--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What worries me the most,' she continued…" description: "\"“What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the opposite, the possibility that they're not trying. They could communicate with us, all right, but th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg" --- # What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the… ![“What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the opposite, the possibility that they're not trying. They could communicate with us, all right, but they're not doing it because they don't see any point to it. It's like..."--she glanced down at the edge of the tablecloth they had spread over the…” quote by Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg) > ““What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the opposite, the possibility that they're not trying. They could communicate with us, all right, but they're not doing it because they don't see any point to it. It's like..."--she glanced down at the edge of the tablecloth they had spread over the grass--"like the ants. They occupy the same landscape that we do. They have plenty to do, things to occupy themselves. On some level they're very well aware of their environment. But we don't try to communicate with them. So I don't think they have the foggiest notion that we exist.”” [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. Aliens might be aware of us but choose not to communicate because they see no purpose, similar to ants sharing a landscape. **In simple terms:** Extraterrestrials may ignore us like ants ignore each other. Key Takeaway Consider why communication may not be mutual. Themes science philosophy communication Mood inquisitive speculative Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - space exploration - SETI research - public outreach Key Concepts extraterrestrial intelligence anthropocentrism communication barriers Questions to Reflect On - What would motivate an alien to communicate? - How do we detect silent signals? A Different Perspective Assumes human motives apply to alien life. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ants Occupy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ants-occupy-2276106/) [Like Ants](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-ants-270950/) [Trying Communicate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-communicate-470639/) [Worries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worries/) [Worries Continued](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worries-continued-2276107/) ## Related quotes > [During your communications with others always give them time to communicate their issues as well. Remaining focused on what they are trying to communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/during-your-communications-with-others-always-give-them-time-to/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [“No matter how good you are with words, it’s inevitable that meaning is lost between your mind and someone else’s. Trying to communicate is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novak/no-matter-how-good-you-are-with-words-it-s-inevitable-that-meaning-is/) [Jacqueline Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novak/) > [We are trying to communicate a fulfilled ideal. Does anybody remember laughter?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-plant/we-are-trying-to-communicate-a-fulfilled-ideal-does-anybody-remember/) [Robert Plant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-plant/) > [I'm trying to communicate with other people about humanity and stuff, man!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-eggers/i-m-trying-to-communicate-with-other-people-about-humanity-and-stuff/) [Robert Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-eggers/) > [I'm not sure I'm trying to communicate a message. I'm just trying to be part of the movement away from the unacceptable present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-m-not-sure-i-m-trying-to-communicate-a-message-i-m-just-trying-to/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [“People told me not to get married; I didn´t listen. No one ever listens, it seems to me now. Perhaps people should stop trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-finnamore/people-told-me-not-to-get-married-i-didn-t-listen-no-one-ever-listens/) [Suzanne Finnamore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-finnamore/) > [A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn't telling or teaching or ordering. Rather he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-writer-out-of-loneliness-is-trying-to-communicate-like-a-distant-3/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“If your body is trying to communicate with you by expressing pain or illness...best you slow down and give it the attention it needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-leigh/if-your-body-is-trying-to-communicate-with-you-by-expressing-pain-or/) [Tina Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-leigh/) > [Your inner being already knows. It's trying to communicate with you. But it needs to shift you into a different state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-inner-being-already-knows-it-s-trying-to-communicate-with-you/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I think that my work is my attempt, I suppose, is to try and become a piece of connective tissue. I'm trying to communicate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/i-think-that-my-work-is-my-attempt-i-suppose-is-to-try-and-become-a/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) > [That's what I'm really working on: trying to communicate with guys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-clarkson/that-s-what-i-m-really-working-on-trying-to-communicate-with-guys/) [Jordan Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-clarkson/) > [When trying to communicate with each other, a husband and wife should be careful to make sure their voices and faces agree with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-munroe/when-trying-to-communicate-with-each-other-a-husband-and-wife-should/) [Myles Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-munroe/) > [For it is probable