HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - THIS NEVER SHOULD GO OUT OF STYLE

 Shared before but always worth repeating.

Written by Carl Sagan about a famous photograph of the Earth. Not actually to do with the photo above but there is a connection all the same.  The one he is talking about, the Pale Blue Dot, can be seen here. 

“Look again at 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 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. 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.

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: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Thanks for looking and 

I hope your day is a great one.

I have left this link that will take you to my other posts with Mr. Sagan’s quotes. 

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - A LITTLE SOMETHING TO COOL YOU DOWN ON A HOT, SWELTERING DAY

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who was introduced to nature. She grew up in love of what she saw and learned, and because of that love and the love she was shown, along with many others like her, she and other little girls and boys grew up and saved the world.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone. 

I hope it is a great one.

You can click on this link to see a very famous quote from Carl Sagan (shared before but worth seeing again) as well as the photo he is talking about. I looked at the little girl that I was shown from my prompts in AI, and my mind started on another journey, as I thought 'what if...'  Today I don't mind being called a Pollyanna. This fit me, maybe there will be another fit tomorrow.

WE SUCCEEDED IN TAKING THAT PICTURE...

(Picture and quote found online - copy of original photo taken by Voyager I)

"We succeeded in taking that picture (from deep space), and, if you look at it, you see a dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever lived, lived out their lives. The aggregate of all our joys and sufferings, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilizations, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every hopeful child, every mother and father, every 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 in 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 the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. 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. It is up to us. It's been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character building experience. To my mind, 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 and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."

~ Carl Sagan - The Pale Blue Dot ~

American Astronomer

Picture from pixabay.com

and

an excellent article here about the taking of the photo.

THIS VERY WISE MAN ONCE SAID...

"What an astonishing thing a book is.  It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles.  But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years.  Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you.  Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs.  Books break the shackles of time.  A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."

~Carl Sagan~

Cosmos, Part II: The Persistence of Memory (1980)

It is raining hard today and when I get my chores done, I am going to sit on the sofa, wrap myself up in a blanket, sip on a hot drink and read a good book. Which one are you reading?  I am going back and forth; "Through A Window" by Jane Goodall, and "A World of Curiosity" by Louise Penny.  I usually only read one book at a time, and am not sure why I picked two, both very different and both excellent reads.

(graphics from pixabay.com)

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known."

~Carl Sagan~

November 9th, 1934 – December 20th, 1996

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator.