From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Consider again that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
—Carl Sagan
Pale Blue Dot speech
Cornell University in 1994
Such a moving speech by Carl Sagan! ❤
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Thank you Anita, yes it really helps to see things differently, as our lives unfold from within this little blue dot teeming with life and beauty in the great vastness of space, A lot to ponder on… ❤
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So true! ❤
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Awesome speech given by Carl Sagan, Amira and I completely agree with his take on Earth. Such a tiny spot in the whole of the galaxy but yet how we all behave and live on this earth and destroy it to our selfish reasons. Actually the earth too is in our imagination. When we die everything dies so then where is the Earth.
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Dear Kamal! You have said something very profound and thought provoking!!! Indeed, Maya… This is the dreamy stage for our play, to experience and learn… all happening within the Great Mind…<3
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True and all a dream and maya at play in this world of illusion. Take care and stay safe.
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Wonderful speech Amira!
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Thank you so much Linda!!!🙏 ❤
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And now, you give something beautiful. You are always so generous-love Michele
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Thank you so much Michele! 🙏 I am humbled 🙂 Much love back! ❤
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