The young specialist in English Lit, ... lectured me severely on the fact that in every century people have thought they understood the Universe at last, and in every century they were proved to be wrong. It follows that the one thing we can say about our modern "knowledge" is that it is wrong.
... My answer to him was, "... when people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."
¶ "The Relativity of Wrong" (1996)
We have only a slim chance of getting through the problems that face us now, but if too many Miniver Cheevys sit back to drink and long for a non-existent past, that slim chance will decrease to zero.
¶ Familiar Poems, Annotated, "Miniver Cheevy" (1977)
When, however, the lay public rallies round an idea that is denounced by distinguished but elderly scientists and supports that idea with great fervor and emotion — the distinguished but elderly scientists are then, after all, probably right
¶ Fantasy & Science Fiction (in answer to Clarke's First Law) (1977)
Any technological advance can be dangerous. Fire was dangerous from the start, and so (even more so) was speech -- and both are still dangerous to this day -- but human beings would not be human without them.
¶ The Caves of Steel, Introduction (novel 1954, intro 1983)
Even as a youngster, though, I could not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presented danger, the solution was ignorance. To me, it always seemed that the solution had to be wisdom. You did not refuse to look at danger, rather you learned how to handle it safely.
¶ The Caves of Steel, Introduction (novel 1954, intro 1983)
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 .…
¶ The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, "My Own View" (. by Robert Holdstock) (1978)
If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.
¶ Interview in Life (Jan 1984)
