Arthur C. Clarke's Quotes

Our lifetime may be the last that will be lived out in a technological society.

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.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

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

How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.

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

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?

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

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

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!

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

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

I have a fantasy where Ted Turner is elected President but refuses because he doesn't want to give up power.

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

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

Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: 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.

Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal.

There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum.

If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value.

This is the first age that's ever paid much attention to the future, which is a little ironic since we may not have one.

It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars.

Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it.

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

Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as frustrating as reading manuals without the software.