--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At night she’d close her eyes and…" description: "\"“At night she’d close her eyes and imagine: over a hundred million billion insects hatching and dying every year—all those bristling, pointed, winged l..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/anthony-doerr-886_dragonflies_at-night-she-d-close-her-eyes-and-imagin_2526049.jpg" --- # At night she’d close her eyes and imagine: over a hundred… ![“At night she’d close her eyes and imagine: over a hundred million billion insects hatching and dying every year—all those bristling, pointed, winged lifetimes: murderers and egg raiders, cooperators and queens. There were the glamorous dragonflies and fearsome widows; slave-holding ants; migrating…” quote by Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/anthony-doerr-886_dragonflies_at-night-she-d-close-her-eyes-and-imagin_2526049.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/anthony-doerr-886_dragonflies_at-night-she-d-close-her-eyes-and-imagin_2526049.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c2/anthony-doerr-886_dragonflies_at-night-she-d-close-her-eyes-and-imagin_2526049.jpg) > ““At night she’d close her eyes and imagine: over a hundred million billion insects hatching and dying every year—all those bristling, pointed, winged lifetimes: murderers and egg raiders, cooperators and queens. There were the glamorous dragonflies and fearsome widows; slave-holding ants; migrating monarchs; the delicate mantid chewing down her lover; dragonflies making love at thirty miles an hour—all the flagships of entomology. But”” [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## 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 marvels at the immense, varied lives of insects, highlighting both their brutality and cooperation. **In simple terms:** Insects live massive, diverse, and often violent lives. Key Takeaway Recognize the complexity of even the smallest beings. Themes nature biology complexity interconnectedness Mood wonder curiosity Type descriptive reflective When to use this quote - garden observation - entomology class - environmental education Key Concepts ecology life cycles cooperation predation Practical Applications - Science writing Questions to Reflect On - How does seeing insects' dual nature affect your view of ecosystems? - What can we learn from insect cooperation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Billion Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/billion-insects-1299041/) [Dragonflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragonflies/) [Dragonflies Fearsome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragonflies-fearsome-1299042/) [Insects Hatching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects-hatching-1299043/) [Lover Dragonflies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lover-dragonflies-1299044/) [Making love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-love/) ## Related quotes > [So, that was Nature's way. The mosquito felt pain and panic but the dragonfly knew nothing of cruelty. Humans would call it evil, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/so-that-was-nature-s-way-the-mosquito-felt-pain-and-panic-but-the/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) > [...The girls chirped and chatted like uncaged warblers. They were delirious with joy... Intoxications of life’s morning! Enchanted years! The wing of a dragonfly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-girls-chirped-and-chatted-like-uncaged-warblers-they-were/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Whoever the kid had been, whoever had the grand attitude, has finally heeded the admonishment of parents, teachers, governments, religions, and the law: "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/whoever-the-kid-had-been-whoever-had-the-grand-attitude-has-finally/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [“As a child, crisp spring afternoons were spent wading along Reedy Creek just beyond the field. Then came the heavy breeze in the autumn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lingerfelt/as-a-child-crisp-spring-afternoons-were-spent-wading-along-reedy/) [James Russell Lingerfelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lingerfelt/) > [I'll be looking for you, Will, every moment, every single moment. 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Books are part of the problem: this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/question-four-what-book-would-you-give-to-every-child-answer-i-wouldn/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Perhaps everything lies in knowing what words to speak, what actions to perform, and in what order and rhythm; or else someone's gaze, answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/perhaps-everything-lies-in-knowing-what-words-to-speak-what-actions/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [If you are old and you wish to be young again, if only for a moment, try and identify a dragonfly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-barnes/if-you-are-old-and-you-wish-to-be-young-again-if-only-for-a-moment/) [Simon Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-barnes/) > [Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/time-is-for-dragonflies-and-angels-the-former-live-too-little-and-the/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [“She was a fly, but the others were dragonflies, butterflies, beautiful insects, dancing, fluttering, skimming, while she alone dragged herself up out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-was-a-fly-but-the-others-were-dragonflies-butterflies-beautiful/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Bees and butterflies, moths and dragonflies, the flowers and the brooks and the clouds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/bees-and-butterflies-moths-and-dragonflies-the-flowers-and-the-brooks/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/who-would-deduce-the-dragonfly-from-the-larva-the-iris-from-the-bud/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [I got to keep a clip for my hair. It had a pretty little dragonfly on it and I got to keep it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackenzie-foy/i-got-to-keep-a-clip-for-my-hair-it-had-a-pretty-little-dragonfly-on/) [Mackenzie Foy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mackenzie-foy/) > [The beauteous dragonfly's dancing By the waves of the rivulet glancing; She dances here and she dances there, The glimmering, glittering flutterer fair. Full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-beauteous-dragonfly-s-dancing-by-the-waves-of-the-rivulet/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [“A barge of mist floated along the water, and dragonflies, iridescent blue ones, darted back and forth like they were stitching up the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/a-barge-of-mist-floated-along-the-water-and-dragonflies-iridescent/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) ## More by Anthony Doerr > [I was a nerdy kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-was-a-nerdy-kid/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“he moved neither forward nor backward in time, but merely endured variations of the same day over and over. 