When I opened my eyes I saw nothing but the pool of nocturnal sky, for I was lying on my back with out-stretched arms, face to face with that hatchery of stars. Only half awake, still unaware that those depths were sky, having no roof between those depths and me, no branches to screen them, no root to cling to, I was seized with vertigo and felt myself as if flung forth and plunging downward like a diver.
Interpretation
The quote reflects a profound sense of wonder and vulnerability in experiencing the vastness of the cosmos.
In this quote, Antoine De Saint-Exupery describes a moment of pure amazement and introspection while lying under the night sky. He captures the contrast between being half-awake and fully aware of the infinite universe above, illustrating how the sight of stars can evoke feelings of both vertigo and exhilaration. This experience highlights the beauty and overwhelming nature of the cosmos, making the individual feel small in comparison to the vastness, while also inviting a deeper contemplation of existence.
In practice
This quote is perfect for inspiring a group during a stargazing event.
Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
Attitude is a paintbrush. It colors everything!
Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses.
In those days, I didn't understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realized the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contadictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.
When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter. The body is an old crock that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying. Never.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping...I hear it in the deep heart's core.
The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental organisations, the private sector and each and every individual have a role to play in changing entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour
In the world in which we live, it is almost a necessity to be able to regain one's strength of body and spirit, especially for those who live in the city, where the conditions of life, often feverish, leave little room for silence, reflection and relaxed contact with nature.
The river Rhine, it is well known, _x000D_ _x000D_ Doth wash your city of Cologne; _x000D_ _x000D_ But tell me, nymphs! what power divine _x000D_ _x000D_ Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?
As a child, I was aware of the widely-held attitude that the ocean is so big, so resilient that we could use the sea as the ultimate place to dispose of anything we did not want, from garbage and nuclear wastes to sludge from sewage to entire ships that had reached the end of their useful life.
The fact that the colors in the flower have evolved in order to attract insects to pollinate it is interesting; that means insects can see the colors. That adds a question: does this aesthetic sense we have also exist in lower forms of life?
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.