The universe is so immense that it appears immutable, and that the duration of a planet such as that of the earth is only a chapter, less than that, a phrase, less still, only a word of the universe’s history.
Camille FlammarionRead
What, then, is this blue sky, which certainly does exist, and which veils from us the stars during the day?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the nature of the blue sky and its obscuring effect on the stars we cannot see during the day.
Camille Flammarion's quote invites us to ponder the beauty and mystery of the blue sky that dominates our daytime experience, while also reminding us of the stars hidden behind it. The statement hints at the idea that there are wonders and truths that exist beyond our immediate perception, encouraging us to look beyond the surface and seek deeper understanding of the universe.
Themes
Blue SkyStarsPerceptionNatureUniverse
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about astronomy, one might use this quote to evoke curiosity about what lies beyond our everyday view.
More from Camille Flammarion
All quotes →Similar quotes
Chance alone is at the source of every innovaton, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, only chance, absolute but blind liberty is at the root of the prodigious edifice that is evolution... It today is the sole conceivable hypothesis, the only one that squares with observed and tested fact. Stating life began by the chance collision of particles of nucleic acid in the "prebiotic soup."
Jacques MonodRead
Dr. Kertesz mentioned to me a case known to him of a farmer who had developed prosopagnosia and in consequence could no longer distinguish (the faces of) his cows, and of another such patient, an attendant in a Natural History Museum, who mistook his own reflection for the diorama of an ape
Oliver SacksRead
In the development of antibiotics, the soil microbiological population has contributed more than its share. It is to the soil that the microbiologists came in search of new antibacterial agents.
Selman WaksmanRead
No new creation or destruction of matter is within the reach of chemical agency. We might as well attempt to introduce a new planet into the solar system, or to annihilate one already in existence, as to create or destroy a particle of hydrogen.
John DaltonRead
The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it just happened by blind chance. Superficially, the obvious alternative to chance is an intelligent Designer.
Richard DawkinsRead
The missing link in cosmology is the nature of dark matter and dark energy.
Stephen HawkingRead