The wise lady replied, "You are a smart boy," and promptly found a simple text on the wonders of the cosmos.
Today this same individual, the once-curious small boy, has become a world-renowned astronomer as well as a Pulitzer Prize winning author, with many books to his credit. Frequently he has explained how lucky he was to have encouragement in his youth, determination in his career, and talent enough to accomplish his dreams.
How often have the endless span of night skies, with stars glittering like a beckoning warmth, inspired childhood wonder, fascination and dreams? And how often are those same childhood dreams and insatiable curiosity stifled by lack of supportive encouragement from adults?
According to John Dewey in THE QUEST FOR CERTAINTY, "Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination." To invent and to create, a mind has to be free enough for the imagination to live without restraint.
Currently, due to Dr. Sagan's wide-reaching efforts at educating the public, many people have learned more about our cosmos and our earth in scientific and historic perspective than they might have ever conceived before. And all his work is tempered with such a deep love of humanity, such awe and respect for life itself, that no one can read his words and remain untouched.
It is human nature to be curious, to wonder and finally to imagine. Without this most necessary trait, we would still be mired down in our own small world. But because we dared to dream and made those dreams reality, we have touched the sky, the moon and soared as freely as our imaginations.
The world is a complex place, and so it follows that the cosmos is also a complicated enigma, still virtually unexplored. I am convinced the cosmos is a new frontier as surely as America once was. It is the arena in which future generations will play out humankind's destiny.
To discourage a child's healthy curiosity is to kill a little of that brave, inquiring spirit each human possesses. To give answers where none actually exist is to cheat a child out of their own exploration into the unknown, perhaps where they might make a worthwhile discovery.
The stars have spoken to many generations, and to each they had a similar message:
For children it is: "Dare to dream and discover."
For adults it is: "Encourage children's dreams and curiosity."
Imagination is the thread we need for mending our world's present injuries, and the fuel we need for taking us beyond this planet we call home into the vast cosmos of all our tomorrows.
--Written 1987
[Note: Dr. Carl Sagan died in December 1996; he will be missed greatly by those like myself who admired him -- and for whom he took the time to encourage and inspire during his lifetime.]