that when people talk aloud, the selves (of which there may be more than two thousand) are conscious of disserverment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-it-is-probable-that-when-people-talk-aloud-the-selves-of-which/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn't telling, or teaching, or ordering. Rather, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/a-writer-out-of-loneliness-is-trying-to-communicate-like-a-distant/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [If you start trying to communicate ideas, I think you don't allow the audience to see themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-isaac/if-you-start-trying-to-communicate-ideas-i-think-you-don-t-allow-the/) [Oscar Isaac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-isaac/) ## 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 Worries quotes > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [No number of repairs will be able to fix Obamacare. The website is the least of Americans' worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/no-number-of-repairs-will-be-able-to-fix-obamacare-the-website-is-the/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Preachers prepare with this fear: 'Am I going to be able to fill the time?' The audience never worries about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-stanley/preachers-prepare-with-this-fear-am-i-going-to-be-able-to-fill-the/) [Andy Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-stanley/) > [Flying is a man's job and its worries are a man's worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/flying-is-a-man-s-job-and-its-worries-are-a-man-s-worries/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [The richer you are, the more worries you have - problems of security, future. Whatsoever you have, you have to hold it. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/the-richer-you-are-the-more-worries-you-have-problems-of-security/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [“Let go of your worries and focus only on the task at hand. The future will be what it will, and fretting about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/let-go-of-your-worries-and-focus-only-on-the-task-at-hand-the-future/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [“When the servants break the cups and saucers, a ‘puzzle’ arises within. Who really breaks the cups and saucers? Who runs this world? One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/when-the-servants-break-the-cups-and-saucers-a-puzzle-arises-within/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [This increasing level of player power worries me. Of course they are the stars but this acquiescence over contracts, transfers, managers and even their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-jordan/this-increasing-level-of-player-power-worries-me-of-course-they-are/) [Simon Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-jordan/) > [“What I'd really hate would be the settled feeling, with nothing but happiness to look forward to. Of course no life is perfectly happy-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/what-i-d-really-hate-would-be-the-settled-feeling-with-nothing-but/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [A mile of worries wont take you as far as an inch of action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-raphy/a-mile-of-worries-wont-take-you-as-far-as-an-inch-of-action/) [King Raphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-raphy/) > [I wake up in the morning and one thing that I worry about is maybe I may not have done my best for my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibrahim-jafari/i-wake-up-in-the-morning-and-one-thing-that-i-worry-about-is-maybe-i/) [Ibrahim Jafari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibrahim-jafari/) > [What worries me is the professionalism of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irvine-welsh/what-worries-me-is-the-professionalism-of-everything/) [Irvine Welsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irvine-welsh/) > [“All worries are less with wine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/all-worries-are-less-with-wine/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [“Friends, she had realized, could make you do that. Forget the things that worried you most.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-lynn-anderson/friends-she-had-realized-could-make-you-do-that-forget-the-things/) [Jodi Lynn Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-lynn-anderson/) > [“They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-sanders/they-who-have-no-central-purpose-in-their-life-fall-an-easy-prey-to/) [Tim Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-sanders/) [Browse all 408 Worries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the opposite, the possibility that they're not trying. They could communicate with us, all right, but they're not doing it because they don't see any point to it. It's like...\"--she glanced down at the edge of the tablecloth they had spread over the grass--\"like the ants. They occupy the same landscape that we do. They have plenty to do, things to occupy themselves. On some level they're very well aware of their environment. But we don't try to communicate with them. So I don't think they have the foggiest notion that we exist.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carl Sagan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-is-the-opposite-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Worries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-is-the-opposite-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/95a/carl-sagan-160_worries_what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-i_2641778.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What worries me the most,' she continued, 'is the opposite, the possibility that they're not trying. They…” — 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": "“What worries me the most,' she...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-is-the-opposite-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-worries-me-the-most-she-continued-is-the-opposite-the/#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 } } ] } ```