Love this quote, from Cosmos...

If we capitulate to superstition, or greed, or stupidity we can plunge our world into a darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian renaissance, but we are also capable of using our passion and our intelligence, our technology, and our wealth to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet, to enhance enormously our understanding of the universe and to cary us to the stars.