--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch…" description: "\"The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed the sun all day and now..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/david-malouf-15192_astonishing_the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch_756326.jpg" --- # The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is… ![“The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed the sun all day and now gives out again its store of heat. It is softer, darker than I could ever have believed, and when I take a handful of it and smell its…” quote by David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/david-malouf-15192_astonishing_the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch_756326.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/david-malouf-15192_astonishing_the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch_756326.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c4b/david-malouf-15192_astonishing_the-earth-s-warmth-under-me-as-i-stretch_756326.jpg) > “The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed the sun all day and now gives out again its store of heat. It is softer, darker than I could ever have believed, and when I take a handful of it and smell its extraordinary odors, I know suddenly what it is I am composed of, as if the energy that is in this fistful of black soil had suddenly opened, between my body and it, as between it and the green stalks, some corridor along which our common being flowed.” [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage describes feeling a deep, primal connection to earth, likening its warmth to a living, shared energy between body and soil. **In simple terms:** Feeling earth's warmth reveals a shared, living energy. Key Takeaway Recognize your connection to the natural world. Themes nature sensory experience interconnectedness Mood reflective grounded Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - outdoor walking - gardening - soil work - environmental writing Key Concepts earth energy body soil sensory perception Questions to Reflect On - How does this connection affect your daily life? - What actions deepen your bond with nature? A Different Perspective The poetic language may be too abstract for practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Smell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smell/) [Stalking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stalking/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Warmth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warmth/) ## Related quotes > [“I feel good with my husband: I like his warmth and his bigness and his being-there and his making and his jokes and stories…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-feel-good-with-my-husband-i-like-his-warmth-and-his-bigness-and-his/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I like that kind of thing. I like warmth and uncalled-for kindness, the small unnoticed generosities that speckle the meanness of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-merullo/i-like-that-kind-of-thing-i-like-warmth-and-uncalled-for-kindness-the/) [Roland Merullo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-merullo/) > [I've always believed in populating my films with characters who we like, who we have some warmth for, who have warmth for each other,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-reitman/i-ve-always-believed-in-populating-my-films-with-characters-who-we-2/) [Ivan Reitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-reitman/) > [I stayed there, curled up into the warmth of your body, under the blankets, like something soft in a shell. Your arms were firm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-christopher/i-stayed-there-curled-up-into-the-warmth-of-your-body-under-the/) [Lucy Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-christopher/) > [“His lips are against my ear and I feel the warmth of his body surrounding me, caging me in, comforting me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/collette-west/his-lips-are-against-my-ear-and-i-feel-the-warmth-of-his-body/) [Collette West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/collette-west/) > [“A tremor ran through her. Night after night, they cuddled close, but it never grew old. “Cold?” he asked. Too shy to speak the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivienne-savage/a-tremor-ran-through-her-night-after-night-they-cuddled-close-but-it/) [Vivienne Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivienne-savage/) > [The warmth of his body shouldn’t have felt good. He was angry and every muscle was tense. It was like being leaned on by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/the-warmth-of-his-body-shouldn-t-have-felt-good-he-was-angry-and/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [The reason why so many of my photographs in the book were taken in stairwells and corridors was that that was the only bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-ridgers/the-reason-why-so-many-of-my-photographs-in-the-book-were-taken-in/) [Derek Ridgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-ridgers/) > [I agree about Shaw - he is haunted by the mystery he flouts. 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Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [After such knowledge, what forgiveness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/after-such-knowledge-what-forgiveness/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [Success will smile at the man who refuses to lie down at the corridor of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-murdock/success-will-smile-at-the-man-who-refuses-to-lie-down-at-the-corridor/) [Mike Murdock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-murdock/) > [The certain pathway to all things that you want is through the corridor of joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/the-certain-pathway-to-all-things-that-you-want-is-through-the/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [I think continually of those who were truly great . Who, from the womb, remembered the soul 's history Through corridors of light where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-spender/i-think-continually-of-those-who-were-truly-great-who-from-the-womb/) [Stephen Spender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-spender/) ## More by David Malouf > [“Brisbane is so sleepy, so slatternly, so sprawlingly unlovely… It is simply the most ordinary place in the world…It was so shabby and makeshift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/brisbane-is-so-sleepy-so-slatternly-so-sprawlingly-unlovely-it-is/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“The hundred possibilities a situation contains may be more significant than the occurrence of any of them, and metaphor truer in the long run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/the-hundred-possibilities-a-situation-contains-may-be-more/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Words his soul danced to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/words-his-soul-danced-to/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [I write not to record what I think but to discover what I think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-write-not-to-record-what-i-think-but-to-discover-what-i-think/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So these things happen, deep in our lives. 