--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are at the moment looking at space as…" description: "\"We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the attitude of attacking the unk..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18b/alan-watts-587_all-kinds_we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as_70240.jpg" --- # We are at the moment looking at space as something to be… ![“We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the attitude of attacking the unknown. And that causes us not to realize that we are already on the most magnificently equipped spaceship, which could hardly be improved upon. It…” quote by Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18b/alan-watts-587_all-kinds_we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as_70240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18b/alan-watts-587_all-kinds_we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as_70240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18b/alan-watts-587_all-kinds_we-are-at-the-moment-looking-at-space-as_70240.jpg) > “We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the attitude of attacking the unknown. And that causes us not to realize that we are already on the most magnificently equipped spaceship, which could hardly be improved upon. It has got a source of temperature and energy just at the right distance from it. It's beautifully equipped with oxygen, with food supplies, with all kinds of delightful things to do while on the journey… and it's traveling through space at a colossal speed... and it's called the planet Earth.” [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reframes Earth as a self-sustaining vessel traveling through space, urging us to recognize our existing resources and environment rather than constantly seeking external frontiers. **In simple terms:** Earth is a fully equipped spaceship. Key Takeaway Appreciate our planet's inherent gifts. Themes Perspective Ecology Humanism Exploration Existentialism Mood Awe Contemplation Inspiration Type Philosophical Metaphorical Inspirational When to use this quote - Environmental education - Motivational speaking - Philosophical writing - Science communication Key Concepts Planetary systems Resource abundance Space travel metaphor Practical Applications - Sustainability advocacy - Curriculum design Questions to Reflect On - How does viewing Earth as a spaceship change our responsibilities? - What assumptions about progress are challenged by this metaphor? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Delightful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful/) [Delightful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delightful-things/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Food supply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food-supply/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Oxygen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oxygen/) [Planet earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planet-earth/) [Rockets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rockets/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Spaceship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spaceship/) [Spaceships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spaceships/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Things to do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-to-do/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Trust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust/) ## Related quotes > [Traveling through space is stupifyingly monotonous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-rice-burroughs/traveling-through-space-is-stupifyingly-monotonous/) [Edgar Rice Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-rice-burroughs/) > [Traveling makes time go fast. So maybe traveling in space will give people time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-warhol/traveling-makes-time-go-fast-so-maybe-traveling-in-space-will-give/) [Andy Warhol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-warhol/) > [“I’ve studied the humans for almost twenty years, Rachner. They’ve been traveling in space for hundreds of generations. They’ve seen so much, they’ve done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernor-vinge/i-ve-studied-the-humans-for-almost-twenty-years-rachner-they-ve-been/) [Vernor Vinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernor-vinge/) > [When I was younger, humans went to the moon when I was about 4 years old, and I imagined that as I got older…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-j-feustel/when-i-was-younger-humans-went-to-the-moon-when-i-was-about-4-years/) Andrew J. Feustel > [The question to ask is whether the risk of traveling to space is worth the benefit. The answer is an unequivocal yes, but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-e-burrows/the-question-to-ask-is-whether-the-risk-of-traveling-to-space-is/) William E. Burrows > [Lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/lying-is-a-delightful-thing-for-it-leads-to-truth/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [I settled in with The Uninvited Guests thinking I knew what kind of Edwardian pleasures were in store: the fraught dinner party in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/i-settled-in-with-the-uninvited-guests-thinking-i-knew-what-kind-of/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [Mine ain't a selfish affection, you know," said Mr. Toots, in the confidence engendered by his having been a witness of the Captain's tenderness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mine-ain-t-a-selfish-affection-you-know-said-mr-toots-in-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There's something that's delightful about things getting bigger and more over-the-top. Sometimes it's empty, and other times, it's just fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-miller/there-s-something-that-s-delightful-about-things-getting-bigger-and/) [Christopher Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-miller/) > [ The genius of Christian spirituality is to integrate \[the\] spirit of possession with the spirit of dispossession. The spirit of dispossession implies that all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-powell/the-genius-of-christian-spirituality-is-to-integrate-the-spirit-of/) [John Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-powell/) > [The world is crammed with delightful things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-world-is-crammed-with-delightful-things/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [There shall be poets! When woman's unmeasured bondage shall be broken, when she shall live for and through herself, man--hitherto detestable--having let her go,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/there-shall-be-poets-when-woman-s-unmeasured-bondage-shall-be-broken/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [One of the delightful things about Americans is that they have absolutely no historical memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhou-enlai/one-of-the-delightful-things-about-americans-is-that-they-have/) [Zhou Enlai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhou-enlai/) > [Humans like to look. I think that voyeurism and exploitation are often used in the same sentence. But, in my opinion, voyeurism is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-nakadate/humans-like-to-look-i-think-that-voyeurism-and-exploitation-are-often/) [Laurel Nakadate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-nakadate/) > [What a delightful thing this perspective is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-uccello/what-a-delightful-thing-this-perspective-is/) Paolo Uccello ## More by Alan Watts > [“The self-conscious feedback mechanism of the cortex allows us the hallucination that we are two souls in one body -a rational soul and an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-self-conscious-feedback-mechanism-of-the-cortex-allows-us-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-more-we-try-to-catch-hold-of-the-present-moment-the-more-elusive/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The Universe is the game of the self, which plays hide and seek forever and ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-universe-is-the-game-of-the-self-which-plays-hide-and-seek/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [...mysticism and empiricism go together in opposition to scholasticism...they base themselves on the non-linear world of experience rather than the linear world of letters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/mysticism-and-empiricism-go-together-in-opposition-to-scholasticism/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The hallucination of being a separate ego will not stand up to biological tests.