Isaac Asimov

If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster.

Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest.

When I look back on all the worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.

To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.

Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.

Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. If we are divided among ourselves on tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences.

Good fame is like fire; when you have kindled you may easily preserve it; but if you extinguish it, you will not easily kindle it again.

Might, could, would – they are contemptible auxiliaries.

Wisdom is like electricity. There is no permanently wise man, but men capable of wisdom, who, being put into certain company, or other favorable conditions, become wise for a short time, as glasses rubbed acquire electric power for a while.

Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.

He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.

If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you.

Who then is free? The wise man who can command himself.

Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.

The world will only, in the end, follow those who have despised as well as served it.

We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it as not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down.

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.