Frasi di Arthur C. Clarke

„Non faccio finta di avere tutte le risposte. Ma vale sicuramente la pena pensare alle domande ...“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„Ora sono un esperto scientifico; ciò significa che non so nulla di assolutamente tutto.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„classical Hohmann orbit“

—  Arthur C. Clarke, libro 2010: Odissea due

2010: Odyssey Two

„Più meravigliosi sono i mezzi di comunicazione, più i suoi contenuti sembrano essere banali, osceni o deprimenti.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„Il sistema solare comprende il Sole, Giove e detriti vari.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

da 2061: Odissea tre

„Se qualcuno capisce il film alla prima visione, allora abbiamo fallito nel nostro intento.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„Lenin è stato sfortunato; è nato cent'anni troppo presto. Il comunismo sovietico avrebbe potuto funzionare, almeno per un po', se avesse avuto un microchip. E sarebbe riuscito a evitare Stalin.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke, libro 3001: Odissea finale

3001: Odissea finale

„Dietro ogni uomo oggi vivente stanno trenta spettri, poiché questo è il rapporto con il quale i morti superano il numero dei vivi. Dagli albori del tempo, grosso modo cento miliardi di uomini hanno camminato sul pianeta Terra. Orbene, è questo un numero interessante, in quanto, per una coincidenza bizzarra, esistono approssimativamente cento miliardi di stelle nel nostro universo locale, la Via Lattea. Così, per ogni uomo che abbia vissuto, in questo universo splende una stella.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke, libro 2001: Odissea nello spazio

premessa
2001: Odissea nello spazio

„L'unica maniera di scoprire i limiti del possibile è di oltrepassarli e finire nell'impossibile.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

da Profiles of the Future

„Inoltre, avevano fatto il primo passo verso un'amicizia genuina. Si erano scambiati vulnerabilità.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

IRC discussion at Scifi.com (1 November 1996) http://web.archive.org/web/20021201214228/http://www.scifi.com/transcripts/aclarke.txt with Clarke and Gentry Lee
1990s

„Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: (1) It's completely impossible. (2) It's possible, but it's not worth doing. (3) I said it was a good idea all along.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

„In my time I’ve been very fortunate to see many of my dreams come true!“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

90th Birthday Reflections (2007)
Contesto: In my time I’ve been very fortunate to see many of my dreams come true! Growing up in the 1920s and 1930s, I never expected to see so much happen in the span of a few decades. We "space cadets" of the British Interplanetary Society spent all our spare time discussing space travel — but we didn’t imagine that it lay in our own near future… I still can't quite believe that we've just marked the 50th anniversary of the Space Age! We’ve accomplished a great deal in that time, but the "Golden Age of Space" is only just beginning. Over the next 50 years, thousands of people will travel to Earth orbit — and then, to the Moon and beyond. Space travel — and space tourism — will one day become almost as commonplace as flying to exotic destinations on our own planet.

„Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

As quoted in Visions : How Science Will Revolutionize the Twenty-First Century (1999) by Michio Kaku, p. 295
2000s and attributed from posthumous publications

„Clarke's Second Law: The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

"Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination" in Profiles of the Future (1962)

„Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

Profiles of the Future (revised edition, 1973)
Origine: Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible

„I want to be remembered most as a writer — one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

90th Birthday Reflections (2007)
Contesto: I'm sometimes asked how I would like to be remembered. I've had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science populariser. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer — one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well.

„I've been saying for a long time that I'm hoping to find intelligent life in Washington“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

2000s and attributed from posthumous publications
Contesto: I've been saying for a long time that I'm hoping to find intelligent life in Washington … I'm reasonably sure there must be life in this solar system, on Mars or on Europa, and other places. I think life is probably going to be ubiquitous, though we still don't have any proof of that yet — and still less, any proof of intelligent life anywhere. But I hope that will be coming in the next decade or so through radio astronomy or, perhaps, the discovery of objects in space which are obviously artificial. Astronomical engineering — that may be the other thing to look for.

"Meeting of the Minds : Buzz Aldrin Visits Arthur C. Clarke" by Andrew Chaikin (27 February 2001) http://web.archive.org/web/20010302082528/http://www.space.com/peopleinterviews/aldrin_clarke_010227.html

„There is the possibility that humankind can outgrow its infantile tendencies, as I suggested in Childhood's End. But it is amazing how childishly gullible humans are.“

—  Arthur C. Clarke

"God, Science, and Delusion: A Chat With Arthur C. Clarke" Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 19, Number 2 (Spring 1999) http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=library&page=clarke_19_2
2000s and attributed from posthumous publications
Contesto: There is the possibility that humankind can outgrow its infantile tendencies, as I suggested in Childhood's End. But it is amazing how childishly gullible humans are. There are, for example, so many different religions — each of them claiming to have the truth, each saying that their truths are clearly superior to the truths of others — how can someone possibly take any of them seriously? I mean, that's insane.... Though I sometimes call myself a crypto-Buddhist, Buddhism is not a religion. Of those around at the moment, Islam is the only one that has any appeal to me. But, of course, Islam has been tainted by other influences. The Muslims are behaving like Christians, I'm afraid.