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Isaac Asimov

396 quotes

“It is only afterward that a new idea seems reasonable. To begin with, it usually seems unreasonable.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How Do People Get New Ideas?" (1959)
“It is the nature of science that answers automatically pose new and more subtle questions.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Wellsprings of Life (1960), p. 141
“People who want to do so can lose weight most safely and permanently if they realize that above all they must be patient. ... It is better to eat a little less at each meal than impulse would suggest and to do that constantly. Add to this a little more exercise or activity than impulse suggests and keep that up constantly too. A few less calories taken in each day and a few more used up will decrease weight, slowly, to be sure, but without undue misery. And with better long-range results too.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Hungry People" (October 1960) in Mademoiselle, reprinted in Is Anyone There? (1967), pp. 48–49
“The dullness of fact is the mother of fiction.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1962 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fact and Fancy (1962), p. 11
“An observer studying the Solar system dispassionately, and finding himself capable of bringing the four giant planets to his notice, could reasonably say that the Solar system consisted of one star, four planets, and some traces of debris.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Worlds In Order" in The Secret of the Universe (1992), p. 63. Often misquoted as "Jupiter plus debris".
“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 (1920–1992) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: By Jove!" in View from a Height (1963)
“Predicting the future is a hopeless, thankless task, with ridicule to begin with and, all too often, scorn to end with.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The World of 1990" in The Diners' Club Magazine, January 1965
“Ten years on the moon could tell us more about the universe than a thousand years on the earth might be able to.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: What Can We Expect of the Moon?" in The American Legion Magazine, March 1965
“The fact that the general incidence of leukemia has doubled in the last two decades may be due, partly, to the increasing use of x-rays for numerous purposes. The incidence of leukemia in doctors, who are likely to be so exposed, is twice that of the general public. In radiologists … the incidence is ten times greater.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Statement of 1965, as quoted without citation of a specific work in Isaac Asimov’s Book of Science and Nature Quotations (1988), edited by Asimov and Jason A. Shulman, p. 233
“[B]y 1204, the only place where the entire body of Greek learning existed, still intact, was Constantinople. As a result of the crusaders' conquest, however, Constantinople was ruthlessly pillaged and destroyed and almost all the great treasures of ancient Greek learning were lost forever. It is because of that sack, for instance, that we have only seven plays left out of the better than one hundred written by Sophocles. The tragedy of 1204 can never be undone and for all of time, only bits and pieces of the marvelous Greek world can be known to us.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Greeks: A Great Adventure (1965), p. 291
“History is a story without an end.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Greeks: A Great Adventure (1965), p. 307
“Private profit is often hidden under a careful coating of great patriotism.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Republic (1966), p. 128
“I don't believe in flying saucers... The energy requirements of interstellar travel are so great that it is inconceivable to me that any creatures piloting their ships across the vast depths of space would do so only in order to play games with us over a period of decades.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Flying Saucers" in Is Anyone There? (1967), pp. 215–216
“Start with a planet like the earth, with a complement of simple compounds bound to exist upon it, add the energy of a nearby sun, and you are bound to end with nucleic acids. You can't avoid it.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Constructing a Man" in Is Anyone There? (1967), p. 93
“It is important to remember that the viciousness and wrongs of life stick out very plainly but that even at the worst times there is a great deal of goodness, kindness, and day-to-day decency that goes unnoticed and makes no headlines.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 91
“Indeed, it may well be argued that one reason for the decline in science, art, and literature was the increasing absorption of the better minds into a new sort of intellectual pursuit – theology.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 118
“[W]hen one plays for top prizes one must be prepared to pay top stakes.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 125
“It seems to be almost an invariable rule that as real power declines, the symbols of power multiply and intensify in compensation.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 176
“There is a kind of selective memory that afflicts men when they view the past. They see the good and overlook the evil.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 191
“476 ... is usually taken as the date of the "fall of the Roman Empire." The date, however, is a false one. No one at this period of time considered that the Roman Empire had "fallen." Indeed, it still existed and was the most powerful realm in Europe. Its capital was at Constantinople and the Emperor was Zeno. It is only because we ourselves are culturally descended from the Roman west, that we tend to ignore the continued existence of the Roman Empire in the east.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Roman Empire (1967), p. 248
“Often, writers on historical events tend to consider ... a loss of willingness to fight as a sign of "decadence," as though there were something despicable about not being a bully and not being willing to engage in mass murder. Perhaps we ought to feel instead that to cease to be warlike means to begin to be civilized and decent.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Egyptians (1967), p. 68
“Generals are usually a conservative force who can be relied on to oppose social change.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Egyptians (1967), p. 93
“In the world of today can there be peace anywhere until there is peace everywhere?”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1967 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Egyptians (1967), p. 241
“Religion is more conservative than any other aspect of human life.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Near East (1968), p. 14
“[N]o matter how outrageous a lie may be, it will be accepted if stated loudly enough and often enough.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Near East (1968), p. 31
“It is by the Imperial Capital that contemporaries (and posterity, too) judge an Empire, and its magnificence impresses them mightily and leads them to judge the Emperor a great man and hero, even though it may all be based on robbery, and though the provinces of the Empire may be sunk in misery.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Near East (1968), p. 33
