of all, learned control and stability. Like many acquired skills, it was not quite as easy as it looked. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
People are always asking me why I've devoted my life to such a horrible period of history, and it's not much of answer to say that there were even worse ones.' 'Then why are you interested in my century?' 'Because it marks the transition between barbarism and civilization.'... View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
'I'm sorry,' he said. 'You're Commander Poole, of course. But I'm sure we've never met before.'...He was glad of the encounter, and was pleased to know that Danil was back in normal society. Whether his original crime had been axe-murders or overdue library books should no longer be the concern of his one-time employer; the account had been settled, the books closed. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
When I was a boy, Brayldon, my old master once said that time could never destroy the truth-it could only hide it among legends. He was right. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
Grove was inclined to allow the request. "I can't see how we can be harmed by allowing the destruction of what I don't understand anyhow,” he said dryly. "And besides-you say it is your duty, Warrant Officer. I respect that. Time and space may flow like toffee, but duty endures.”. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
He says that even a god cannot conquer time, but nine hundred years should be enough for anybody. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
Communication technologies are necessary, but not sufficient, for us humans to get along with each other. This is why we still have many disputes and conflicts in the world. Technology tools help us to gather and disseminate information, but we also need qualities like tolerance and compassion to achieve greater understanding between peoples and nations. I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. So I hope we've learnt something from the most barbaric century in history - the 20th. I would like to see us overcome our tribal divisions and begin to think and act as if we were one family. That would be real globalisation... View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
One of the English science-fiction writers once said, "Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering." ... I must say I agree with him. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke
When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion - the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right. View quote
Arthur C. Clarke