Today, April 6th 2022, is the 30th anniversary of Isaac Asimov's death.
The 25th anniversary in 2017 inspired an article about him; he has also been mentioned in connection with Noel Streatfeild. He was a great supporter of public libraries, and an article about Jean Rhys mentions his beloved underground cities.
Today, we have a few miscellaneous quotations of particular interest and significance to mark the occasion. Some of them come from I, Asimov - Galactic Words of Isaac Asimov by Sreechinth C, who does not always give his sources.
These quotations provide just a small sample of Isaac Asimov's words of wisdom: much more of the same can be found in the huge number of books that he produced.
The importance of reason
Isaac Asimov has something to say about reason and the lack of it:
“I stand four-square for reason, and object to what seems to me to be irrationality, whatever the source. If you are on my side in this, I must warn you that the army of the night has the advantage of overwhelming numbers, and, by its very nature, is immune to reason, so that it is entirely unlikely that you and I can win out.
We will always remain a tiny and probably hopeless minority, but let us never tire of presenting our view, and of fighting the good fight for the right.”
This is all very true and very well expressed. I am on his side in this. I know what we are up against: I too have found that there are many people in the world who will not listen to reason and that rational human beings are like a few small islands of sanity in a huge ocean of unreason.
I like his expression “the army of the night” as it makes me think of the forces of darkness!
