--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can never look now at the Milky Way…" description: "\"I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so com..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f03/arthur-c-clarke-640_alarms_i-can-never-look-now-at-the-milky-way-wi_766675.jpg" --- # I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering… ![“I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so commonplace a simile, we have set off the fire alarm and have nothing to do but to wait. I do not think we will have to wait for long.” quote by Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f03/arthur-c-clarke-640_alarms_i-can-never-look-now-at-the-milky-way-wi_766675.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f03/arthur-c-clarke-640_alarms_i-can-never-look-now-at-the-milky-way-wi_766675.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f03/arthur-c-clarke-640_alarms_i-can-never-look-now-at-the-milky-way-wi_766675.jpg) > “I can never look now at the Milky Way without wondering from which of those banked clouds of stars the emissaries are coming. If you will pardon so commonplace a simile, we have set off the fire alarm and have nothing to do but to wait. I do not think we will have to wait for long.” [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contemplation of humanity’s place in the cosmos and the anticipation of alien contact. **In simple terms:** Stars make us wonder about alien visitors. Key Takeaway Stay curious about the unknown. Themes science fiction cosmos wonder Mood inquisitive hopeful Type speculative literary When to use this quote - space exploration - philosophical musings - creative writing Key Concepts existential curiosity first contact Questions to Reflect On - What would you do if aliens arrived? - How does cosmic perspective affect human priorities? A Different Perspective Expectations of alien contact may be unrealistic. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Fire Alarm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire-alarm/) [Milky way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milky-way/) [Pardon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pardon/) [Simile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simile/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [If you look up at the Milky Way through the eyes of Carl Sagan, you get a feeling in your chest of something greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/if-you-look-up-at-the-milky-way-through-the-eyes-of-carl-sagan-you/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“These are maybe the most exciting stars, those just above where sky meets land and ocean, because we so seldom see them, blocked as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bogard/these-are-maybe-the-most-exciting-stars-those-just-above-where-sky/) [Paul Bogard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bogard/) > [“From the sun to the moon From the clouds to the stars You are living in a painting under the skies”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-wolf/from-the-sun-to-the-moon-from-the-clouds-to-the-stars-you-are-living/) [J.WOLF](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-wolf/) > [“Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living. Since the dawn of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/behind-every-man-now-alive-stand-thirty-ghosts-for-that-is-the-ratio-2/) [Arthur C. 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I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flynn-meaney/i-did-remember-the-librarian-had-picked-me-up-and-held-me-to-her/) [Flynn Meaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flynn-meaney/) > [“When they’d filled the peppers and they were laid out in nice, neat, bacon-wrapped lines, she slid them into the oven. Then they went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-hale/when-they-d-filled-the-peppers-and-they-were-laid-out-in-nice-neat/) [Jenny Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-hale/) > [“Mrs. Surmann decided to dry her wet slippers in the microwave. 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Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [Nowhere in space will we rest our eyes upon the familiar shapes of trees and plants, or any of the animals that share our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/nowhere-in-space-will-we-rest-our-eyes-upon-the-familiar-shapes-of/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [“The universe is full of energy, but much of it is at equilibrium. At equilibrium no energy can flow, and therefore it cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/the-universe-is-full-of-energy-but-much-of-it-is-at-equilibrium-at/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [“Here the trees surrounded them with an invisible, anechoic blanket, so that every word seemed sucked into silence the moment it was uttered.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/here-the-trees-surrounded-them-with-an-invisible-anechoic-blanket-so/) [Arthur C. 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The hand will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-allston/it-is-a-hard-matter-for-a-man-to-lie-all-over-nature-having-provided/) [Washington Allston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-allston/) > [Who then is free? the wise man who is lord over himself; Whom neither poverty nor death, nor chains alarm; strong to withstand his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/who-then-is-free-the-wise-man-who-is-lord-over-himself-whom-neither/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Modern man threw a brick through his own window in order to sell himself a burglar alarm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-carr/modern-man-threw-a-brick-through-his-own-window-in-order-to-sell/) [Allen Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-carr/) > [I understand the power and the alarm of words - Not those that they applaud from theatre-boxes, but those which make coffins break from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/i-understand-the-power-and-the-alarm-of-words-not-those-that-they/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [I don't know who Azazel is," he said. 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He cast about , but Isabelle just looked up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-don-t-know-who-azazel-is-he-said-isn-t-he-the-cat-from-the-smurfs/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The beloved may be treacherous, greasy-headed and given to evil habits, or else it can be a man in his late forties who works…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/the-beloved-may-be-treacherous-greasy-headed-and-given-to-evil-habits/) [Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/) > [Those who have past much of their lives in this great city, look upon its opulence and its multitudes, its extent and variety, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/those-who-have-past-much-of-their-lives-in-this-great-city-look-upon/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Unfortunately, I'm one of those idiots who knows everything about health and is in a constant state of alarm, and yet I continue to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-ames/unfortunately-i-m-one-of-those-idiots-who-knows-everything-about/) [Jonathan Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-ames/) > [“batteries in the smoke alarms, and since he “just happened”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-lawson-timmer/batteries-in-the-smoke-alarms-and-since-he-just-happened/) [Julie Lawson Timmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-lawson-timmer/) > [When I see a new face, something sets off an alarm bell inside me. 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