Sagan’s words here remind us that we as a species are the most remarkably intelligent, creative, and innovative species on the planet, yet paradoxically and incomprehensibly, we also can be, at times, the stupidest. Nonetheless, there is hope. Sagan says there is emerging a new consciousness which sees the earth as a single organism. A consciousness that understands that an organism at war with itself is doomed. We know who speaks for the nations, Sagan says, but who speaks for the earth? The answer, of course, is we do.
\u00abOur loyalties are to the species and to the planet. We speak for earth. Our obligation to survive and flourish is owed not just to ourselves but also to that cosmos ancient and vast from which we spring!\u00bb<\/i>
<\/i>\u00abFanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile, blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars.\u00bb<\/i> \u2014Carl Sagan<\/p>\n
The message is wonderful and the simple photographic images amplify the message well. I think this is beautiful and puts \u00abit\u00bb\u2014our lives, our responsibilities, worries and our dreams\u2014in perspective. It is this distant image of our tiny world\u2014the only one we’ve got\u2014that underscores, says Sagan, \u00abour responsibility to deal more kindly with one another\u00bb and to preserve and cherish our home, the planet Earth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n