The Universe appears to be a device contrived for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) British writer
How the World Was One: Beyond the Global Village, Part 4, ch. 27 (1992)
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A number of variants can be found, e.g., "I sometimes think the universe is a machine designed for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers" or "The universe: a device contrived for the perpetual astonishment of astronomers." The above is the only one I could find from a source by Clarke himself.
Quotations about:
astonishment
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Childhood is the world of miracle and wonder; as if creation rose, bathed in light out of the darkness, utterly new and fresh and astonishing. The end of childhood is when things cease to astonish us. When the world seems familiar, when one has got used to existence, one has become adult. The brave new world, the wonderland has grown trite and commonplace.
[L’enfance c’est le monde du miracle ou du merveilleux: c’est comme si la creation surgissait, lumineuse, de la nuit, toute neuve et toute fraîche, et tout étonnante. Il n’y a plus d’enfance à partir du moment où les choses ne sont plus étonnantes. Lorsque le monde vous semble «déja vu», lorsqu’on s’est habitué à l’existence, on devient adulte. Le monde de la féerie, la merveille neuve se fait banalité, cliché.]Eugène Ionesco (1912-1994) Romanian-French dramatist
Fragments of a Journal [Journal en Miettes], “The Crisis of Language” (1967) [tr. Stewart (1968)]
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It is a mark of genius not to astonish but to be astonished.
Aubrey Menen (1912-1989) British writer, novelist, satirist, theatre critic
The Prevalence of Witches, ch. 4 (1947)
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