Arthur C. Clarke (December 16, 1917-March 18, 2008)
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"I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so commonplace a simile, we have set off the fire alarm and have nothing to do but to wait. I do not think we will have to wait for long."
- from "The Sentinel," Arthur C. Clarke