"We are meant to know, or we are amoebae. Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know — and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know — even if the knowledge endured only for the moment that comes before destruction — than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Science fiction authors from the United StatesHumanistsScience authorsDetective fiction authorsBiochemists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
The New Hugo Winners: Award-winning Science Fiction Stories Vol. 1 (1989), p. 215
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"Bien mal acquis ne profite jamais."
"Nothing succeeds like success."
"“Is that important?” “Everything is important till proven otherwise.”"
"Civilizations have always been pyramidal in structure. As one climbs toward the apex of the social edifice, there is …"
"He had writer's block once. It was the worst ten minutes of his life."
"“Ah, the future good!” Leebig’s eyes glowed with passion and he seemed to grow less conscious of his listener and cor…"
"There are degrees of justice, Elijah. When the lesser is incompatible with the greater, the lesser must give way."
"Remember, you once said, Lije, that people sometimes mistake their own shortcomings for those of society and want to …"
"A robot, the man had said, is logical but not reasonable."
"I have been trying, friend Julius, to understand some remarks Elijah made to me earlier. Perhaps I am beginning to, f…"