Arthur C. Clarke: Quotes about time

Arthur C. Clarke was British science fiction writer, science writer, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Explore interesting quotes on time.
Arthur C. Clarke: 414   quotes 12   likes

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

Arthur C. Clarke

90th Birthday Reflections (2007)
Context: 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.

Dreams , Time

““I am the King.” Ah, but which king? The monarch who had stood on these granite flagstones — scarcely worn then, eighteen hundred years ago — was probably an able and intelligent man; but he failed to conceive that the time could ever come when he would fade into an anonymity as deep as that of his humblest subjects.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise

Source: The Fountains of Paradise (1979), Chapter 11 “The Silent Princess” (p. 65)

Intelligence , Time

“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
Context: 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

Life , Hope , Intelligence , Time

“I now spend a good part of my day dreaming of times past, present and future.”

Arthur C. Clarke

90th Birthday Reflections (2007)
Context: I now spend a good part of my day dreaming of times past, present and future. As I try to survive on 15 hours sleep a day, I have plenty of time to enjoy vivid dreams. Being completely wheel-chaired doesn't stop my mind from roaming the universe — on the contrary!

Dreams , Time , Past , Future

“There were some things that only time could cure. Evil men could be destroyed, but nothing could be done with good men who were deluded.”

Arthur C. Clarke book Childhood's End

Guardian Angel, p. 220
2000s and posthumous publications, The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)
Source: Childhood's End

Time , Men , Evil

“If such a thing had happened once, it must surely have happened many times in this galaxy of a hundred billion suns.”

Arthur C. Clarke book Rendezvous with Rama

Source: Rendezvous with Rama

Time , Sun

“The time was fast approaching when Earth, like all mothers, must say farewell to her children.”

Arthur C. Clarke book 2001: A Space Odyssey

Source: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Children , Time

“When you are next out of doors on a summer night, turn your head towards the zenith. Almost vertically above you will be shining the brightest star of the northern skies — Vega of the Lyre, twenty-six years away at the speed of light, near enough to the point of no return for us short-lived creatures. Past this blue-white beacon, fifty times as brilliant as our sun, we may send our minds and bodies, but never our hearts.
For no man will ever turn homewards beyond Vega, to greet again those he knew and loved on Earth.”

Arthur C. Clarke

We'll Never Conquer Space (1960)

Love , Star , Light , Time

“Khedron was content with the order of things as it was. True, he might upset that order from time to time—but only by a little. He was a critic, not a revolutionary. On the placidly flowing river of time, he wished only to make a few ripples; he shrank from diverting its course.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The City and the Stars

Source: The City and the Stars (1956), Chapter 7 (p. 44)

Time

“Somewhere back at the beginning I was chosen to be Jester, and there is only one Jester at a time in Diaspar. Most people think that is one too many.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The City and the Stars

Source: The City and the Stars (1956), Chapter 5 (p. 33)

People , Thinking , Time

“They will have time enough, in those endless aeons, to attempt all things, and to gather all knowledge … no Gods imagined by our minds have ever possessed the powers they will command … But for all that, they may envy us, basking in the bright afterglow of Creation; for we knew the Universe when it was young.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Profiles of the Future (1962)
1960s

God , Imagination , Knowledge , Universe

“I have encountered a few "creationists" and because they were usually nice, intelligent people, I have been unable to decide whether they were really mad, or only pretending to be mad. If I was a religious person, I would consider creationism nothing less than blasphemy. Do its adherents imagine that God is a cosmic hoaxer who has created the whole vast fossil record for the sole purpose of misleading humankind? And, although I do not necessarily agree with the paleontologist Teilhard de Chardin's advocacy of evolution as a major proof of the glory of God, de Chardin's attitude is both logical and inspiring. A creator who laid the foundations for the entire future at the beginning of time is far more awesome than a clumsy tinkerer who constantly modifies his creations and throws away entire species in the process.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Presidents, Experts, and Asteroids, essay for journal Science, pp 1532-3 (5 June 1998)
1990s

God , People , Imagination , Intelligence

“SETI is probably the most important quest of our time, and it amazes me that governments and corporations are not supporting it sufficiently.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Seti@Home Donor List (2006) http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donorlist.php
2000s and attributed from posthumous publications

Support , Time

“There was only one thing of which he could be certain now. Boredom would not be a serious problem for a considerable time to come.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The City and the Stars

Source: The City and the Stars (1956), Chapter 11 (pp. 77-78)

Problem , Time

“It is not my duty as an historian to predict the future, only to observe and interpret the past. But its lesson is clear enough; we have lived too long out of contact with reality, and now the time has come to rebuild our lives.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The City and the Stars

Source: The City and the Stars (1956), Chapter 24 (p. 183)

Reality , Time , Past , Future

“The fates could not possibly be so malevolent, now that he had only a few hundred meters to go.
He was whistling in the dark, of course. How many aircraft had crashed at the very edge of the runway, after safely crossing an ocean? How many times had machines or muscles failed when there were only millimeters to go? Every possible piece of luck, bad as well as good, happened to somebody, somewhere. He had no right to expect any special treatment.”

Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise

Source: The Fountains of Paradise (1979), Chapter 53 “Fade-Out” (pp. 272-273)

Fate , Time

“The rash assertion that 'God made man in His own image' is ticking like a time bomb at the foundation of many faiths, and as the hierarchy of the universe is disclosed to us, we may have to recognize this chilling truth: if there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they cannot be very important gods.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Space and the Spirit of Man (1965)

God , Truth , Faith , Universe

“If I may be allowed just three wishes, they would be these.
Firstly, I would like to see some evidence of extra-terrestrial life. I have always believed that we are not alone in the universe. But we are still waiting for ETs to call us — or give us some kind of a sign. We have no way of guessing when this might happen — I hope sooner rather than later!
Secondly, I would like to see us kick our current addiction to oil, and adopt clean energy sources. … Climate change has now added a new sense of urgency. Our civilisation depends on energy, but we can't allow oil and coal to slowly bake our planet…
The third wish is one closer to home. I’ve been living in Sri Lanka for 50 years — and half that time, I’ve been a sad witness to the bitter conflict that divides my adopted country.
I dearly wish to see lasting peace established in Sri Lanka as soon as possible.”

Arthur C. Clarke

90th Birthday Reflections (2007)

Life , Sadness , Peace , Hope

“The extremists in his movement had discredited themselves thoroughly, and it would be a long time before the world heard of them again.”

Arthur C. Clarke

Guardian Angel, p. 220
2000s and posthumous publications, The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)

World , Time

“Captain Saunders, who came from Dallas and had no intention of being impressed by any prince, found himself unexpectedly moved by the wide, sad eyes. There were eyes that had seen too many receptions and parades, that had had to watch countless totally uninteresting things, that had never been allowed to stray far from the carefully planned official routes. Looking at that proud but weary face, Captain Saunders glimpsed for the first time the ultimate loneliness of royalty.”

Arthur C. Clarke book Patent Pending

Patent Pending, p. 508
2000s and posthumous publications, The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke (2001)

Sadness , Loneliness , Time