Abraham Lincoln vs. Carl Sagan
Read 20 entries attributed to Abraham Lincoln alongside 20 attributed to Carl Sagan. Compare the wording and topic labels.
This page places 20 entries attributed to Abraham Lincoln alongside 20 attributed to Carl Sagan. Each selection is ordered by stored importance score. These are selections from QuoteLineage, not complete accounts of either author's work.
Topic labels present in both displayed selections: time, life. Shared labels do not by themselves demonstrate agreement, disagreement, or influence between the authors.
Attributed to Abraham Lincoln, entry #171: "I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, something of ill-omen, amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country; the growing disp…"
Attributed to Carl Sagan, entry #638: "Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."
Side-by-Side Comparison
Abraham Lincoln
1744 – 1786
Abraham Lincoln (1809) was the 16th President of the United States, who led the nation through the Civil War and abolished slavery.
"I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, something of ill-omen, amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the cou…"
#Epistemology"They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power under the Constitution to interfere with the institution of slavery in the different States."
#Politics"A stanza of Lincoln's "On Seduction" (1837-39) as conveyed by James H. Matheny (1865 or 1866)"
#Politics"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest a…"
#Politics"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say, for one, that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed…"
#Metaphysics"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of Abolition doctrines tends rather to in…"
#Politics"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
#Politics"I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying, and for this reason; I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough t…"
#Epistemology"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
#Politics"These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert to fleece the people, and now that they have got into a quarrel with themselves, we are called up…"
#Politics"I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insuf…"
#time"So you're the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war!"
#books"When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run."
"All portions of this confederacy should act in harmony and with careful deliberation. The Democrats cry John Brown invasion. We are guiltless of it, but our …"
#freedom"When I so pressingly urge a strict observance of all the laws, let me not be understood as saying there are no bad laws, or that grievances may not arise for…"
#life"In telling this tale I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me. N…"
#justice"Poetry written by Abraham Lincoln"
#books"If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing on an average o…"
#mind"The severest justice may not always be the best policy."
#justice"The evidence reaching us from the country leaves no doubt that the material for the work is abundant, and that it needs only the hand of legislation to give …"
#artCarl Sagan
1934 – 1996
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. Initially an assistant professor at Harvard, Sagan later moved to Cornell, where he was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies. He played an active role in the Mariner, Viking and Voyager programs.
"Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another."
#love"In Mozambique, the story goes, monkeys do not talk, because they know if they utter even a single word some man will come and put them to work."
#writing"We find a set of data that strongly implies the presence of complex organic molecules in the outer solar system."
#truth"Where skeptical observation and discussion are suppressed, the truth is hidden. The proponents of such borderline beliefs, when criticized, often point to ge…"
#truth"The enterprise of knowledge is consistent surely with science; it should be with religion, and it is essential for the welfare of the human species."
#knowledge"There is a place with four suns in the sky — red, white, blue, and yellow; two of them are so close together that they touch, and star-stuff flows between th…"
#nature"Imagine we could accelerate continuously at 1 g — what we're comfortable with on good old terra firma — to the midpoint of our voyage, and decelerate continu…"
#time"“Let’s see if I’ve got this straight,” he returned. It was a phrase of hers that he had adopted “It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon, and there’s this couple lyin…"
#time"Whether we believe in God depends very much on what we mean by God."
#religion"The price we pay for the anticipation of our future is anxiety about it. Foretelling disaster is probably not much fun; Pollyanna was much happier than Cassa…"
#nature"We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads — but to find the truth, we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, bu…"
#nature"Science is, at least in part, informed worship."
#science"If you know a thing only qualitatively, you know it no more than vaguely. If you know it quantitatively—grasping some numerical measure that distinguishes it…"
#knowledge"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
#nature"A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism."
#life"Humans are good, she knew, at discerning subtle patterns that are really there, but equally so at imagining them when they are altogether absent."
#friendship"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."
#friendship"The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the search for a generally acceptable cosmic context for the human species. In the deepest sense, the search …"
#friendship"Astronomically, the U. S. S. R. and the United States are the same place."
#friendship"But our openness to the dazzling possibilities presented by modern science must be tempered by some hard-nosed skepticism. Many interesting possibilities sim…"
#knowledge