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Few people realise the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims.
H. G. Wells
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on the vast emptiness of the universe, emphasizing our smallness in comparison to it.

H. G. Wells highlights the overwhelming scale of the universe and how often people overlook the profound emptiness that surrounds the material entities within it. This observation invites contemplation on human existence and the insignificance of our individual lives amid the cosmic expanse.

Themes

UniverseVacancyEmptinessRealizationMaterial

In practice

Example use cases

In a philosophical discussion about existence, this quote can emphasize our place in the cosmos.

More from H. G. Wells

Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no need of change.
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He spares no resource in telling of his dead inventions... Bare verbs he rarely tolerates. He splits infinitives and fills them up with adverbial stuffing. He presses the passing colloquialism into his service. His vast paragraphis sweat and struggle; the
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It [a new world order] needs only that the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Germany, and Russia should get together in order to set up an effective control of currency, credit, production, and distribution – that is to say, an effective ‘dictatorship of prosperity,’ for the whole world. The other sixty odd States would have to join in or accommodate themselves to the over-ruling decisions of these major Powers.
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Things that would have made fame of a less clever man seemed tricks in his hands. It is a mistake to do things too easily.
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But I was too restless to watch long; I'm too Occidental for a long vigil. I could work at a problem for years, but to wait inactive for twenty-four hours - that's another matter.
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The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice.
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