--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But they were not friends. They were here…" description: "\"“But they were not friends. They were here to keep each other from spinning off alone into the dark matter of the universe.”\" — Carol Anshaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg" --- # But they were not friends. They were here to keep each… ![“But they were not friends. They were here to keep each other from spinning off alone into the dark matter of the universe.” quote by Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg) > ““But they were not friends. They were here to keep each other from spinning off alone into the dark matter of the universe.”” [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Companionship prevents isolation; shared presence shields against existential loneliness. **In simple terms:** Friends keep us from drifting alone. Key Takeaway Cultivate meaningful connections. Themes loneliness companionship existence Mood intimate hopeful Type literary reflective When to use this quote - mental health - travel - creative projects - elder care Key Concepts psychology social theory Questions to Reflect On - Who supports you in darkness? - Can solitude be beneficial? A Different Perspective Alone time can also foster growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-matter/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm dark matter. The universe inside of me is full of something, and science can't even shine a light on it. I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-dahvana-headley/i-m-dark-matter-the-universe-inside-of-me-is-full-of-something-and/) [Maria Dahvana Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-dahvana-headley/) > [A proponent of the big bang theory, at least if he is an atheist, must believe that the matter of the universe came from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-john-patrick-kenny/a-proponent-of-the-big-bang-theory-at-least-if-he-is-an-atheist-must/) Anthony John Patrick Kenny > [It is an embarrassment that the dominant forms of matter in the universe remain hypothetical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-peebles/it-is-an-embarrassment-that-the-dominant-forms-of-matter-in-the/) [Jim Peebles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-peebles/) > [“The level of matter in the universe has been constant since the Big Bang. In all the aeons we have lost nothing, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caitlin-moran/the-level-of-matter-in-the-universe-has-been-constant-since-the-big/) [Caitlin Moran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caitlin-moran/) > [“For even if we expunged all the matter in the Universe the lambda force could still exist, causing the universe to expand or contract.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-barrow/for-even-if-we-expunged-all-the-matter-in-the-universe-the-lambda/) [John D. Barrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-barrow/) > [“All in all, we come to the conclusion that no more than 1 percent of all matter in the universe falls in the visible category.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-genz/all-in-all-we-come-to-the-conclusion-that-no-more-than-1-percent-of/) [Henning Genz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-genz/) > [Earlier theories ... were based on the hypothesis that all the matter in the universe was created in one big bang at a particular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hoyle/earlier-theories-were-based-on-the-hypothesis-that-all-the-matter-in/) [Fred Hoyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hoyle/) > [Life exists throughout the cosmos and is a consequence of matter in the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-stamets/life-exists-throughout-the-cosmos-and-is-a-consequence-of-matter-in/) [Paul Stamets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-stamets/) > [And in man is a three-pound brain which, as far as we know, is the most complex and orderly arrangement of matter in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/and-in-man-is-a-three-pound-brain-which-as-far-as-we-know-is-the-most/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Matter would have the universe a uniform dispersion, motionless, complete. Spirit would have an earth, a heaven and a hell, whirl and conflict, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-wheelis/matter-would-have-the-universe-a-uniform-dispersion-motionless/) [Allen Wheelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-wheelis/) > [“what we can see may constitute no more than 10 percent, and perhaps as little as 1 percent, of the matter in the universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-christian/what-we-can-see-may-constitute-no-more-than-10-percent-and-perhaps-as/) [David Christian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-christian/) > [This whole electric universe is a complex maze of similar tensions. Every particle of matter in the universe is separated from its condition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell/this-whole-electric-universe-is-a-complex-maze-of-similar-tensions/) [Walter Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell/) > [“All the known particles in the universe can be divided into two groups: particles of spin ½, which make up the matter in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/all-the-known-particles-in-the-universe-can-be-divided-into-two/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [Religion is simply an ideal. It is an ideal force that tends to free the human being from material bonds. I do not believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/religion-is-simply-an-ideal-it-is-an-ideal-force-that-tends-to-free/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [“Consider all the inanimate matter in the universe, all the dumb atoms, all the mindless molecules, all the oblivious dust grains and pebbles and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alastair-reynolds/consider-all-the-inanimate-matter-in-the-universe-all-the-dumb-atoms/) [Alastair Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alastair-reynolds/) ## More by Carol Anshaw > [Aimee Parkison offers a distinct new voice to contemporary fiction. Her seductive stories explore childhood as a realm of sorrows, and reveal the afflictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/aimee-parkison-offers-a-distinct-new-voice-to-contemporary-fiction/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [I'm never sure who I'm writing for, or who's reading me, but I definitely see myself in conspiracy with my readers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/i-m-never-sure-who-i-m-writing-for-or-who-s-reading-me-but-i/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [It's easy now, now that it's a story. When you were going through it, it was life. Always much harder to get the plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/it-s-easy-now-now-that-it-s-a-story-when-you-were-going-through-it-it/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“...religions all have the same timeline...First the people feel the need to worship something. The sun or the giant corn of ear. That's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/religions-all-have-the-same-timeline-first-the-people-feel-the-need/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“She shared the curse of many artists—that praise beaded up and rolled off her while criticism stuck like glue, glue embedded with ground glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/she-shared-the-curse-of-many-artists-that-praise-beaded-up-and-rolled/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“Storming was one of her main modes of transportation." In reference to teenager Heather in "Carry The One”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/storming-was-one-of-her-main-modes-of-transportation-in-reference-to/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [Some moments supersaturate, take on almost more than one tiny fragment of time can hold. How...can you hold this sort of memory of someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/some-moments-supersaturate-take-on-almost-more-than-one-tiny-fragment/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [I have never been on the receiving end of a hate crime, or even a disparaging remark to my face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/i-have-never-been-on-the-receiving-end-of-a-hate-crime-or-even-a/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [When I started, there was more of a cultural assumption that many readers would find gay characters irrelevant or repugnant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/when-i-started-there-was-more-of-a-cultural-assumption-that-many/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“She pitied everyone who didn't have a sister.