Time magazine called him “America’s most effective salesman of science,” but Carl Sagan wasn’t always too fond of labels. He defied categorization. He was an astronomer, an author, a science communicator, and much more. As someone who aligned analysis with wonder, Sagan renewed an interest in science for the American public. We owe a lot to him.

1. “For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”

It’s hard for us human beings to realize that we truly are “small” in the face of the large universe. We live on yet another planet that orbits around yet another star within yet another galaxy, tucked into yet another corner of the universe. So, how do we cope with such insignificance? The answer is easy: love.

2. “We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”

Sometimes, in moments of great elation, our happiness is so immense and passionate that we feel invulnerable and on top of the world. Little do we realize that this bliss isn’t bulletproof.

3. “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

Kind of reminds me of a proverb I read a few years ago: “Be humble for you are made of earth. Be noble for you are made of stars.” I guess what Sagan was trying to say is that we are all connected. We are all human, made of the same material. So, why do we continue to divide each other when we are all under the same stars?

4. “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

A friendly reminder that skepticism and rationality don’t always align, and that a dose of idealism never hurts anyone. Thanks, Mr. Sagan!

5. “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.”

As a religious individual who is also studying a STEM major, I can understand how hard it can be to reconcile science and religion sometimes. Science and spirituality aren’t antonyms of each other -- most often, they work cooperatively, hand in hand.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we should let superstition and pseudoscience get in the way. When we discount how 97% of scientists agree that climate-warming trends have been aggravated by human activity, we get distracted with the easy answers.

6. “Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”

Super, super, super relevant given how divided the United States of America has been before, during, and after Election Day. There has been a lack of empathy on both sides of the country, but in order to move forward as a country, we have to close up the ideological divide, break down our walls, and reach out to each other.

7. “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”

Another reminder to never discount your dreams, no matter how grounded or idealistic. When synthesized, rationality and imagination can build and uplift any spirit.

8. “It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

This shapes my definition of success. A successful individual questions the status quo, diverges from societal norms, and seeks out the truth. I would rather die for the truth than live a lie.

9. And, of course, this one.

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

Thanks, Carl.