# Quote — Carl Sagan, Cosmos

> Our intelligence and our technology have given us the power to affect the climate. How will we use this power? Are we willing to tolerate ignorance and complacency in matters that affect the entire human family? Do we value short-term advantages above the welfare of the Earth? Or will we think on longer time scales, with concern for our children and our grandchildren, to understand and protect the complex life-support systems of our planet? The Earth is a tiny and fragile world. It needs to be cherished.

- Author: [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md)
- Book: [Cosmos](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos.md)
- Page: 103
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Cosmos_(1980)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos/our-intelligence-and

## More from this book

> I have...a terrible need...shall I say the word?...of religion. Then I go out at night and paint the stars.

p. 217 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos/i-have-a-terrible.md)

> For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations.

p. 173 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos/for-a-long.md)

> If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

p. 218 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/cosmos/if-you-wish.md)