--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the constellations had been named in…" description: "\"If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and refrigerators in the sky.\" — Carl Sagan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg" --- # If the constellations had been named in the twentieth… ![“If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and refrigerators in the sky.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg) > “If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and refrigerators in the sky.” [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If modern naming conventions were applied to constellations, they would reflect contemporary objects like bicycles and refrigerators, highlighting cultural influence on perception. **In simple terms:** Modern names would make stars look like everyday items. Key Takeaway Recognize how culture shapes our view of the cosmos. Themes astronomy culture language perception Mood wonderful playful Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - education - public outreach - science communication - creative writing Key Concepts naming human perspective historical context Questions to Reflect On - How does language affect our understanding of the night sky? - What modern symbols could replace ancient myths? A Different Perspective Names may oversimplify complex astronomical history. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bicycle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) [Bicycles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycles/) [Biking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biking/) [Constellations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constellations/) [Tandem bikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tandem-bikes/) [Twentieth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twentieth-century/) ## Related quotes > [If constellations had been named in the 20th century, I suppose we would see bicycles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-constellations-had-been-named-in-the-20th-century-i-suppose-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/i-stand-and-rejoice-every-time-i-see-a-woman-ride-by-on-a-wheel-the/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [The bicycle is the noblest invention of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/the-bicycle-is-the-noblest-invention-of-mankind/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [Next to a leisurely walk I enjoy a spin on my tandem bicycle. It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/next-to-a-leisurely-walk-i-enjoy-a-spin-on-my-tandem-bicycle-it-is/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Cyling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/cyling-has-done-more-to-emancipate-women-than-anything-else-in-the/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/let-me-tell-you-what-i-think-of-bicycling-i-think-it-has-done-more-to-2/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [I feel that I am entitled to my share of lightheartedness and there is nothing wrong with enjoying one's self simply, like a boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-feel-that-i-am-entitled-to-my-share-of-lightheartedness-and-there/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [It's something I find enjoyable. Whether it is a road bike or mountain bike or tandem bike. I enjoy riding a bike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/it-s-something-i-find-enjoyable-whether-it-is-a-road-bike-or-mountain/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/bicycling-is-a-big-part-of-the-future-it-has-to-be-there-s-something-2/) [Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/) > [I'm a big tandem bike rider... I've had a tandem bike since I was 12, and I wanna be a competitive tandem bike rider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-cosgrove/i-m-a-big-tandem-bike-rider-i-ve-had-a-tandem-bike-since-i-was-12-and/) [Miranda Cosgrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-cosgrove/) > [When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-west/when-man-invented-the-bicycle-he-reached-the-peak-of-his-attainments/) Elizabeth West > [On my tenth birthday a bicycle and an atlas coincided as presents and a few days later I decided to cycle to India.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/on-my-tenth-birthday-a-bicycle-and-an-atlas-coincided-as-presents-and/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-west/progress-should-have-stopped-when-man-invented-the-bicycle/) Elizabeth West > [“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-west/when-man-invented-the-bicycle-he-reached-the-peak-of-his-attainments-2/) Elizabeth West > [Some pundits have proposed that the aliens have come here to breed with us. Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) ## More by Carl Sagan > [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The prediction of nuclear winter is drawn not, of course, from any direct experience with the consequences of global nuclear war, but rather from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-prediction-of-nuclear-winter-is-drawn-not-of-course-from-any/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Telepathy’ literally means to feel at a distance, just as ‘telephone’ is to hear at a distance and ‘television’ is to see at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/telepathy-literally-means-to-feel-at-a-distance-just-as-telephone-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“On the scale of worlds—to say nothing of stars or galaxies—humans are inconsequential, a thin film of life on an obscure and solitary lump…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/on-the-scale-of-worlds-to-say-nothing-of-stars-or-galaxies-humans-are/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-one-of-us-is-in-the-cosmic-perspective-precious-if-a-human/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [In our time, we have sifted the sands of Mars, we have established a presence there, we have fulfilled a century of dreams!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-our-time-we-have-sifted-the-sands-of-mars-we-have-established-a/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [ “\[ When a religious couple wrote to Sagan about fulfilled prophecies, he wrote back in May 1996 :\] If ‘fulfilled prophecy’ is your criterion,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/when-a-religious-couple-wrote-to-sagan-about-fulfilled-prophecies-he/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Don't judge everyone else by your own limited experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/don-t-judge-everyone-else-by-your-own-limited-experience/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-live-on-a-hunk-of-rock-and-metal-that-circles-a-humdrum-star-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/a-tiny-blue-dot-set-in-a-sunbeam-here-it-is-that-s-where-we-live-that/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Any sufficiently crisp question can be answered by a single binary digit-0 or 1, yes or no.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/any-sufficiently-crisp-question-can-be-answered-by-a-single-binary/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Humans — who enslave, castrate, experiment on, and fillet other animals — have had an understandable penchant for pretending animals do not feel pain.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/humans-who-enslave-castrate-experiment-on-and-fillet-other-animals/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Every star may be a sun to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/every-star-may-be-a-sun-to-someone/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) [Explore all 1,043 Carl Sagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. 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Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) Browse all 672 20th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and refrigerators in the sky.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in-the-twentieth-century-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "20th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in-the-twentieth-century-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bb/carl-sagan-160_20th-century_if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in_2487492.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and…” — Carl Sagan", "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": "Carl Sagan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If the constellations had been named...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in-the-twentieth-century-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/if-the-constellations-had-been-named-in-the-twentieth-century-i/#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 } } ] } ```