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-hallucination-of-being-a-separate-ego-will-not-stand-up-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Although profoundly "inconsequential," the Zen experience has consequences in the sense that it may be applied in any direction, to any conceivable human activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/although-profoundly-inconsequential-the-zen-experience-has/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Everything is perpetually becoming new.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/everything-is-perpetually-becoming-new/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The psychotherapist ... tries to help the individual to be himself and to go it alone without giving unnecessary offense to his community, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-psychotherapist-tries-to-help-the-individual-to-be-himself-and-to/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [“As you make more and more powerful microscopic instruments, the universe has to get smaller and smaller in order to escape the investigation. Just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/as-you-make-more-and-more-powerful-microscopic-instruments-the/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [A philosopher is a sort of intellectual yokel who gawks at things that sensible people take for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/a-philosopher-is-a-sort-of-intellectual-yokel-who-gawks-at-things/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The best way to convince someone is by making him realize that what you speak came from his own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-best-way-to-convince-someone-is-by-making-him-realize-that-what/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [The myths underlying our culture and underlying our common sense have not taught us to feel identical with the universe, but only parts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/the-myths-underlying-our-culture-and-underlying-our-common-sense-have/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [To feel that life is meaningless unless “I” can be permanent is like having fallen desperately in love with an inch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/to-feel-that-life-is-meaningless-unless-i-can-be-permanent-is-like/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [Don't hurry anything. Don't worry about the future. Don't worry about what progress you're making. Just be entirely content to be aware of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/don-t-hurry-anything-don-t-worry-about-the-future-don-t-worry-about/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) [Explore all 460 Alan Watts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More All kinds quotes > [I was interested in all kinds of things, whether it be Avatar, Mad Men, Troy, 300, Battlestar Gallactica, or the poems of Horace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/i-was-interested-in-all-kinds-of-things-whether-it-be-avatar-mad-men/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [I'm not technically proficient enough to attempt all kinds of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-gallagher/i-m-not-technically-proficient-enough-to-attempt-all-kinds-of-music/) [Noel Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-gallagher/) > [My office in New York is overflowing with all kinds of cookbooks, and in New Orleans we have a huge culinary library. So yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emeril-lagasse/my-office-in-new-york-is-overflowing-with-all-kinds-of-cookbooks-and/) [Emeril Lagasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emeril-lagasse/) > [Sydney is full of the craziest and most talented artists of all kinds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keiynan-lonsdale/sydney-is-full-of-the-craziest-and-most-talented-artists-of-all-kinds/) [Keiynan Lonsdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keiynan-lonsdale/) > [Baseball needs to put the steroids era behind it by having and enforcing tough rules against all kinds of artificial advantages, so that spring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-olasky/baseball-needs-to-put-the-steroids-era-behind-it-by-having-and/) [Marvin Olasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-olasky/) > [You know, the world’s not running out of oil. There’s all kinds of oil left in all kinds of places. …We’re never going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-rubin/you-know-the-world-s-not-running-out-of-oil-there-s-all-kinds-of-oil/) [Jeff Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-rubin/) > [I grew up with all kinds of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vin-diesel/i-grew-up-with-all-kinds-of-people/) [Vin Diesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vin-diesel/) > [Because there were all kinds of hell - some were black and dirty, and some were silvery and high.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/because-there-were-all-kinds-of-hell-some-were-black-and-dirty-and/) [Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/) > [The architecture of the song, if it's built properly, can withstand all kinds of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-haines/the-architecture-of-the-song-if-it-s-built-properly-can-withstand-all/) [Emily Haines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-haines/) > [There are all kinds of writers. The best writers write children's books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-scarry/there-are-all-kinds-of-writers-the-best-writers-write-children-s-books/) [Richard Scarry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-scarry/) > [We also need to make sure women can be in charge of their reproductive health. We can't defund places like Planned Parenthood, where women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissy-teigen/we-also-need-to-make-sure-women-can-be-in-charge-of-their/) [Chrissy Teigen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissy-teigen/) > [The single greatest pleasure that I have in doing ('Bizarre Foods') is when I meet families with 6, 7, 8-year-olds, or teenagers, who say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimmern/the-single-greatest-pleasure-that-i-have-in-doing-bizarre-foods-is/) [Andrew Zimmern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimmern/) > [I can see that I imagine all kinds of rejection that never happens. I can see that I beg and plead for love that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/i-can-see-that-i-imagine-all-kinds-of-rejection-that-never-happens-i/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Do you know people who insist they like 'all kinds of music'? That actually means they like no kinds of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/do-you-know-people-who-insist-they-like-all-kinds-of-music-that/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) Browse all 1,489 All kinds quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are at the moment looking at space as something to be entered by the tremendous thrust of a rocket because that is the attitude of attacking the unknown. And that causes us not to realize that we are already on the most magnificently equipped spaceship, which could hardly be improved upon. 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