You know, someone in my position---new inventions, new industries---is always on the thin edge of breaking some law or other. Usually it's because the old laws haven't caught up with the new technology. You can spend a lot of your time in litigation. It cuts down your effectiveness.

More from Sagan Carl/Contact

• "Every government that prepares for war paints its adversaries as monsters," she said. "They don't want you thinking of the other side as human. If the enemy can think and feel, you might hesitate to kill them. And killing is very important. Better to see them as monsters."