Last year I re-watched the entire "Cosmos" series. I had seen it originally when I was too young to appreciate most of it.
Sagan believed the awe and beauty of science was more powerful than any religious imagery (physical or otherwise). One of the ways he made Cosmos so wonderful was the language... it is beautiful, poetic, and powerful. When I wrote the best, most poetic parts of TPOSANA or TM4SA, I believe I was standing on his great shoulders.
Someone else realized that his words were poetic. With a little help from autotune, they could be music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mIfatdNqBA