QuotesCosmos
Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain (1979)
All page numbers are from the October 1980 mass market paperback edition published by Ballantine Books (28th printing), Chapter 8, “Norman Bloom, Messenger of God” (p. 152)
“

St. Anselm argued that since we can imagine a perfect being, he must exist—because he would not be perfect without the added perfection of existence. This so-called ontological argument was more or less promptly attacked on two grounds: (1) Can we imagine a completely perfect being? (2) Is it obvious that perfection is augmented by existence? To the modern ear such pious arguments seem to be about words and definitions rather than about external reality.

— Carl Sagan on Ontological argument

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "St. Anselm argued that since we can imagine a perfect being, he must exist—because he would not be perfect without the added perfection of existence. This so-called ontological argument was more or less promptly attacked on two grounds: (1) Can we imagine a completely perfect being? (2) Is it obvious that perfection is augmented by existence? To the modern ear such pious arguments seem to be about words and definitions rather than about external reality." in the context of "Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain (1979)
All page numbers are from the October 1980 mass market paperback edition published by Ballantine Books (28th printing), Chapter 8, “Norman Bloom, Messenger of God” (p. 152)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Ontological argument" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Carl Sagan#perfect#perfection#existence#imagine#being#existbecause#ontological#definitions#completely#augmented#arguments
Carl Sagan

About Carl Sagan

Carl Edward Sagan (9 November 1934 – 20 December 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation. Sagan assembled the first physical messages sent into space, the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, universal messages that could potentially be understood by any extraterrestrial intelligence that might find them. Sagan argued the hypothesis, accepted since, that the high surface temperatures of Venus can be attributed to, and calculated using, the greenhouse effect. He testified to the US Congress in 1985 that the greenhouse effect will change the earth's climate system.