The Purpose Of Thinking About The Future

From My Childhood It Has Been My Conviction That Men Would Reach The Planets In My Lifetime . . . This Conviction . . . Rests On Two Beliefs, One Scientific And One Political: (1) There Are More Things In Heaven And Earth Than Are Dreamed Of In Our Present-day Science. And We Shall Only Find Out What They Are If We Go Out And Look For Them. (2) It Is In The Long Run Essential To The Growth Of Any New And High Civilization That Small Groups Of People Can Escape From Their Neighbors And From Their Governments, To Go And Live As They Please In The Wilderness.

Of Course, The English Countryside Is Completely Artificial. It Was Naturally A Forest; They Chopped Down The Trees And Made It Into What It Is Now: Really A Beautiful Country.

Successful Technologies Often Begin As Hobbies. Jacques Cousteau Invented Scuba Diving Because He Enjoyed Exploring Caves. The Wright Brothers Invented Flying As A Relief From The Monotony Of Their Normal Business Of Selling And Repairing Bicycles.

I'm Happy That I've Raised Six Kids, And Not One Of Them Is A Ph.d.

If You Start Out With A Tragic View Of Life, Then Anything Since Is Just A Bonus.