--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What does seventy million years mean to…" description: "\"“What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is fore..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/carl-sagan-160_million-years_what-does-seventy-million-years-mean-to_2895038.jpg" --- # What does seventy million years mean to beings who live… ![“What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/carl-sagan-160_million-years_what-does-seventy-million-years-mean-to_2895038.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/carl-sagan-160_million-years_what-does-seventy-million-years-mean-to_2895038.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12e/carl-sagan-160_million-years_what-does-seventy-million-years-mean-to_2895038.jpg) > ““What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”” [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 lifespans are infinitesimal compared to geological time, making our concerns seem fleeting. **In simple terms:** Our lives are tiny in cosmic time. Key Takeaway Cultivate humility about our place. Themes cosmos time humility Mood wonderful humble Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - education - philosophy - environmentalism Key Concepts deep time anthropocentrism Questions to Reflect On - How does perspective on time affect priorities? - Can humility inspire stewardship? A Different Perspective May diminish urgency for action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Million years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/million-years/) ## Related quotes > [We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-like-butterflies-who-flutter-for-a-day-and-think-it-is-forever/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-are-like-butterflies-who-flutter-for-a-day-and-think-it-is-forever-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Actually, years mean nothing. It's what's inside them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-van-booy/actually-years-mean-nothing-it-s-what-s-inside-them/) [Simon Van Booy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-van-booy/) > [“What is forever,' I asked. . . . Forever, it appeared, was a word made up by adults so they would not have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-hubbell/what-is-forever-i-asked-forever-it-appeared-was-a-word-made-up-by/) [Sue Hubbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-hubbell/) > [Years in themselves mean nothing. How we live them means everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-marbury/years-in-themselves-mean-nothing-how-we-live-them-means-everything/) [Elisabeth Marbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-marbury/) > [Life is made up of years that mean nothing and moments that mean it all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu/life-is-made-up-of-years-that-mean-nothing-and-moments-that-mean-it/) [Ritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu/) > [We start out a million years ago in a small community on some grassy plain; we hunt animals, have children, and develop a rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-start-out-a-million-years-ago-in-a-small-community-on-some-grassy/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“Part of the resistance to Darwin and Wallace derives from our difficulty in imagining the passage of the millennia, much less the aeons. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/part-of-the-resistance-to-darwin-and-wallace-derives-from-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [What does it mean for a civilisation to be a million years old? We have had radio telescopes and spaceships for a few decades;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-does-it-mean-for-a-civilisation-to-be-a-million-years-old-we/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [How gloomy would be the mansions of the dead to him who did not know that he should never die: that what now acts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/how-gloomy-would-be-the-mansions-of-the-dead-to-him-who-did-not-know/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“But this was the first time someone he loved would be gone forever. He didn't like to think about the forever part. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-henkes/but-this-was-the-first-time-someone-he-loved-would-be-gone-forever-he/) [Kevin Henkes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-henkes/) > [Sometimes you meet someone who changes the way you think forever and yet you meet her for just those fleeting moments in life, perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-bhatt/sometimes-you-meet-someone-who-changes-the-way-you-think-forever-and/) [Vikram Bhatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-bhatt/) > [“When I'm triggered, I think, "This will last forever" or "What if this lasts forever?" I get thoughts about how I should give up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/when-i-m-triggered-i-think-this-will-last-forever-or-what-if-this/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [I think forever is an incorrect concept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-forever-is-an-incorrect-concept/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I guess people take their time with stuff/people that they think will be around forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-simmons/i-guess-people-take-their-time-with-stuff-people-that-they-think-will/) [Angela Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-simmons/) ## 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 Million years quotes > [I spent a million years looking for you and all I got is half of my heart for you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meow/i-spent-a-million-years-looking-for-you-and-all-i-got-is-half-of-my/) [Meow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meow/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“A very long time ago, some 2.5 million years B.C., the mother of human species as we know it, our ultimate ancestor, appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/a-very-long-time-ago-some-2-5-million-years-b-c-the-mother-of-human/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [No, I would never in a million years compare anything we've done to anything we've previously done. I don't believe in it - I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-root/no-i-would-never-in-a-million-years-compare-anything-we-ve-done-to/) [Jim Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-root/) > [“In God's scheme what is a few billion years here and there. Perhaps there have come and gone a dozen human civilizations in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-uris/in-god-s-scheme-what-is-a-few-billion-years-here-and-there-perhaps/) [Leon Uris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-uris/) > [Sometimes,” he said after a second that lasted a million years, “things get broken. And they can’t be fixed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-hart/sometimes-he-said-after-a-second-that-lasted-a-million-years-things/) [Megan Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-hart/) > [Singularity is the point at which "all the change in the last million years will be superseded by the change in the next five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/singularity-is-the-point-at-which-all-the-change-in-the-last-million/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Well lose more species of plants and animals between 2000 and 2065 than weve lost in the last 65 million years. If we dont…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/well-lose-more-species-of-plants-and-animals-between-2000-and-2065/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > [While our world is shaking and crumbling, we need to realize that one thing will never change, and that is God. He is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/while-our-world-is-shaking-and-crumbling-we-need-to-realize-that-one/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [I would have never thought in a million years that I would appeal to an Avril fan. But I'm glad that I do because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/butch-walker/i-would-have-never-thought-in-a-million-years-that-i-would-appeal-to/) [Butch Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/butch-walker/) > [“No, my point is that life on earth can take of itself. In the thinking of a human being, a hundred years is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/no-my-point-is-that-life-on-earth-can-take-of-itself-in-the-thinking/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [I will hold you for a million years to make you feel my love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-hold-you-for-a-million-years-to-make-you-feel-my-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [So, the ant way of life is very ancient and very successful. As far as human beings are concerned, we've been around for only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/so-the-ant-way-of-life-is-very-ancient-and-very-successful-as-far-as/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [“The rain would fall, the plants would grow, the animals would eat and kill and die and grow again, and the ghost of sentient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-wells/the-rain-would-fall-the-plants-would-grow-the-animals-would-eat-and/) [Dan Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-wells/) > [I never in a million years thought I would be able to be a Paralympic athlete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oksana-masters/i-never-in-a-million-years-thought-i-would-be-able-to-be-a-paralympic/) [Oksana Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oksana-masters/) [Browse all 236 Million years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/million-years/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What does seventy million years mean to beings who live only one-millionth as long? 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