American author & professor of biochemistry (1920-1992)
Don't you believe in flying saucers, they ask me? Don't you believe in telepathy? -- in ancient astronauts? -- in the Bermuda triangle? -- in life after death? "No," I reply. "No, no, no, no, and again no." One person recently, goaded into desperation by the litany of unrelieved negation, burst out "Don't you believe in anything?" "Yes", I said. "I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I'll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be."
ISAAC ASIMOV
The Roving Mind
All humanity could share a common insanity and be immersed in a common illusion while living in a common chaos. That can't be disproved, but we have no choice but to follow our senses.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation's Edge
Anything you make forbidden gains sexual attractiveness. Would you be particularly interested in women's breasts if you lived in a society in which they were displayed at all times?
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
There's no merit in discipline under ideal circumstances. I'll have it in the face of death, or it's useless.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation
It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.... This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Asimov on Science Fiction
Custom is second nature. Be accustomed to a bald head, sufficiently accustomed, and hair on it would seem monstrous.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
Any planet is "Earth" to those that live on it.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Pebble in the Sky
Courtiers don't take wagers against the king's skill. There is the deadly danger of winning.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation
A myth or legend is simply not made up out of a vacuum. Nothing is--or can be. Somehow there is a kernel of truth behind it, however distorted that might be.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation's Edge
There was this superstitious fear on the part of the pygmies of the present for the relics of the giants of the past.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Second Foundation
The cure for advanced gullibility is to go to sleep and consider matters again the next day.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
Suppose we were to teach creationism. What would be the content of the teaching? Merely that a creator formed the universe and all species of life ready-made? Nothing more? No details?
ISAAC ASIMOV
"The Dangerous Myth of Creationism", Penthouse, Jan. 1982
Dreams may be impossible, yet still be dreamed.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Earth
They won't listen. Do you know why? Because they have certain fixed notions about the past. Any change would be blasphemy in their eyes, even if it were the truth. They don't want the truth; they want their traditions.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Pebble in the Sky
You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success -- but only if you persist.
ISAAC ASIMOV
attributed, How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead
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
Postulates are based on assumption and adhered to by faith. Nothing in the Universe can shake them.
ISAAC ASIMOV
I, Robot
Mathematicians deal with large numbers sometimes, but never in their income.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
With both people and computers on the job, computer error can be more quickly tracked down and corrected by people and, conversely, human error can be more quickly corrected by computers. What it amounts to is that nothing serious can happen unless human error and computer error take place simultaneously. And that hardly ever happens.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Prelude to Foundation
Love life seems to be that factor which requires the largest quantity of magical tinkering.
ISAAC ASIMOV
Foundation and Empire