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But the thing is, you don't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/you-ever-hope-for-something-so-much-so-much-you-can-t-sleep-so-much/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“Hope was a sunrise, a friend in the alley, a whisper in an empty corridor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/hope-was-a-sunrise-a-friend-in-the-alley-a-whisper-in-an-empty/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Time is a slippery thing: lose hold of it once, and its string might sail out of your hands forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/time-is-a-slippery-thing-lose-hold-of-it-once-and-its-string-might/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“...the air a library and the record of every life lived, every sentence spoken, every word transmitted still reverberating within it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/the-air-a-library-and-the-record-of-every-life-lived-every-sentence/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“silent desperation of everything they never said - gaps and absences in every conversation, the past circumscribing the present, the future hemming in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/silent-desperation-of-everything-they-never-said-gaps-and-absences-in/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [“She is in charge of everything, but no one knows. It is a tremendous burden, she says, to be responsible for every little thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/she-is-in-charge-of-everything-but-no-one-knows-it-is-a-tremendous/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [I guess you could say I've been writing all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/i-guess-you-could-say-i-ve-been-writing-all-my-life/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) > [Only Numbers. Pure math. You have to accustom yourself to thinking that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-doerr/only-numbers-pure-math-you-have-to-accustom-yourself-to-thinking-that/) [Anthony Doerr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) [Explore all 336 Anthony Doerr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-doerr/) ## More Dragonflies quotes > [So, that was Nature's way. The mosquito felt pain and panic but the dragonfly knew nothing of cruelty. Humans would call it evil, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marsden/so-that-was-nature-s-way-the-mosquito-felt-pain-and-panic-but-the/) [John Marsden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marsden/) > [The beauteous dragonfly's dancing By the waves of the rivulet glancing; She dances here and she dances there, The glimmering, glittering flutterer fair. Full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/the-beauteous-dragonfly-s-dancing-by-the-waves-of-the-rivulet/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [I got to keep a clip for my hair. It had a pretty little dragonfly on it and I got to keep it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackenzie-foy/i-got-to-keep-a-clip-for-my-hair-it-had-a-pretty-little-dragonfly-on/) [Mackenzie Foy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mackenzie-foy/) > [Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/who-would-deduce-the-dragonfly-from-the-larva-the-iris-from-the-bud/) [Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/) > [“Bees and butterflies, moths and dragonflies, the flowers and the brooks and the clouds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/bees-and-butterflies-moths-and-dragonflies-the-flowers-and-the-brooks/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [“She was a fly, but the others were dragonflies, butterflies, beautiful insects, dancing, fluttering, skimming, while she alone dragged herself up out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/she-was-a-fly-but-the-others-were-dragonflies-butterflies-beautiful/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-thurber/time-is-for-dragonflies-and-angels-the-former-live-too-little-and-the/) [James Thurber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-thurber/) > [If you are old and you wish to be young again, if only for a moment, try and identify a dragonfly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-barnes/if-you-are-old-and-you-wish-to-be-young-again-if-only-for-a-moment/) [Simon Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-barnes/) > [Perhaps everything lies in knowing what words to speak, what actions to perform, and in what order and rhythm; or else someone's gaze, answer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/perhaps-everything-lies-in-knowing-what-words-to-speak-what-actions/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Question four: What book would you give to every child? Answer: I wouldn't give them a book. 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Then came the heavy breeze in the autumn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lingerfelt/as-a-child-crisp-spring-afternoons-were-spent-wading-along-reedy/) [James Russell Lingerfelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lingerfelt/) > [Whoever the kid had been, whoever had the grand attitude, has finally heeded the admonishment of parents, teachers, governments, religions, and the law: "You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/whoever-the-kid-had-been-whoever-had-the-grand-attitude-has-finally/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [...The girls chirped and chatted like uncaged warblers. They were delirious with joy... Intoxications of life’s morning! Enchanted years! The wing of a dragonfly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-girls-chirped-and-chatted-like-uncaged-warblers-they-were/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“A barge of mist floated along the water, and dragonflies, iridescent blue ones, darted back and forth like they were stitching up the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/a-barge-of-mist-floated-along-the-water-and-dragonflies-iridescent/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) [Browse all 41 Dragonflies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragonflies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“At night she’d close her eyes and imagine: over a hundred million billion insects hatching and dying every year—all those bristling, pointed, winged lifetimes: murderers and egg raiders, cooperators and queens. 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