“We can hope that the ways of peace will attract the Arabic nations, for their territory and opportunities are broad enough for immeasurable advance, if the energies vented in spleen, are turned instead to a modernisation of the technology, a restoration of the soil, and a renovation of the economic, social, and political structure of those great and venerable lands.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Near East (1968), p. 260
“It is an odd fact that anyone who wishes to start a war must always make it appear that he is fighting in a just cause even if the real motive is naked aggression. Fortunately for the would-be aggressor, a "just cause" is very easy to find.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Dark Ages (1968), p. 69
“Probably, the most-often-repeated lesson in history is that foreigners who are called in to help one side in a civil war take over for themselves. It is a lesson that seems never to be learned despite endless repetition.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Dark Ages (1968), p. 188
“There has never been any custom, however useless it may become with changing conditions, that isn't clung to desperately simply because it is something old and familiar.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Dark Ages (1968), p. 193
“It is all too easy to forget that there are emotional motivations in history, as well as economic ones.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Shaping of England (1969), p. 15
“It seemed to him [Euphemius] it would be a brilliant notion to call in an outside force to fight on his behalf. This same brilliant notion has occurred to participants in civil wars uncounted times in history and it has ended in catastrophe just about every time, since those called in invariably take over for themselves. Of all history's lessons, this seems to be the plainest, and the most frequently ignored.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Constantinople: The Forgotten Empire (1970), p. 153
“Had Hannibal had a government behind him that knew how to exploit victories – had he been born a Roman, for instance – he might have conquered the world.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Land of Canaan (1971), p. 218
“Throughout history there have been peasant rebellions which have followed always the same course. Blindly, the peasants sacked and destroyed, and when members of the "upper classes" fell into their hands, they killed ruthlessly and cruelly, for never in their lives had they been taught gentleness and mercy by those now in their power.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Shaping of France (1972), pp. 163–4
“I consider one of the most important duties of any scientist the teaching of science to students and to the general public.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Academe and I" (May 1972), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 224
“I recognize the necessity of animal experiments with my mind but not with my heart.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Doctor, Doctor, Cut My Throat" (August 1972), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 153
“Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck, a skirt to hold. What does the scientist have to offer in exchange? Uncertainty! Insecurity!”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Asimov's Guide to Science (1972), p. 15
“For man to become successful, for man to establish himself as the ruler of the planet, it was necessary for him to use his brain as something more than a device to make the daily routine of getting food and evading enemies a little more efficient. Man had to learn to control his environment.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Tragedy of the Moon," The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (July 1972)
“Can the word ‘best’ mean anything at all, except to some particular person in some particular mood? Perhaps not — so if we allow the word to stand as an absolute, you, or you, or perhaps you, may be appalled at omissions or inclusions or, never having read me before, may even be impelled to cry out, ‘Good heavens, are those his best?’”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Introduction" in The Best of Isaac Asimov (1973)
“Hypocrisy is a universal phenomenon. It ends with death, but not before.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: By the Numbers" (May 1973), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 188
“Science is a systematic method for studying and working out those generalizations that seem to describe the behavior of the universe. It could exist as a purely intellectual game that would never affect the practical life of human beings either for good or evil, and that was very nearly the case in ancient Greece, for instance. Technology is the application of scientific findings to the tools of everyday life, and that application can be wise or unwise, useful or harmful. Very often, those who govern technological decisions are not scientists and know little about science.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: By the Numbers" (May 1973), in The Tragedy of the Moon (1973), p. 190
“What I will be remembered for are the Foundation Trilogy and the Three Laws of Robotics. What I want to be remembered for is no one book, or no dozen books. Any single thing I have written can be paralleled or even surpassed by something someone else has done. However, my total corpus for quantity, quality and variety can be duplicated by no one else. That is what I want to be remembered for.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Yours, Isaac Asimov (20 September 1973)
“The true discovery of America by mankind came when those first hunting bands crossed over from Siberia 25,000 years ago. This, however, never seems to count. When people speak of the "discovery of America" they invariably mean its discovery by Europeans.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Shaping of North America (1973), p. 6
“There is no belief, however foolish, that will not gather its faithful adherents who will defend it to the death.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Stars in Their Courses (1974), p. 36
“If, as I maintain and firmly believe, there is no objective definition of intelligence, and what we call intelligence is only a creation of cultural fashion and subjective prejudice, what the devil is it we test when we make use of an intelligence test?”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Thinking About Thinking" in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1975
“Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How Easy to See the Future", Natural History magazine (April 1975);
“Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Science Past, Science Future" (1975) p. 208
“Straightforward preaching spoils the effectiveness of a story. If you can't resist the impulse to improve your fellow human beings, do it subtly.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Buy Jupiter and Other Stories (1975), p. 21
“There is no way of being almost funny or mildly funny or fairly funny or tolerably funny. You are either funny or not funny and there is nothing in between. And usually it is the writer who thinks he is funny and the reader who thinks he isn't.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Buy Jupiter and Other Stories (1975), p. 33
“[S]cientific writing is abhorrently stylized and places a premium on poor quality.”
Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) first seen 1975 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Buy Jupiter and Other Stories (1975), p. 82