Favorite Quotes from Life in the Universe Essays:

Every term, each student in my Astronomy 115 course (Life in the Universe) was assigned to write an essay giving his or her opinion on the following question:

This group of quotes is a collection of opening lines, normally used in the first paragraph of the essay. (The typos and misspellings are real, but they are not mine.) The material is presented here without comment; you will have to make up your own.

Essay Quotes: Opening Lines


1. Not only is this a question that we have been trying to answer all semester long, but also one that has plagued mankind for many hundreds of years.


2. The question of if there are other civilizations in the galaxy is a question that has perplexed man for centuries.


3. In this paper I intend to address this question that has boggled the minds of the human race for generations.


4. Ever since human beings could gaze at the stars they have been wondering what is out there.


5. The fascination of discovering extraterrestrial life has been in the minds of scientists and philosophers ever since the beginning of human life.


6. A question that has probed the minds of humans since we were able to comprehend it is whether or not we are alone in this vastness of space, stars, and interstellar space dust.


7. This is a question that man has been asking himself since he looked at the sky and saw all those twinkling lights.


8. This question has been on mankind's mind since the beginning of time in one way or another.


9. Since the dawn of time people have been interested in the age-old question - Do extraterrestrial civilizations exist beyond earth?


10. For thousands of years perhaps one of the most intriguing thoughts mankind has pondered is that of intelligent life beyond our own Earth.


11. Since the dawn of man, the question most often pondered is 'Are we alone in the Universe?'


12. Humans have been plagued with the question whether or not we are alone in the galaxy for decades.


13. While there are many unanswered questions on our planet, one has yet to be solved.


14. This is a question that is being asked by people everyday here in the United States and across the world. People have been debating this question for centuries now and still haven't come up with a definite answer yet, but everyone has some sort of opinion.


15. The question of "are we alone" has been around since the beginning of man.


16. This is a question that has intrigued mankind for years.


17. When a person asks themselves if there is life outside this planet they are asking the oldest and the most popular question since the rise of humankind.


18. There is not a broader question that can have so many opinions, defenses, and reasoning than the question: "Do Extraterrestrial Technical Civilizations Currently Exist in Our Galaxy?" There have been some ugly debates in my family about this topic.


19. The idea of the existence of intelligent life outside of Earth remains one of greatest mysteries in modern science.


20. Since man has been able to reason, he has looked to the cosmos and asked, "Is there anyone else out there?"


21. People have been trying to convince the world that extraterrestrials do not exist for thousands of years. At the same time people have been trying to tell us that alien life forms have been visiting our planet and abducting our people.


22. Are there other extraterrestrial technical civilizations in our galaxy besides ours? That is a question that has plagued scientists for centuries.


23. For centuries beings with supernatural power and more recently, extra terrestrial beings have let our imaginations run wild.


24. One of the ever-burning questions is whether or not intelligent life exists elsewhere in our universe. The debate as to whether or not intelligent civilizations exist outside of our planet has existed since the beginning our intelligent life on our planet.


25. Evidence suggests that this question has burdened mankind since before the time of the Ancient Egyptians. Scientists around the world have argued this topic for centuries without reaching a conclusion.


26. For eons mankind has looked to the skies and pondered the idea of extraterrestrial life. ... Though we are living in a much more scientific world than our forefathers and many of our questions have been answered, we still wonder, and cannot answer indefinitely whether extraterrestrial life exists within even our own galaxy.


27. This is a question that scientists, movie writers, and the conmen man have been trying to answer for quite some time.


28. This is the question of the century.


29. This question has been pondered upon by humans since the beginning of our life form.


30. Extraterrestrial life may be the biggest unanswered question known to man.


31. That is a question that has peaked man's curiosity since he first looked up at the stars.


32. The question of whether we are alone in our galaxy, and indeed the whole universe, is a question that has plagued man kind since we have looked up at the heavens and their seemingly endless number of stars.


33. The question stated above is one that I'm sure everyone has pondered at least once in their life.


34. This is a question that has intrigued humankind for many, many years.


35. Many questions have been pondered over the course of human existence, but none have been thought aobut more than the question, "Do extraterrestrial Technical Civilizations Exist in Our Galaxy?". This question has been asked again and again for over 6000 years, since the time of the first Egyptian and Mayan empires existed.


36. This question has been on the minds of many scientists, astronomers, and thinkers for many years.


37. This is a question that has plagued the minds of scientists all around the globe and is still being debated amongst them everyday.


38. This question has plagued scientists and astronomers for years.


39. This is a questions asked by many educated and uneducated people.


40. One of the great mysteries that people have been trying to solve over the years is if we are truly alone in the universe.


41. This is a scientifically unanswered question pondered by many.


42. We have been asking this pondering this question for a good portion of the semester, but no one has come up with a clear answer to it.