--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: And just as music is the space between…" description: "\"And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg" --- # And just as music is the space between notes, just as the… ![“And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a certain angle and throws a prism of color across the sky—so the space where I exist, and want to keep existing, and to be quite frank I hope I die…” quote by Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg) > “And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a certain angle and throws a prism of color across the sky—so the space where I exist, and want to keep existing, and to be quite frank I hope I die in, is exactly this middle distance: where despair struck pure otherness and created something sublime.” [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She likens music, stars, and light to the spaces between them, suggesting that meaning emerges from the gaps where despair and otherness meet, creating the. **In simple terms:** Beauty lies in the spaces between. Key Takeaway Find meaning in liminality. Themes beauty despair otherness sublime Mood poetic contemplative Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - mental health - spiritual seeking Key Concepts aesthetic theory psychology of art Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from the spaces between experiences? - How does embracing emptiness foster growth? A Different Perspective Risk of romanticizing suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) ## Related quotes > [“And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are-2/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as sun…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are-3/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [I think it comes from really liking literary forms. Poetry is very beautiful, but the space on the page can be as affecting as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/i-think-it-comes-from-really-liking-literary-forms-poetry-is-very/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [The motivated people will tell you sky is the limit but the determined people will tell you that beyond the sky there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-shumba/the-motivated-people-will-tell-you-sky-is-the-limit-but-the/) Douglas Shumba > [Respect is that great spirit of good, which creates the beautiful space giving all souls the simple room to breathe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/respect-is-that-great-spirit-of-good-which-creates-the-beautiful/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There are landscapes in which we feel above us not sky but space. Something larger, deeper than sky is sensed, is seen, although in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-landscapes-in-which-we-feel-above-us-not-sky-but-space/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The empty blue sky of space says 'All this comes back to me, then goes again, and comes back again, then goes again, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-empty-blue-sky-of-space-says-all-this-comes-back-to-me-then-goes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“Nothing could be without its opposite that was bound up with it. Could space exist in a building without objects that stopped it? Could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-highsmith/nothing-could-be-without-its-opposite-that-was-bound-up-with-it-could/) [Patricia Highsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-highsmith/) > [“Can space exist in the absence of matter, if matter defines the edge of space?” Merlin”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/can-space-exist-in-the-absence-of-matter-if-matter-defines-the-edge/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [A lot of my works deal with a passage, which is about time. I don't see anything that I do as a static object…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-lin/a-lot-of-my-works-deal-with-a-passage-which-is-about-time-i-don-t-see/) [Maya Lin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-lin/) > [The spread of the space I exist in depends not on its physical dimensions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-fulger/the-spread-of-the-space-i-exist-in-depends-not-on-its-physical/) [Mariana Fulger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-fulger/) > [“If there is a pure space inside of us that can access the eternal source, and give rise to great acts of kindness, create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-brown/if-there-is-a-pure-space-inside-of-us-that-can-access-the-eternal/) [Diane Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-brown/) > [“life, matter, and vitality, as the earth knows such things, are not necessarily constant; and that time and space do not exist as our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft-2/life-matter-and-vitality-as-the-earth-knows-such-things-are-not/) [H.P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft-2/) > [Even in empty space, time and space still exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-m-carroll/even-in-empty-space-time-and-space-still-exist/) [Sean M. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-m-carroll/) > [In reality, time and space exist in you. You do not exist in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/in-reality-time-and-space-exist-in-you-you-do-not-exist-in-them/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) ## More by Donna Tartt > [I hope we're all ready to leave the phenomenal world, and enter into the sublime?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/i-hope-we-re-all-ready-to-leave-the-phenomenal-world-and-enter-into/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And I add my own love to the history of people who have loved beautiful things, and looked out for them, and pulled them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-i-add-my-own-love-to-the-history-of-people-who-have-loved/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [And the flavor of Pippa's kiss--bittersweet and strange--stayed with me all the way back uptown, swaying and sleepy as I sailed home on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-the-flavor-of-pippa-s-kiss-bittersweet-and-strange-stayed-with-me/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“The world won't come to me...so I must go to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-world-won-t-come-to-me-so-i-must-go-to-it/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [There's an expectation these days that novels - like any other consumer product - should be made on a production line, with one dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/there-s-an-expectation-these-days-that-novels-like-any-other-consumer/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“A month or two before, I would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. But that Sunday afternoon, as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-month-or-two-before-i-would-have-been-appalled-at-the-idea-of-any/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Well, I think storytellers have always found murder a fascinating device.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/well-i-think-storytellers-have-always-found-murder-a-fascinating/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [Always remember, the person we’re really working for is the person who’s restoring the piece a hundred years from now. He’s the one we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/always-remember-the-person-we-re-really-working-for-is-the-person-who/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“The silence between us was happy and strange, connected by the cord and the icy voices thinly echoing. “You don’t have to talk,” she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/the-silence-between-us-was-happy-and-strange-connected-by-the-cord/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all the world, that no one and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-learn-as-a-child-that-one-is-a-being/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“You didn’t meet many people who moved freely through the world with such a vigorous contempt for it and at the same time such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/you-didn-t-meet-many-people-who-moved-freely-through-the-world-with/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“maybe that’s what’s waiting for us at the end of the journey, a majesty unimaginable until the very moment we find ourselves walking through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/maybe-that-s-what-s-waiting-for-us-at-the-end-of-the-journey-a/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“lights and moods and seasons was to see it a thousand different ways and to keep it shut in the dark—a thing made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/lights-and-moods-and-seasons-was-to-see-it-a-thousand-different-ways/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [A great sorrow, and one that I am only beginning to understand: we don’t get to choose our own hearts. We can’t make ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/a-great-sorrow-and-one-that-i-am-only-beginning-to-understand-we-don/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [“Upon meeting Julian Morrow, one has the impression that he is a man of extraordinary sympathy and warmth. But what you call his 'Asiatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/upon-meeting-julian-morrow-one-has-the-impression-that-he-is-a-man-of/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) [Explore all 590 Donna Tartt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) ## 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": "And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a certain angle and throws a prism of color across the sky—so the space where I exist, and want to keep existing, and to be quite frank I hope I die in, is exactly this middle distance: where despair struck pure otherness and created something sublime.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna Tartt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astronomy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/222/donna-tartt-391_astronomy_and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-n_759447.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between…” — Donna Tartt", "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": "Donna Tartt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "And just as music is the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/and-just-as-music-is-the-space-between-notes-just-as-the-stars-are/#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 } } ] } ```