QuoteProject
We are not without empathetic terror when we open Pascal's 'Pensees' and read, 'I am the great silent spaces between worlds.'
Carl Sagan
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects the profound connection between existence and the vast, often unarticulated experiences of life.

Carl Sagan's reference to Pascal's quote highlights the awe and terror we may feel when contemplating the vast silence of the universe and our place within it. The 'great silent spaces between worlds' suggests that there is much about existence that remains unspoken and unknown, evoking both a sense of wonder and existential dread.

Themes

ExistenceUniverseSilenceConnectionAwe

In practice

Example use cases

Discussing the mysteries of life in a philosophy class.

More from Carl Sagan

Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
Carl SaganRead
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
Carl SaganRead
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
Carl SaganRead
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
Carl SaganRead
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
Carl SaganRead

Similar quotes

Cyborg writing must not be about the Fall, the imagination of a once-upon-a-time wholeness before language, before writing, before Man. Cyborg writing is about the power to survive, not on the basis of original innocence, but on the basis of seizing the tools to mark the world that marked them as other...
Donna J. HarawayRead
Principles are the simplicity on the far side of complexity.
Stephen CoveyRead
Introspection, or 'sitting in the silence,' is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. The contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
You're beautiful, but you're empty.... No one could die for you.
Antoine De Saint-ExuperyRead
In a world where everyone is behaving honestly, any dishonesty constitutes a big infraction. But, in a world where many people are behaving dishonestly, and the news is filled with stories of their infractions, even big infractions can feel small to the perpetrator.
Dan ArielyRead
WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN? The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of the potato. SQUEAK, he said. Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.
Terry PratchettRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.