--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In shape they were like horrible toads…" description: "\"In shape they were like horrible toads, and moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of an incredible bulk, larger than the largest elep..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/325/arthur-conan-doyle-273_amazed_in-shape-they-were-like-horrible-toads-a_3078208.jpg" --- # In shape they were like horrible toads, and moved in a… ![“In shape they were like horrible toads, and moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of an incredible bulk, larger than the largest elephant. We had never before seen them save at night, and indeed they are nocturnal animals save when disturbed in their lairs, as these had been. We…” quote by Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/325/arthur-conan-doyle-273_amazed_in-shape-they-were-like-horrible-toads-a_3078208.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/325/arthur-conan-doyle-273_amazed_in-shape-they-were-like-horrible-toads-a_3078208.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/325/arthur-conan-doyle-273_amazed_in-shape-they-were-like-horrible-toads-a_3078208.jpg) > “In shape they were like horrible toads, and moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of an incredible bulk, larger than the largest elephant. We had never before seen them save at night, and indeed they are nocturnal animals save when disturbed in their lairs, as these had been. We now stood amazed at the sight, for their blotched and warty skins were of a curious fish-like iridescence, and the sunlight struck them with an ever-varying rainbow bloom as they moved.” [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The description marvels at the massive, colorful, nocturnal amphibians, emphasizing their alien appearance and the wonder they inspire. **In simple terms:** Huge, glowing night creatures evoke awe. Key Takeaway Observe and respect the unknown in nature. Themes wonder nature exploration creature beauty Mood awe curiosity respectful Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - field research - wildlife photography - museum exhibits - educational documentaries Key Concepts biology nocturnal behavior iridescence unknown species Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do we have when encountering unknown wildlife? - How does awe affect scientific curiosity? A Different Perspective Such creatures may be dangerous if disturbed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Amazed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazed/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Curious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curious/) [Disturbed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disturbed/) [Elephant Seen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephant-seen-3922874/) [Elephants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elephants/) [Fishes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fishes/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Horrible Toads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-toads-5238420/) [Incredibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredibles/) [Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moved/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Nocturnal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nocturnal/) [Nocturnal Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nocturnal-animals-5238421/) [Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbow/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sight/) [Size](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size/) [Skins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skins/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Succession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succession/) [Sunlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunlight/) [Toads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toads/) [Toads Moved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toads-moved-5238419/) ## Related quotes > [“Some Hindus have an elephant to show. No one here has ever seen an elephant. They bring it at night to a dark room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mawlana-jalal-al-din-rumi/some-hindus-have-an-elephant-to-show-no-one-here-has-ever-seen-an/) [Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mawlana-jalal-al-din-rumi/) > [Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/even-today-the-most-jaded-city-dweller-can-be-unexpectedly-moved-upon/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [I sit at the piano for a couple of hours and tinker away until I get something. I am a nocturnal spirit, like an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomston/i-sit-at-the-piano-for-a-couple-of-hours-and-tinker-away-until-i-get/) [Thomston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomston/) > [We of the age of the machines, having delivered ourselves of nocturnal enemies, now have a dislike of night itself. With lights and ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-beston/we-of-the-age-of-the-machines-having-delivered-ourselves-of-nocturnal/) [Henry Beston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-beston/) > [What better model of a synthesis than a nocturnal dream? Dreams simplify, don't they?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manuel-puig/what-better-model-of-a-synthesis-than-a-nocturnal-dream-dreams/) [Manuel Puig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manuel-puig/) > [Masturbation is not physically necessary. There is already a way by which the male system relieves excessive spermatic fluid quite regularly through the nocturnal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/masturbation-is-not-physically-necessary-there-is-already-a-way-by/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [I can't sleep very well at night. It takes me a while to get to sleep. I could just be nocturnal. I have my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billie-joe-armstrong/i-can-t-sleep-very-well-at-night-it-takes-me-a-while-to-get-to-sleep/) [Billie Joe Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billie-joe-armstrong/) > [I live a rock-star kind of life where I don't go to bed until 4 A.M. I'm very nocturnal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-perry/i-live-a-rock-star-kind-of-life-where-i-don-t-go-to-bed-until-4-a-m-i/) [Katy Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-perry/) > [“We were hooked when we woke. We had arms for each other. But I yearned to resume My dreams of another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/we-were-hooked-when-we-woke-we-had-arms-for-each-other-but-i-yearned/) [Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/) > [“It takes alot of energy to pretend you're fine when you're not. A bit like being in a play that never ends. I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelsea-m-cameron/it-takes-alot-of-energy-to-pretend-you-re-fine-when-you-re-not-a-bit/) [Chelsea M. Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelsea-m-cameron/) > [We love to chew the cud of a foregone vision; to collect the scattered rays of a brighter phantasm, or act over again, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/we-love-to-chew-the-cud-of-a-foregone-vision-to-collect-the-scattered/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [Who I am finally, if not the long silent part of someone, the secret and nocturnal part which has never betrayed itself in public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-desclos/who-i-am-finally-if-not-the-long-silent-part-of-someone-the-secret/) [Anne Desclos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-desclos/) > [Walking the streets on winter nights kept him warm, despite the cold nocturnal passions of uprising winds. His footsteps led between trade-marked houses, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/walking-the-streets-on-winter-nights-kept-him-warm-despite-the-cold/) [Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/) > [If there's a lot of fear that's going on, if there's a lot of anxiety, it's manifesting itself in your nocturnal world so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-harris/if-there-s-a-lot-of-fear-that-s-going-on-if-there-s-a-lot-of-anxiety/) [Shelby Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-harris/) > [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## More by Arthur Conan Doyle > [“shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/shattered-the-bone-and-grazed-the-subclavian-artery-i/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“A study in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a little art jargon. There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/a-study-in-scarlet-eh-why-shouldn-t-we-use-a-little-art-jargon-there/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/mediocrity-knows-nothing-higher-than-itself-but-talent-instantly/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Holy men? Holy cabbages! Holy bean-pods! What do they do but live and suck in sustenance and grow fat? If that be holiness, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/holy-men-holy-cabbages-holy-bean-pods-what-do-they-do-but-live-and/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“Wonderful!" I ejaculated.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/wonderful-i-ejaculated/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Amberley excelled at chess - a mark, Watson, of a scheming mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/amberley-excelled-at-chess-a-mark-watson-of-a-scheming-mind/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [Ex-Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity... is the Napoleon of crime, Watson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/ex-professor-moriarty-of-mathematical-celebrity-is-the-napoleon-of/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“When a doctor does go wrong, he is the first of criminals. He has the nerve and he has the knowledge.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/when-a-doctor-does-go-wrong-he-is-the-first-of-criminals-he-has-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“How small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings in the presence of the great elemental forces of Nature!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/how-small-we-feel-with-our-petty-ambitions-and-strivings-in-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [You wish to put me in the dark. I tell you that I will never be put in the dark. You wish to beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/you-wish-to-put-me-in-the-dark-i-tell-you-that-i-will-never-be-put-in/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-he-said-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“It is hard luck on a young fellow to have expensive tastes, great expectations, aristocratic connections but no actual money in his pocket, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-is-hard-luck-on-a-young-fellow-to-have-expensive-tastes-great/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [“In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/in-the-year-1878-i-took-my-degree-of-doctor-of-medicine-of-the/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) [Explore all 740 Arthur Conan Doyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) ## More Amazed quotes > [You will never cease to be the most amazed person on earth at what God has done for you on the inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-chambers/you-will-never-cease-to-be-the-most-amazed-person-on-earth-at-what/) [Oswald Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-chambers/) > [You'd be amazed at pain and tears a single smile hides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-vasquez/you-d-be-amazed-at-pain-and-tears-a-single-smile-hides/) [Christian Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-vasquez/) > [“I am amazed at how being with him changes everything for me, socially speaking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-hand/i-am-amazed-at-how-being-with-him-changes-everything-for-me-socially/) [Cynthia Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-hand/) > [I'm endlessly amazed by what people are capable of, and incapable of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/i-m-endlessly-amazed-by-what-people-are-capable-of-and-incapable-of/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [Souls love. That’s what souls do. Egos don’t, but souls do. Become a soul, look around, and you’ll be amazed-all the beings around you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/souls-love-that-s-what-souls-do-egos-don-t-but-souls-do-become-a-soul/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [Contrary to a common myth, while there are general guidelines, there is no exact 'right' way to run ... I am amazed by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grete-waitz/contrary-to-a-common-myth-while-there-are-general-guidelines-there-is/) [Grete Waitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grete-waitz/) > [I'm always amazed by writers who tell me they plan everything at the beginning. I feel their writing days must be very bland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-tremain/i-m-always-amazed-by-writers-who-tell-me-they-plan-everything-at-the/) [Rose Tremain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-tremain/) > [What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/what-i-am-telling-you-is-that-you-do-not-need-to-know-to-love-and-it/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [My father was truly a great man. I remember one day putting my feet in my father's shoes. I was amazed at the size.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/my-father-was-truly-a-great-man-i-remember-one-day-putting-my-feet-in/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [J. Budziszewski is perhaps the clearest and most eloquent natural lawyer writing today. When reading his works I often find myself amazed by his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-j-beckwith/j-budziszewski-is-perhaps-the-clearest-and-most-eloquent-natural/) [Francis J. Beckwith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-j-beckwith/) > [I've never ceased to be amazed at the survival skills of poor children. I've learned how much children can actually do for themselves if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/landon-pearson/i-ve-never-ceased-to-be-amazed-at-the-survival-skills-of-poor/) [Landon Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/landon-pearson/) > [Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/mystical-experiences-unlike-scientific-conclusions-cannot-be/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of whom I asked his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/as-soon-as-i-arrived-i-made-an-attempt-to-find-my-host-but-the-two-or/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I don't know why, but I'm continually amazed to think that two and a half billion of us around the world are connected to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-kovacs/i-don-t-know-why-but-i-m-continually-amazed-to-think-that-two-and-a/) [Gary Kovacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-kovacs/) > [The key to contentment is to consider. Consider who you are and be satisfied with that. Consider what you have and be satisfied with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luci-swindoll/the-key-to-contentment-is-to-consider-consider-who-you-are-and-be/) [Luci Swindoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luci-swindoll/) [Browse all 776 Amazed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amazed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In shape they were like horrible toads, and moved in a succession of springs, but in size they were of an incredible bulk, larger than the largest elephant. We had never before seen them save at night, and indeed they are nocturnal animals save when disturbed in their lairs, as these had been. 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