16 December: Arthur C Clarke

Science fiction author Arthur C Clarke was born on this date in 1917. On what would have been his 97th birthday, here are 10 quotes:

1. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
2. The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.
3. Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.
4. New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can't be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!
5. I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical.
6. How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.
7. If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
8. I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.
9. I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her.
10. Human judges can show mercy. But against the laws of nature, there is no appeal.