CONSIDERING THAT DOT
THATS HERE,
THATS HOME,
THATS 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 WE HAVE SOME
PRIVILEGED POSITION IN 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 HARBOUR LIFE.
THERE IS NOWHERE ELSE,
AT LEAST IN THE NEAR FUTURE
TO WHICH OUR SPECIES CAN 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.
“What we know is a drop, what we don't know
is an ocean.” ― Isaac Newton
"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day
and think it is forever."  ― Carl Sagan
