American author & professor of biochemistry (1920-1992)
Dreams may be impossible, yet still be dreamed.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Earth
Mathematicians deal with large numbers sometimes, but never in their income.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
Society is much more easily soothed than one's own conscience.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Empire
Finished products are for decadent minds.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Second Foundation
Where is the world whose people don't prefer a comfortable, warm, and well-worn belief, however illogical, to the chilly winds of uncertainty.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Earth
There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance only implies ignorance that may someday be conquered. To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.
ISAAC ASIMOV
"The Threat of Creationism", New York Times Magazine, Jun. 14, 1981
Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. The only function of a school is to make self-education easier; failing that, it does nothing.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Science Past, Science Future
The history of science is full of revolutionary advances that required small insights that anyone might have had, but that, in fact, only one person did.
ISAAC ASIMOV
"The Three Numbers", Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Sep. 1974
I was without sexual experience when I married, and I had no extramarital contacts for eleven years thereafter despite opportunities in the army and at conventions. However, I was not proof against temptation altogether and, eventually, there were occasions when a young woman made her intentions perfectly plain, and when the opportunities were there, and--I succumbed. It had its importance. With Gertrude, I never felt particularly skilled sexually, but other young women, to my astonished delight, seemed impressed. I realize that sexual prowess is not something an "intellectual" such as myself should place much value on, but biological pride is hard to fight. Frankly, it raised my opinion of myself and made me happier.
ISAAC ASIMOV
I, Asimov
The destruction of our technological society in a fit of nuclear peevishness would become disastrous even if there were many millions of immediate survivors. The environment toward which they were fitted would be gone, and Darwin's demon would wipe them out remorselessly and without a backward glance.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Asimov on Physics
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.
ISAAC ASIMOV
interview, Bill Moyers' World of Ideas, October 21, 1988
The laws of history are as absolute as the laws of physics, and if the probabilities of error are greater, it is only because history does not deal with as many humans as physics does atoms, so that individual variations count for more.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Empire
Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is transmuted to fact.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation
The closer to the truth, the better the lie, and the truth itself, when it can be used, is the best lie.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation's Edge
The downtrodden are more religious than the satisfied.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
Speech as known to us was unnecessary. A fragment of a sentence amounted almost to a long-winded redundancy. A gesture, a grunt, the curve of a facial line--even a significantly timed pause yielded informational juice.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Second Foundation
Outside intelligences, exploring the Solar System with true impartiality, would be quite likely to enter the Sun in their records thus: Star X, spectral class G0, 4 planets plus debris.
ISAAC ASIMOV
"By Jove!", View from a Height
Human beings thought with their hands. It was their hands that were the answer of curiosity, that felt and pinched and turned and lifted and hefted. There were animals that had brains of respectable size, but they had no hands and that made all the difference.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation's Edge
There is no more desire to live past one's time than to die before it.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation's Edge