“Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term.”

—  Carl Sagan

Source: Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millenium (1997), Chapter 14, "The Common Enemy"
Context: Widespread intellectual and moral docility may be convenient for leaders in the short term, but it is suicidal for nations in the long term. One of the criteria for national leadership should therefore be a talent for understanding, encouraging, and making constructive use of vigorous criticism.

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American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science ed… 1934–1996

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