CURATED COLLECTION

Humanity's Place in the Universe

We are a small thing in a large place — and these quotes make that thought feel like wonder, not despair.

46 quotes found

“
Wonders are many, and none is more wonderful than man.

—SophoclesScholar & Thinker

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

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The world is but a drop from the ocean of Truth. How can a drop comprehend the ocean?

—Mahmud ShabistariPoet

Medieval ERA • Central Asia

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Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination.

—PlatoPhilosopher

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

“
My heart has become capable of every form. It is a pasture for gazelles and a monastery for monks.

—Ibn ArabiMystic & Philosopher

Medieval ERA • MENA

“
Creolization is the world's way of transforming itself.

—Édouard GlissantPhilosopher, Novelist & Poet

Late Modern ERA • Caribbean

“
You are the center of the universe. All else revolves around you.

—Mahmud ShabistariPoet

Medieval ERA • Central Asia

“
We have made you neither heavenly nor earthly, so that you might freely make yourself.

—Giovanni Pico della MirandolaPhilosopher

Renaissance ERA • Southern Europe

“
We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

—William ShakespearePlaywright & Poet

Renaissance ERA • Western Europe

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The heart is an ocean, and every wave is a world.

—Farid ud-Din AttarPoet & Mystic

Medieval ERA • Central Asia

“
Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart larger.

—Nnedi OkoforAuthor

Digital Age ERA • West Africa

“
The moon appears from the ocean; a thousand miles, she shares the light.

—Li BaiPoet

Medieval ERA • East Asia

“
In my soul there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church where I kneel.

—Rabia al-AdawiyyaMystic & Poet

Medieval ERA • MENA

“
To love is to see a miracle invisible to others.

—Marina TsvetaevaPoet

Early Modern ERA • Eastern Europe

“
Of all that man erects and builds in his urge for living, nothing is greater than bridges.

—Ivo AndrićNovelist, Diplomat & Author

Early Modern ERA • Eastern Europe

“
Man is born to become an angel.

—Emanuel SwedenborgScientist, Philosopher & Mystic

Enlightenment ERA • Nordic

“
Love, that moves the sun and the other stars.

—Dante AlighieriPoet & Author

Medieval ERA • Southern Europe

“
Truth is one; the sages call it by many names.

—Unknown Vedic SageScholar & Thinker

Pre-Ancient ERA • South Asia

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Joy, beautiful spark of divinity, daughter of Elysium, we enter thy sanctuary.

—Friedrich SchillerPoet, Philosopher & Playwright

Enlightenment ERA • Western Europe

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Our lives are like the rivers, flowing ever onward to a vast, unknown sea.

—Sarojini NaiduPoet & Activist

Early Modern ERA • South Asia

“
The great Tao flows everywhere. All things are born from it, yet it does not claim them.

—Lao TzuPhilosopher

Ancient World ERA • East Asia

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