His voice was right. She instantly remembered it. And his smell, his gait, his laugh. The way his beard abraded her cheek. All of it combined to shat… - Carl Sagan

n those cultures lacking unfamiliar challenges, external or internal, where fundamental change is unneeded, novel ideas need not be encouraged. Indeed, heresies can be declared dangerous; thinking can be rigidified; and sanctions against impermissible ideas can be enforced — all without much harm. But under varied and changing environmental or biological or political circumstances, simply copying the old ways no longer works. Then, a premium awaits those who, instead of blandly following tradition, or trying to foist their preferences on to the physical or social Universe, are open to what the Universe teaches.

Our particular causality scheme has brought us to a modest and rudimentary, although in many respects heroic, series of explorations. But it is far inferior to what might have been, and may one day be.

«زعم وانج هونجشينج أحد هواة الكيمياء، أنه قام بتخليق سائل إذا ما أضيفت مقادير قليلة منه إلى الماء، تحول إلى جازولين أو ما يعادله. وظل لفترة، يتلقى التمويل من الجيش والشرطة السرية، ولكن حين اتضح أن اختراعه محض خداع، أُلقي القبض عليه وأودع السجن»