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Atheism
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Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
-Isaac Asimov
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If I were not an atheist, I would believe in a God who would choose to save people on the basis of the totality of their lives and not the pattern of their words. I think he would prefer an honest and righteous atheist to a TV preacher whose every word is God, God, God, and whose every deed is foul, foul, foul.
-Isaac Asimov
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Authors & Writing
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If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster.
-Isaac Asimov
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Change
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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 every man must take on a science fictional way of thinking.
-Isaac Asimov
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Communication
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It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
-Isaac Asimov
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Computers
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Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.
-Isaac Asimov
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I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.
-Isaac Asimov
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Creation
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We can make inspired guesses, but we don
-Isaac Asimov, Omni, November, 1983
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Death
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Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome.
-Isaac Asimov
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There is nothing frightening about an eternal dreamless sleep. Surely it is better than eternal torment in Hell and eternal boredom in Heaven.
-Isaac Asimov
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Dreams
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When asked what he would do if he only had six months to live: Type faster.
-Isaac Asimov
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Food
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The first law of dietetics seems to be if it tastes good, its bad for you.
-Isaac Asimov
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Mathematics
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I
-Isaac Asimov
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Morals
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Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right.
-Isaac Asimov
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Progress
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Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.
-Isaac Asimov
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Reading
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I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.
-Isaac Asimov
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Science
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There is a single light of science, and to brighten it anywhere is to brighten it everywhere.
-Isaac Asimov
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Though science can cause problems, it is not by ignorance that we will solve them.
-Isaac Asimov
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Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.
-Isaac Asimov
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Science Fiction
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Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not.
-Isaac Asimov
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Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today -- but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.
-Isaac Asimov
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Society
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The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.
-Isaac Asimov
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Space
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At two-tenths the speed of light, dust and atoms might not do significant damage even in a voyage of 40 years, but the faster you go, the worse it is--space begins to become abrasive. When you begin to approach the speed of light, hydrogen atoms become cosmic-ray particles, and they will fry the crew. ...So 60,000 kilometers per second may be the practical speed limit for space travel.
-Isaac Asimov
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Violence
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Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
-Isaac Asimov, Salvor Hardin in Foundation
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War
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John Dalton's records, carefully preserved for a century, were destroyed during the World War II bombing of Manchester. It is not only the living who are killed in war.
-Isaac Asimov
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Books by and about Isaac Asimov