--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here in Alpha City, we have a common…" description: "\"“Here in Alpha City, we have a common saying: “What we call ‘sky’ is merely a figment of our narrative.” The most dreamy-eyed among us seem to adorn th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg" --- # Here in Alpha City, we have a common saying: “What we call… ![“Here in Alpha City, we have a common saying: “What we call ‘sky’ is merely a figment of our narrative.” The most dreamy-eyed among us seem to adorn themselves and their aspirations in that proverb and you’ll see it everywhere: in advertisements on the sides of streetcars and auto-rickshaws…” quote by Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg) > ““Here in Alpha City, we have a common saying: “What we call ‘sky’ is merely a figment of our narrative.” The most dreamy-eyed among us seem to adorn themselves and their aspirations in that proverb and you’ll see it everywhere: in advertisements on the sides of streetcars and auto-rickshaws, spelled out in studs and rhinestones on designer jackets, emblazoned in the intricate designs of facial tattoos—even painted on city walls by putrid vandals and inspiring street artists. There is something glorious about kneading out into the doughy firmament the depth and breadth of one’s own universe, in rendering the contours of a sky whose limits are predicated only upon the bounds of one’s own imagination. The fact of the matter is that we cannot see the natural sky at all here. It is something like a theoretical mathematical expression: like the square-root of ‘negative one’—certainly it could be said to have a purpose for existing, but to cast eyes upon it, in its natural quantity, would be something akin to casting one’s eyes upon the raw elements comprising our everyday sustenance. How many of us have even borne close witness to the minute chemical compounds that react to lend battery power to our portable electronics? The sky is indeed such a concealed fixture now. It is fair to say that we have purged our memories of its true face and so we can only approximate a canvas and project our desires upon it to our heart’s dearest fancy. The most cynical among us would ostensibly declare it an unavoidable tragedy, but perhaps even these hardened individuals could not remember the naked sky well enough to know if what they were missing was something worthwhile. Perhaps, it’s cynical of me to say so! In any case, we have our searchlights pointed upwards and crisscrossing that expanse of heavens as though to make some sensational and profane joke of ourselves to the surrounding universe. We beam already video images of beauty pageants and dancing contests with smiling mannequins who look like buffoons. And so, the face of space cloaks itself behind our light pollution—in this respect, our mirrored sidewalks and lustrous streets do little to help our cause—and that face remains hidden from us in its jeering ridicule, its mocking laughter at this inexorable farce of human existence.”” [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People replace the real sky with imagined narratives, turning imagination into a substitute for reality. **In simple terms:** We imagine the sky instead of seeing it. Key Takeaway Recognize imagination’s limits. Themes imagination reality illusion Mood critical contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - urban art - advertising - personal goal setting - creative writing - media consumption Key Concepts narrative construction perception cultural symbolism Questions to Reflect On - What truths are we overlooking by focusing on narratives? - How can we balance imagination with reality? 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There is something glorious about kneading out into the doughy firmament the depth and breadth of one’s own universe, in rendering the contours of a sky whose limits are predicated only upon the bounds of one’s own imagination. The fact of the matter is that we cannot see the natural sky at all here. It is something like a theoretical mathematical expression: like the square-root of ‘negative one’—certainly it could be said to have a purpose for existing, but to cast eyes upon it, in its natural quantity, would be something akin to casting one’s eyes upon the raw elements comprising our everyday sustenance. How many of us have even borne close witness to the minute chemical compounds that react to lend battery power to our portable electronics? The sky is indeed such a concealed fixture now. It is fair to say that we have purged our memories of its true face and so we can only approximate a canvas and project our desires upon it to our heart’s dearest fancy. The most cynical among us would ostensibly declare it an unavoidable tragedy, but perhaps even these hardened individuals could not remember the naked sky well enough to know if what they were missing was something worthwhile. Perhaps, it’s cynical of me to say so! In any case, we have our searchlights pointed upwards and crisscrossing that expanse of heavens as though to make some sensational and profane joke of ourselves to the surrounding universe. We beam already video images of beauty pageants and dancing contests with smiling mannequins who look like buffoons. And so, the face of space cloaks itself behind our light pollution—in this respect, our mirrored sidewalks and lustrous streets do little to help our cause—and that face remains hidden from us in its jeering ridicule, its mocking laughter at this inexorable farce of human existence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ashim Shanker" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-saying-what-we-call-sky-is-merely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurdism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-saying-what-we-call-sky-is-merely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8b5/ashim-shanker-13588_absurdism_here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-sayi_1770876.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Here in Alpha City, we have a common saying: “What we call ‘sky’ is merely a figment of our narrative.” The…” — Ashim Shanker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ashim Shanker", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Here in Alpha City, we have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-saying-what-we-call-sky-is-merely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/here-in-alpha-city-we-have-a-common-saying-what-we-call-sky-is-merely/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```