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/she-pitied-everyone-who-didn-t-have-a-sister/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“She looked around the table and saw each of them as they looked that night...All of them in their last hours of making mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/she-looked-around-the-table-and-saw-each-of-them-as-they-looked-that/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“But for the most part, she was the Maude who Alice would have said she wanted all along. But instead of seeming more reasonable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/but-for-the-most-part-she-was-the-maude-who-alice-would-have-said-she/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [“He swam against the hard current of the class bores - there were three - who could relate every incident in the book to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/he-swam-against-the-hard-current-of-the-class-bores-there-were-three/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [Taking on a pet is a contract with sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/taking-on-a-pet-is-a-contract-with-sorrow/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [I never write in a linear way. And I tell students not to. You can only know so much about a book when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/i-never-write-in-a-linear-way-and-i-tell-students-not-to-you-can-only/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) [Explore all 22 Carol Anshaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) ## More Dark matter quotes > [The best theory comes from string theory, which states that dark matter is nothing but a higher vibration of the string. We are, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/the-best-theory-comes-from-string-theory-which-states-that-dark/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [You're entitled to say, if you're so smart, why don't you tell me what that dark matter is? And I'll have to confess I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-peebles/you-re-entitled-to-say-if-you-re-so-smart-why-don-t-you-tell-me-what/) [Jim Peebles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-peebles/) > [“Christopher Savage have calculated that in reasonable models, we expect about ten dark-matter particles to interact with the atoms in a typical human body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-carroll/christopher-savage-have-calculated-that-in-reasonable-models-we/) [Sean Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-carroll/) > [I spent most of my career doing high-energy physics, quarks, dark matter, string theory and so on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-west/i-spent-most-of-my-career-doing-high-energy-physics-quarks-dark/) [Geoffrey West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-west/) > [“For the moment we might very well can them DUNNOS (for Dark Unknown Nonreflective Nondetectable Objects Somewhere).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/for-the-moment-we-might-very-well-can-them-dunnos-for-dark-unknown/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [From a scientific point of view, our mission is to seek answers to the fundamental questions about the universe. Many are open - we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabiola-gianotti/from-a-scientific-point-of-view-our-mission-is-to-seek-answers-to-the/) [Fabiola Gianotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fabiola-gianotti/) > [“Advice for a human. 87. Dark matter is needed to hold galaxies together. Your mind is a Galaxy. More dark than light. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/advice-for-a-human-87-dark-matter-is-needed-to-hold-galaxies-together/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [In terms of the most astonishing fact about which we know nothing, there is dark matter and dark energy. We don't know what either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-terms-of-the-most-astonishing-fact-about-which-we-know-nothing/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“Examples of fractals are everywhere in nature. They can be found in the patterns of trees, branches, and ferns, in which each part appears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/examples-of-fractals-are-everywhere-in-nature-they-can-be-found-in/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [Science has proved that everything is energy, and now they have dark energy, dark matter. They don't call it all-embracing consciousness; they call it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-davies/science-has-proved-that-everything-is-energy-and-now-they-have-dark/) [Dave Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-davies/) > [I did not set out to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs. I'm a particle physicist, and I was actually thinking about dark matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/i-did-not-set-out-to-explain-the-extinction-of-the-dinosaurs-i-m-a/) [Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/) > [“Time throws you out of its dimensionless planar like a boomerang. It unites with you again in death.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vishwanath-s-j/time-throws-you-out-of-its-dimensionless-planar-like-a-boomerang-it/) Vishwanath S J > [That culture is a a critical resource the organization ignores. Competely mystifying. The organization continues to act as if culture were dark matter, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-david-mccracken/that-culture-is-a-a-critical-resource-the-organization-ignores/) [Grant David McCracken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-david-mccracken/) > [“Most astrophysicists believe that the force holding stars and galaxies together—the thing that makes our whole universe work—comes from a theoretical substance we can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-crouch/most-astrophysicists-believe-that-the-force-holding-stars-and/) [Blake Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-crouch/) > [“In the vast spectrum of space-time’s coeternal continuum, I am but a glint of bundled energy held together by the translucent fiber of creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kilroy-j-oldster/in-the-vast-spectrum-of-space-time-s-coeternal-continuum-i-am-but-a/) [Kilroy J. Oldster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kilroy-j-oldster/) [Browse all 119 Dark matter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark-matter/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But they were not friends. They were here to keep each other from spinning off alone into the dark matter of the universe.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Carol Anshaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here-to-keep-each-other-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dark matter" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here-to-keep-each-other-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18a/carol-anshaw-26256_dark-matter_but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here_901908.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But they were not friends. They were here to keep each other from spinning off alone into the dark matter of…” — Carol Anshaw", "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": "Carol Anshaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But they were not friends. They...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here-to-keep-each-other-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/but-they-were-not-friends-they-were-here-to-keep-each-other-from/#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 } } ] } ```