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And here I was, aged fifty, standing on guard at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-scoffed-at-such-old-fashioned-notions-as-duty-patriotism-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [Fiction, with its preference for what is small and might elsewhere seem irrelevant; its facility for smuggling us into another skin and allowing us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/fiction-with-its-preference-for-what-is-small-and-might-elsewhere/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“I have heard no word of my own language; I am rendered dumb.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/i-have-heard-no-word-of-my-own-language-i-am-rendered-dumb/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“She had given him up. That was the hard condition of his being and of all commerce between them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/she-had-given-him-up-that-was-the-hard-condition-of-his-being-and-of/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [With all those prizes the most interesting thing is getting on to the shortlist, because that tells you who people see as your peers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/with-all-those-prizes-the-most-interesting-thing-is-getting-on-to-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“So long as we are driven by the need to make up for our needs; by the restless sense that we are not yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/so-long-as-we-are-driven-by-the-need-to-make-up-for-our-needs-by-the/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [We’re such contrary creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/we-re-such-contrary-creatures/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) > [“Here is the life you have tried to throw away. Here is your second chance. Here is the destiny you have tried to shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-malouf/here-is-the-life-you-have-tried-to-throw-away-here-is-your-second/) [David Malouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) [Explore all 44 David Malouf quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-malouf/) ## More Astonishing quotes > [It's astonishing what you learn and feel and see along the way. That's why a reporter's job, as you know, is such a joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/it-s-astonishing-what-you-learn-and-feel-and-see-along-the-way-that-s/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/a-man-may-perform-astonishing-feats-and-comprehend-a-vast-amount-of/) [Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/) > [A first novel of astonishing force, craft and beauty, The Headmaster's Wager conjures up a dizzyingly evocative wartime Saigon in the story of Percival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-y-k-lee-2/a-first-novel-of-astonishing-force-craft-and-beauty-the-headmaster-s/) Janice Y. K. Lee > [“What is astonishing is that we, who had no idea how anything was going to turn out, now know exactly what happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/what-is-astonishing-is-that-we-who-had-no-idea-how-anything-was-going/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [It's a great historical joke that when the Spanish met the Aztecs, it was a blind date made in serve-you-right heaven. At the time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-a-gill/it-s-a-great-historical-joke-that-when-the-spanish-met-the-aztecs-it/) [A. A. Gill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-a-gill/) > [It was astonishing when at one point, I got the idea of how to make artifical clouds with a collaborator, we had pictures made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benoit-mandelbrot/it-was-astonishing-when-at-one-point-i-got-the-idea-of-how-to-make/) [Benoit Mandelbrot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benoit-mandelbrot/) > [Although there may be nothing new under the sun, what is old is new to us and so rich and astonishing that we never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/although-there-may-be-nothing-new-under-the-sun-what-is-old-is-new-to/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [The astonishing thing for me is that I had a career before politics and I never thought about my colour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-gyimah/the-astonishing-thing-for-me-is-that-i-had-a-career-before-politics/) [Sam Gyimah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-gyimah/) > [“There is no denying it; one must admit that there is something astonishing about Christianity. 'It is because you were born in it,' they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/there-is-no-denying-it-one-must-admit-that-there-is-something/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It's Twitter's combination of simplicity and complexity that is astonishing in the same way that minimalist sculpture was inspiring and enlightening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-goldsmith/it-s-twitter-s-combination-of-simplicity-and-complexity-that-is/) [Kenneth Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-goldsmith/) > [All that we don't know is astonishing. Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-roth/all-that-we-don-t-know-is-astonishing-even-more-astonishing-is-what/) [Philip Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-roth/) > [Still more astonishing is that world of rigorous fantasy which we call mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-bateson/still-more-astonishing-is-that-world-of-rigorous-fantasy-which-we/) [Gregory Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-bateson/) > [“No one ever said aloud any of the kinds of things he was so constantly thinking, because no one in the parish, not Alice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/no-one-ever-said-aloud-any-of-the-kinds-of-things-he-was-so/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [If you worry less about what people think of you, you can pick up an astonishing amount of information about them. You no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/if-you-worry-less-about-what-people-think-of-you-you-can-pick-up-an/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [The Bureau of Justice reports that one in three black male babies born this century will go to jail or prison - that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/the-bureau-of-justice-reports-that-one-in-three-black-male-babies/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) Browse all 410 Astonishing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The earth's warmth under me, as I stretch out at night, is astonishing. It is like the warmth of another body that has absorbed the sun all day and now gives out again its store of heat. 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