Original artwork, not a still
The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.
— Cosmos: A Personal Voyage • 1980
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It sets the terms in one sentence: everything, past, present and future, is the subject, and science is allowed to ask about all of it. The cadence is scriptural without the doctrine, which is why it works as a creed for people who find wonder in physics rather than faith. Fans quote it as the unofficial first line of popular science.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Cosmos: A Personal VoyageShow the scene
These are the opening words of Cosmos, Carl Sagan's book, written alongside the thirteen-part PBS series that first aired on 28 September 1980. In the book the sentence opens page 4 and is followed by a tingling in the spine and a feeling that we are approaching the greatest of mysteries. In episode 1, 'The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean', Sagan likewise opens with a description of the cosmos before boarding his 'Ship of the Imagination', a craft shaped like a dandelion seed, and sailing out to the galaxies and back to Earth.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: Carl SaganCosmos (1980 book) section, p. 4Reference checked
- Wikipedia: Cosmos: A Personal VoyageEpisode list, episode 1Reference checked
Context reviewed
