03/25/2026
/ Isaac Asimov / - "They won't listen. Do you know why? Because they have certain fixed notions about the past. Any change would be blasphemy in their eyes, even if it were the truth. They don't want the truth; they want their traditions."
What Asimov Meant
Asimov is pointing to a very human tendency: people often cling to the version of the past that feels comfortable, familiar, or sacred, even when evidence shows that version is wrong.
🌟 Key ideas behind the quote
Tradition feels safe.
Many people build their identity, morality, or worldview on inherited stories about “how things were.” Changing those stories can feel like an attack on who they are.
Truth can be threatening.
If new information contradicts long‑held beliefs, accepting it requires admitting that one’s understanding was incomplete or mistaken. That’s emotionally difficult.
People prefer stability over accuracy.
Asimov is saying that for some, the emotional comfort of tradition outweighs the intellectual value of truth.
“Blasphemy” is the perfect word.
He’s comparing historical correction to religious heresy — not because history is religion, but because people defend their myths with the same intensity.
Native name: Yiddish: יצחק אזימאװ
Born: c. January 2, 1920, Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
Died: April 6, 1992, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation: Writer, professor of biochemistry
Nationality: Russian (1920-1922), Soviet (1922-1928), American (1928-1992)
Education: Columbia University (BA, MA, PhD)
Genre: Science fiction (hard SF, social SF), mystery, popular science
Subject: Popular science, science textbooks, essays, history, literary criticism
Literary movement: Golden Age of Science Fiction
Years active: 1939–1992
Isaac Asimov (1979). “The far ends of time and earth”
