don't believe in flying saucers... 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." - Meaning and context.">
"On Flying Saucers" in Is Anyone There? (1967), pp. 215–216

I don't believe in flying saucers... 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

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "I don't believe in flying saucers... 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." in the context of ""On Flying Saucers" in Is Anyone There? (1967), pp. 215–216" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Isaac Asimov" (Quotes, General sources, 1957–1970) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Isaac Asimov

About Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov (c. 2 January 1920 – 6 April 1992) was a Russian-born American biochemist who was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, his works include the Foundation series and I, Robot.