25 Isaac Asimov Quotes From the Prolific Science-Fiction Author

By Sckylar Gibby-Brown | Published August 10, 2022

We hope you enjoy these Isaac Asimov quotes from the prolific science-fiction author.

Over the course of his lifetime, Isaac Asimov wrote over 500 books and more than 90,000 letters and postcards.

He wrote short stories and novels, mostly in the science-fiction genre, though he also wrote mysteries and fantasies as well.

Towards the end of his career, he switched gears and began to write non-fiction books that taught science in an easy-to-understand and humorous way.

Asimov is most well-known for his Foundation series, Galactic series, as well as his I, Robot series.

He created the novel Foundation and Earth to tie his three universes together into one.

Considered one of the most influential science-fiction authors of all time, Asimov’s stories have influenced the science-fiction genre tremendously.

Don’t forget to also check out these Carl Rogers quotes about psychology and behavior.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation.

If you want more motivational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Isaac Asimov quotes about science and science-fiction

1. “It is the nature of science that answers automatically pose new and more subtle questions.” — Isaac Asimov

2. “Creationists make it sound as though a ‘theory’ is something you dreamt up after being drunk all night.” ― Isaac Asimov

3. “Ten years on the moon could tell us more about the universe than a thousand years on the earth might be able to.” — Isaac Asimov

4. “Can Americans choose the proper leaders and support the proper programs if they themselves are scientifically illiterate?” — Isaac Asimov

5. “There is not a discovery in science, however revolutionary, however sparkling with insight, that does not arise out of what went before.” — Isaac Asimov

6. “The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not “Eureka!” (I found it!) but ‘That’s funny…’” — Isaac Asimov

7. “Increasingly, our leaders must deal with dangers that threaten the entire world, where an understanding of those dangers and the possible solutions depends on a good grasp of science.” — Isaac Asimov

8. “Science can be introduced to children well or poorly. If poorly, children can be turned away from science; they can develop a lifelong antipathy; they will be in a far worse condition than if they had never been introduced to science at all.” — Isaac Asimov

9. “The energy requirements of interstellar travel are so great that it is inconceivable to me that any creatures piloting their ships across the vast depths of space would do so only in order to play games with us over a period of decades.” — Isaac Asimov

10. “I believe in evidence. I believe in observation, measurement, and reasoning, confirmed by independent observers. I’ll believe anything, no matter how wild and ridiculous, if there is evidence for it. The wilder and more ridiculous something is, however, the firmer and more solid the evidence will have to be.” — Isaac Asimov

11. “How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.” — Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov quotes about education

12. “Man’s greatest asset is the unsettled mind.” — Isaac Asimov

13. “The dullness of fact is the mother of fiction.” — Isaac Asimov

14. “Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.” — Isaac Asimov

15. “The day you stop learning is the day you begin decaying.” — Isaac Asimov

16. “People think of education as something that they can finish.” — Isaac Asimov

17. “Though knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” — Isaac Asimov

18. “It is all too easy to forget that there are emotional motivations in history, as well as economic ones.” — Isaac Asimov

19. “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” — Isaac Asimov

20. “I consider one of the most important duties of any scientist the teaching of science to students and to the general public.” — Isaac Asimov

21. “Uncertainty that comes from knowledge (knowing what you don’t know) is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.” — Isaac Asimov

22. “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is. The only function of a school is to make self-education easier; failing that, it does nothing.” — Isaac Asimov

23. “Surely there is no language more majestic than that of Shakespeare, Milton, and the King James Bible, and if I am to have one language that I know as only a native can know it, I consider myself unbelievably fortunate that it is English.” — Isaac Asimov

24. “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge’.” — Isaac Asimov

Inspiring Isaac Asimov quotes

25. “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” — Isaac Asimov

What did you learn from these Isaac Asimov quotes?

Isaac Asimov was born in Russia in 1920.

He moved with his family to America at the age of three and taught himself how to read by age five.

Science, education, and writing would become the loves of his life and he would continue to learn, experiment, and create worlds of science fiction until he died in 1992.

Asimov received his doctorate degree in chemistry from Columbia University in 1948.

He began teaching biochemistry at Boston University in 1949.

Asimov would soon earn more money through writing than through lecturing, though he would remain a professor for the rest of his life, balancing a career in both writing and teaching.

We hope these Isaac Asimov quotes inspire you not only to always be learning but to also let your imagination soar.