--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Divinity is not playful. The universe was…" description: "\"Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensibl e earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/annie-dillard-509_divinity_divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was_575952.jpg" --- # Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest… ![“Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensibl e earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see.” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/annie-dillard-509_divinity_divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was_575952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/annie-dillard-509_divinity_divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was_575952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/annie-dillard-509_divinity_divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was_575952.jpg) > “Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensibl e earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see.” [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## 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 asserts that divinity is serious, not a joke; the cosmos is created by a mysterious, holy, swift power, and we can either ignore it or confront it. **In simple terms:** Divinity is serious, not playful. Key Takeaway Recognize the gravity of existence. Themes spirituality existence humility Mood thoughtful reverent Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - contemplation - philosophical inquiry - artistic creation - personal reflection Key Concepts theology metaphysics mystery Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond to the solemnity of the universe? - What does “ignoring it” feel like? A Different Perspective Ignoring divinity may lead to superficial living. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Divinity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity/) [Holy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Solemn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solemn/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-universe-was-not-made-in-jest-but-in-solemn-incomprehensible/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn, incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/divinity-is-not-playful-the-universe-was-not-made-in-jest-but-in-2/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is a melancholy consideration that there should be several among us so hardened and deluded as to think an oath a proper subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/it-is-a-melancholy-consideration-that-there-should-be-several-among/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There's many a true word spoken in jest; scientists are abominably solemn; therefore scientists miss many a true word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-standen/there-s-many-a-true-word-spoken-in-jest-scientists-are-abominably/) [Anthony Standen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-standen/) > [Many wise words are spoken in jest, but they don't compare with the number of stupid words spoken in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-levenson/many-wise-words-are-spoken-in-jest-but-they-don-t-compare-with-the/) [Sam Levenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-levenson/) > [As my mother once said: The boys throw stones at the frog in jest. But the frogs die in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-russ/as-my-mother-once-said-the-boys-throw-stones-at-the-frog-in-jest-but/) [Joanna Russ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-russ/) > [Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/every-dream-is-a-prophecy-every-jest-is-an-earnest-in-the-womb-of-time/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest. Scoff at none though they give occasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/speak-not-injurious-words-neither-in-jest-nor-earnest-scoff-at-none-2/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The boys throw rocks at the frogs in jest. But the frogs die in earnest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bion-of-borysthenes/the-boys-throw-rocks-at-the-frogs-in-jest-but-the-frogs-die-in-earnest/) [Bion of Borysthenes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bion-of-borysthenes/) > [I don't believe that there is a human creature in his senses, arrived to maturity, that at some time or other has not been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-de-mandeville/i-don-t-believe-that-there-is-a-human-creature-in-his-senses-arrived/) [Bernard de Mandeville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-de-mandeville/) > [Death is not earnest in the same way the eternal is. To the earnestness of death belongs precisely that remarkable capacity for awakening, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/death-is-not-earnest-in-the-same-way-the-eternal-is-to-the/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none, although they give occasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/speak-not-injurious-words-neither-in-jest-nor-earnest-scoff-at-none/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [It is my earnest hope, and indeed the hope of all mankind, that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/it-is-my-earnest-hope-and-indeed-the-hope-of-all-mankind-that-from/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/it-is-my-earnest-hope-indeed-the-hope-of-all-mankind-that-from-this/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [Deemest thou laborOnly is earnest?Grave is all beauty,Solemn is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-watson/deemest-thou-laboronly-is-earnest-grave-is-all-beauty-solemn-is-joy/) [William Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-watson/) ## More by Annie Dillard > [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) [Explore all 509 Annie Dillard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) ## More Divinity quotes > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [Were you indeed not blinded by the Curse Of Self-exile, that still grows worse and worse, Yourselves would know that, though you see him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farid-al-din-attar/were-you-indeed-not-blinded-by-the-curse-of-self-exile-that-still/) [Farid al-Din Attar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farid-al-din-attar/) > [It is through the body that everything comes to the mind. It is through and with your body that you have to reach realization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-k-s-iyengar/it-is-through-the-body-that-everything-comes-to-the-mind-it-is/) [B.K.S. Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-k-s-iyengar/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Our great thoughts, our great affections, the truths of our life, never leave us. Surely they can not separate from our consciousness, shall follow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/our-great-thoughts-our-great-affections-the-truths-of-our-life-never/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [The end product of mixing your ability with Divinity is to better humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-mbuko/the-end-product-of-mixing-your-ability-with-divinity-is-to-better/) [Michael Mbuko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-mbuko/) > [As soon as I find myself in the presence of a rich man, I cannot help looking upon him as an exceptional and beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/as-soon-as-i-find-myself-in-the-presence-of-a-rich-man-i-cannot-help/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) > [I have now been an officer in this Church for a very long time. I am an old man who cannot deny the calendar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/i-have-now-been-an-officer-in-this-church-for-a-very-long-time-i-am/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-man-is-a-divinity-in-disguise-a-god-playing-the-fool/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“No scripture is more divine than the innate divinity of the human self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/no-scripture-is-more-divine-than-the-innate-divinity-of-the-human-self/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Ah fair Zenocrate, divine Zenocrate, Fair is too foul an epithet for thee.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-marlowe/ah-fair-zenocrate-divine-zenocrate-fair-is-too-foul-an-epithet-for/) [Christopher Marlowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-marlowe/) > [Where there is no purity, there is no Unity. Without Unity you cannot attain Divinity. Then your life is just a waste. First purity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/where-there-is-no-purity-there-is-no-unity-without-unity-you-cannot/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [“You know how it goes: at some point in your life, you fell in love with someone and had a glimpse of God. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/you-know-how-it-goes-at-some-point-in-your-life-you-fell-in-love-with/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the divinity within.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-history-of-the-world-is-the-history-of-a-few-men-who-had-faith-in/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [There are many concepts of spirituality, among them, various notions of divinity developed in the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic religions. Within these the concepts vary greatly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-many-concepts-of-spirituality-among-them-various-notions-of/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Browse all 892 Divinity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divinity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensibl e earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. 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