--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We don't know what's going on here. If…" description: "\"“We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at million..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac9/annie-dillard-509_quote_we-don-t-know-what-s-going-on-here-if-th_1055370.jpg" --- # We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous… ![“We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at millions of typewriters, then what is it in us, hammered out of those same typewriters, that they ignite? We don’t know. Our life is a faint tracing on the…” quote by Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac9/annie-dillard-509_quote_we-don-t-know-what-s-going-on-here-if-th_1055370.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac9/annie-dillard-509_quote_we-don-t-know-what-s-going-on-here-if-th_1055370.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ac9/annie-dillard-509_quote_we-don-t-know-what-s-going-on-here-if-th_1055370.jpg) > ““We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at millions of typewriters, then what is it in us, hammered out of those same typewriters, that they ignite? We don’t know. Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.”” [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 passage reflects on humanity’s limited understanding of existence, urging a broader perspective to seek meaning amid uncertainty. **In simple terms:** We know little; seek a wider view of life. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity and humility. Themes philosophy existence uncertainty Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - scientific inquiry - spiritual practice - education Key Concepts meaning perception cosmic perspective Questions to Reflect On - What questions truly matter to you? - How can you expand your perspective? A Different Perspective Answers may remain elusive despite effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-comes-412613/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Surface Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surface-mystery-2547954/) [Typewriters Ignite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/typewriters-ignite-2547955/) ## Related quotes > [“Cruelty is a mystery, and the waste of pain. But if we describe a world to compass these things, a world that is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/cruelty-is-a-mystery-and-the-waste-of-pain-but-if-we-describe-a-world/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/our-life-is-a-faint-tracing-on-the-surface-of-mystery/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/our-life-is-a-faint-tracing-on-the-surface-of-mystery-like-the-idle-2/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [Sadness flies on the wings of the morning, and out of the heart of darkness comes the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-giraudoux/sadness-flies-on-the-wings-of-the-morning-and-out-of-the-heart-of/) [Jean Giraudoux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-giraudoux/) > [“The town knew about darkness. It knew about the darkness that comes on the land when rotation hides the land from the sun, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-town-knew-about-darkness-it-knew-about-the-darkness-that-comes-on/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“When darkness comes and eats the light, bury your fears on sorry night. Because in the winter's darkest hours, comes the feasting of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-holt/when-darkness-comes-and-eats-the-light-bury-your-fears-on-sorry-night/) [Simon Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-holt/) > [“Twilight is a scream time for the light: The sun screams magnificently before the total darkness comes!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/twilight-is-a-scream-time-for-the-light-the-sun-screams-magnificently/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/when-everything-is-lost-and-all-seems-darkness-then-comes-the-new/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [When the darkness comes, keep an eye on the light - whatever that is for you - no matter how far away it seems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-berry/when-the-darkness-comes-keep-an-eye-on-the-light-whatever-that-is-for/) [Jan Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-berry/) > [“It is November and the darkness comes quickly, as if night is a garrulous old man who cannot wait to tell his terrible story...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-novak/it-is-november-and-the-darkness-comes-quickly-as-if-night-is-a/) [Chase Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-novak/) > [Many have stood their ground and faced the darkness when it comes for them. Fewer come for the darkness and force it to face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/many-have-stood-their-ground-and-faced-the-darkness-when-it-comes-for/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [“Seconds seem like a life time when the life you lived is slowly drained out of you by those who care not what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-giovanni/seconds-seem-like-a-life-time-when-the-life-you-lived-is-slowly/) [Cassandra Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-giovanni/) > [“Sometimes people come into your life and change everything. You become someone you would never have been without them. They crack you open, split…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romily-bernard/sometimes-people-come-into-your-life-and-change-everything-you-become/) [Romily Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romily-bernard/) > [“Any darkness that comes out in my life is the fruit of my own appetites, and it's my choice either to feed or starve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hall/any-darkness-that-comes-out-in-my-life-is-the-fruit-of-my-own/) [Mark Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hall/) > [After darkness comes the light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-nepos/after-darkness-comes-the-light/) [Cornelius Nepos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-nepos/) ## 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 Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We don't know what's going on here. If these tremendous events are random combinations of matter run amok, the yield of millions of monkeys at millions of typewriters, then what is it in us, hammered out of those same typewriters, that they ignite? We don’t know. Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle, curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what’s going on here. 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