God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
D. H. LawrenceRead
Night, in which everything was lost, went reaching out, beyond stars and sun. Stars and sun, a few bright grains, went spiraling round for terror, and holding each other in embrace, there in a darkness that outpassed them all, and left them tiny and daunted. So much, and himself, infinitesimal, at the core of nothingness, and yet not nothing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the vastness of the universe and the insignificance of individual existence, while also acknowledging the beauty and complexity within that existential void.
D. H. Lawrence delves into the contrast between the immense darkness of the cosmos and the smallness of human existence. He conveys a sense of awe and terror at the insignificance felt in the face of an infinite universe, yet simultaneously suggests that there is a profound, if paradoxical, significance in recognizing one's place within this vast expanse. The imagery of stars and sun as fragile entities emphasizes how even the brightest aspects of existence can feel overwhelmed by the depths of the unknown, highlighting the tension between fear and the beauty of connection, even in a seemingly indifferent universe.
Themes
ExistenceUniverseInsignificanceBeautyDarkness
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy lecture about existentialism, to illustrate the feeling of insignificance in the universe.
More from D. H. Lawrence
All quotes βA young man is afraid of his demon and puts his hand over the demon's mouth sometimes and speaks for him. And the things the young man says are very rarely poetry.
D. H. LawrenceRead
And besides, look at elder flowers and bluebells-they are a sign that pure creation takes place - even the butterfly. But humanity never gets beyond the caterpillar stage -it rots in the chrysalis, it never will have wings.It is anti-creation, like monkeys and baboons.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great nerve center from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us, or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time.
D. H. LawrenceRead
... he preferred his own madness, to the regular sanity. He rejoiced in his own madness, he was free. He did not want that old sanity of the world, which was become so repulsive. He rejoiced in the new-found world of his madness. It was so fresh and delicate and so satisfying.
D. H. LawrenceRead
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But if it ever occurs to people to value the honor of the mind equally with the honor of the body, we shall get a social revolution of a quite unparalleled sort β and very different from the kind that is being made at the moment.
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The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.
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Once conform, once do what other people do because they do it, and a lethargy steals over all the finer nerves and faculties of the soul. She becomes all outer show and inward emptiness; dull, callous, and indifferent.
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INJUSTICE, n. A burden which of all those that we load upon others and carry ourselves is lightest in the hands and heaviest upon the back.
Ambrose BierceRead