---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is the matter of the cosmos…"
description: "\"Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.\" — Carl Sagan"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg"
---

#  Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.

![“Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg)

> “Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.”

[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.

Human consciousness is the universe becoming aware of itself, reflecting on its own existence.

**In simple terms:** Humans are the cosmos contemplating itself.

Key Takeaway

Embrace cosmic perspective.

Themes

philosophy science existence

Mood

wonderful reflective

Type

scientific philosophical

When to use this quote

- education
- public talks
- personal reflection

Key Concepts

cosmology self‑awareness anthropic principle

Questions to Reflect On

- How does this view affect daily life?
- What responsibilities arise from this awareness?

A Different Perspective

The concept can feel abstract for many.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/)

## Related quotes

> [Being male is a matter of birth, being a man is a matter of age, but being a gentlemen is a matter of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-male-is-a-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-age-but/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Being male is a matter of birth, Being a man is a matter of age, But being a gentleman is a matter of choices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-male-is-a-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-age-but-3/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The most important thing that is happening in the world right now is the emerging of the new man. Since the monkeys, man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-dhyan-giten/the-most-important-thing-that-is-happening-in-the-world-right-now-is/)

[Swami Dhyan Giten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-dhyan-giten/)

> [The bad man is the man who no matter how good he has been is beginning to deteriorate, to grow less good. The good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-bad-man-is-the-man-who-no-matter-how-good-he-has-been-is/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [The greatest inventions are those inquiries which tend to increase the power of man over matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/the-greatest-inventions-are-those-inquiries-which-tend-to-increase/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [No matter how much work a man can do, no matter how engaging his personality may be, he will not advance far in business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-craig/no-matter-how-much-work-a-man-can-do-no-matter-how-engaging-his/)

John Craig

> [No matter how much a young man likes to think for himself, he is always trying to model himself on some abstract pattern largely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/no-matter-how-much-a-young-man-likes-to-think-for-himself-he-is/)

[Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/)

> [Man was matter, that was Snowden's secret. Drop him out a window, and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/man-was-matter-that-was-snowden-s-secret-drop-him-out-a-window-and-he/)

[Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/)

> [Being a male is the matter of birth, being a man is the matter of age, But being a gentleman is the matter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-a-male-is-the-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-the-matter-of-age/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Being a male is a matter of birth. Being a man is a matter of choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-louis-cole/being-a-male-is-a-matter-of-birth-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-choice/)

[Edwin Louis Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-louis-cole/)

> [A man has to BE something; he has to matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/a-man-has-to-be-something-he-has-to-matter/)

[Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/)

> [Being a 'male' is a matter of gender...being a man is a matter of choice, discipline, habit, and maturity. Age doesn't make you a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-a-male-is-a-matter-of-gender-being-a-man-is-a-matter-of-choice/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“There's only really two things about a man that matter: what he wants, and what he'll do to get it. Everythin' else we pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-woodring-stover/there-s-only-really-two-things-about-a-man-that-matter-what-he-wants/)

[Matthew Woodring Stover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-woodring-stover/)

> [“Man was matter. Drop him out of a window and he'll fall. Set fire to him and he'll burn. Bury him and he'll rot,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/man-was-matter-drop-him-out-of-a-window-and-he-ll-fall-set-fire-to/)

[Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/)

> [“if woman cries ,it doesn't matter , but if a man cry it matter”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/er-teji/if-woman-cries-it-doesn-t-matter-but-if-a-man-cry-it-matter/)

[Er.Teji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/er-teji/)

## 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 Astronomy quotes

> [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/)

[Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/)

> [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/)

[James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/)

> [Wen daylight turns to a darkened hue, D lovely stars hinting at u, ur heart beat tells u something true, That some 1 badly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butterfly-kisses/wen-daylight-turns-to-a-darkened-hue-d-lovely-stars-hinting-at-u-ur/)

Butterfly\_Kisses

> [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/astronomers-have-built-telescopes-which-can-show-myriads-of-stars/)

[Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/)

> [From the grasses in the field to the stars in the sky, each one is doing just that; and there is such profound peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/from-the-grasses-in-the-field-to-the-stars-in-the-sky-each-one-is/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“Sentinels of trees breathe life into bodies of earthly flesh As their mighty arms reach to the stars we join in their quest for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/sentinels-of-trees-breathe-life-into-bodies-of-earthly-flesh-as-their/)

[Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/)

> [“If there are no stars on the sky, you must try to be happy with the shining streetlights!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/if-there-are-no-stars-on-the-sky-you-must-try-to-be-happy-with-the/)

[Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/)

Nicole Gentile

> [Your head's like mine, like all our heads; big enough to contain every god and devil there ever was. Big enough to hold the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/your-head-s-like-mine-like-all-our-heads-big-enough-to-contain-every/)

[Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/)

> [“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." ... quote has been credited to Les Brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylviek/shoot-for-the-moon-even-if-you-miss-it-you-will-land-among-the-stars/)

Sylviek

> [When certain stars take you under their wing, it does help as they gauge your potential and are willing to work with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-bhatt/when-certain-stars-take-you-under-their-wing-it-does-help-as-they/)

[Vikram Bhatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-bhatt/)

> [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. We are beholden to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-were-put-here-as-witnesses-to-the-miracle-of-life-we-see-the-stars/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/)

[Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/)

[Browse all 6,190 Astronomy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Carl Sagan"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contemplating-itself/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Astronomy"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contemplating-itself/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/carl-sagan-160_astronomy_man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contempl_1913022.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Man is the matter of the cosmos, contemplating itself.” — 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": "Man is the matter of the...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contemplating-itself/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/man-is-the-matter-of-the-cosmos-contemplating-itself/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
