“La Unión Soviética se anexionó por la fuerza Letonia, Lituania, Estonia y partes de Finlandia, Polonia y Rumania ocupó y sometió a un régimen comunista a Polonia, Rumania, Hungría, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Checoslovaquia, Alemania oriental y Afganistán, y sofocó el alzamiento de los obreros de Alemania oriental en 1953, la revolución húngara de 1956 y la tentativa checa de introducir en 1968 el glasnost y la perestroika. Far better, it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look Death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.”īillions & Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium The world is so exquisite, with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there's little good evidence. Maybe this perspective has given me a little extra motivation to stay alive. But if death is nothing more than an endless dreamless sleep, this is a forlorn hope. If there were life after death, I might, no matter when I die, satisfy most of these deep curiosities and longings. I want to learn how major trends in human history, both hopeful and worrisome, work themselves out: the dangers and promise of our technology, say the emancipation of women the growing political, economic, and technological ascendancy of China interstellar flight. There are scientific problems whose outcomes I long to witness-such as the exploration of many of the worlds in our Solar System and the search for life elsewhere. I want to meet still unconceived grandchildren. I want to see my younger children grow up and to play a role in their character and intellectual development. I want to grow really old with my wife, Annie, whom I dearly love. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. “I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue.

Carl sagan earth quote