--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Have you noticed that the astronomers and…" description: "\"Have you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians are much the most cheerful people of the lot? I suppose that perpetually contemplating things ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e4/dorothy-l-sayers-738_astronomers_have-you-noticed-that-the-astronomers-an_152227.jpg" --- # Have you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians… ![“Have you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians are much the most cheerful people of the lot? I suppose that perpetually contemplating things on so vast a scale makes them feel either that it doesn't matter a hoot anyway, or that anything so large and elaborate must have some sense in it…” quote by Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e4/dorothy-l-sayers-738_astronomers_have-you-noticed-that-the-astronomers-an_152227.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e4/dorothy-l-sayers-738_astronomers_have-you-noticed-that-the-astronomers-an_152227.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e4/dorothy-l-sayers-738_astronomers_have-you-noticed-that-the-astronomers-an_152227.jpg) > “Have you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians are much the most cheerful people of the lot? I suppose that perpetually contemplating things on so vast a scale makes them feel either that it doesn't matter a hoot anyway, or that anything so large and elaborate must have some sense in it somewhere.” [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contemplating immense scales gives astronomers and mathematicians a detached joy, seeing either insignificance or hidden order. **In simple terms:** Big ideas bring calm or curiosity. Key Takeaway Find wonder in the vast. Themes science philosophy humor Mood thoughtful lighthearted Type observational humorous When to use this quote - academic research - personal reflection - public outreach Key Concepts cosmology existentialism detachment Questions to Reflect On - How does scale affect your mood? - Do you find comfort in insignificance? A Different Perspective May overlook practical concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomers/) [Cheerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheerful/) [Mathematician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematician/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Female physicists, astronomers and mathematicians are up against more than 2,000 years of convention that has long portrayed these fields as inherently male.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/female-physicists-astronomers-and-mathematicians-are-up-against-more/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and satisfying result of strenuous discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-percy-whipple/cheerfulness-in-most-cheerful-people-is-the-rich-and-satisfying/) [Edwin Percy Whipple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-percy-whipple/) > [Cheerful people are like Sunlight. They shine in to the corner of the heart and offer bright morning and fresh hopes. Good morning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cheerful-people-are-like-sunlight-they-shine-in-to-the-corner-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You find yourself refreshed in the presence of cheerful people. Why not make an honest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-m-child/you-find-yourself-refreshed-in-the-presence-of-cheerful-people-why/) [Lydia M. Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-m-child/) > [Suddenly Po shot into the courtyard from the north vestibule whooping. Katsa, seeing him, broke into a run and they tore at each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/suddenly-po-shot-into-the-courtyard-from-the-north-vestibule-whooping/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [Katsa and Po were trying to drown each other and, judging from their hoots of laughter, enjoying it immensely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/katsa-and-po-were-trying-to-drown-each-other-and-judging-from-their/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [I wasn't surprised at all. In fact, I thought, why stop there? Why not add the Big Show, or Chris Jericho, or the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-angle/i-wasn-t-surprised-at-all-in-fact-i-thought-why-stop-there-why-not/) [Kurt Angle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-angle/) > [You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/you-go-into-afghanistan-you-got-guys-who-slap-women-around-for-five-2/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [I'm not gonna worry about what people think about me. I'm too busy. I don't give a hoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyndi-lauper/i-m-not-gonna-worry-about-what-people-think-about-me-i-m-too-busy-i/) [Cyndi Lauper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyndi-lauper/) > [It's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/it-s-quite-fun-to-fight-them-you-know-it-s-a-hell-of-a-hoot-it-s-fun/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [It is a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/it-is-a-short-walk-from-the-hallelujah-to-the-hoot/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [I don't care two hoots about civilization. I want to wander in the wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-goodall/i-don-t-care-two-hoots-about-civilization-i-want-to-wander-in-the-wild/) [Jane Goodall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-goodall/) > [There's only a short walk from the hallelujah to the hoot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kennedy/there-s-only-a-short-walk-from-the-hallelujah-to-the-hoot/) [William Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kennedy/) > [“We get to know our cities on hoot, and when we leave, the topography shifts. We're no longer as surefooted. But maybe that's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-elkin/we-get-to-know-our-cities-on-hoot-and-when-we-leave-the-topography/) [Lauren Elkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-elkin/) > [Children read books, not reviews. They don't give a hoot about critics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-bashevis-singer/children-read-books-not-reviews-they-don-t-give-a-hoot-about-critics/) [Isaac Bashevis Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-bashevis-singer/) ## More by Dorothy L. Sayers > [“The really essential factors of success in any undertaking are money and opportunity, and as a rule, the man who can make the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/the-really-essential-factors-of-success-in-any-undertaking-are-money/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [The trouble is. . .that everybody sneers at restrictions and demands freedom, till something annoying happens; then they demand angrily what has become of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/the-trouble-is-that-everybody-sneers-at-restrictions-and-demands/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“ Peter! Were you looking for a horse-shoe?" "No; I was expecting the horse, but the shoe is a piece of pure, gorgeous luck."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/peter-were-you-looking-for-a-horse-shoe-no-i-was-expecting-the-horse/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [ “See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. \[That\] the fundamental treason to the mind ...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-rest-may-follow-or-not-as-god/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [But it is the mark of all movements, however well-intentioned, that their pioneers tend, by much lashing of themselves into excitement, to lose sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/but-it-is-the-mark-of-all-movements-however-well-intentioned-that/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [We may argue eloquently that 'Honesty is the best Policy' - unfortunately, the moment honesty is adopted for the sake of policy it mysteriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/we-may-argue-eloquently-that-honesty-is-the-best-policy-unfortunately/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [One must not only die daily, but every day we must be born again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/one-must-not-only-die-daily-but-every-day-we-must-be-born-again/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“By teaching them all to read, we have left them at the mercy of the printed word. By the invention of the film and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/by-teaching-them-all-to-read-we-have-left-them-at-the-mercy-of-the/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [ Perhaps \[the critics are right and\] the drama is played out now and Jesus is safely dead and buried. Perhaps. It is ironical and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/perhaps-the-critics-are-right-and-the-drama-is-played-out-now-and/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [... at no point have I yet found artistic truth and theological truth at variance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/at-no-point-have-i-yet-found-artistic-truth-and-theological-truth-at/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I have never yet heard any middle-aged man or woman who worked with his or her brains express any regret for the passing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/i-have-never-yet-heard-any-middle-aged-man-or-woman-who-worked-with/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“That was the second time within five minutes that he had warned her off his private ground. His mood had changed since the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/that-was-the-second-time-within-five-minutes-that-he-had-warned-her/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“To obey orders in this family has been my privilege for the last twenty years--a privilege which has been an unqualified pleasure, except perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/to-obey-orders-in-this-family-has-been-my-privilege-for-the-last/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Those who make some other person their job... are dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/those-who-make-some-other-person-their-job-are-dangerous/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [“Yes, and look at the corpses. Place always reminds me of that old thing in Punch, you know—‘Waiter, take away Lord Whatsisname, he’s been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/yes-and-look-at-the-corpses-place-always-reminds-me-of-that-old-thing/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) [Explore all 386 Dorothy L. Sayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) ## More Astronomers quotes > [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/) > [Culture implies all which gives the mind possession of its own powers, as languages to the critic, telescope to the astronomer. Culture alters the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/culture-implies-all-which-gives-the-mind-possession-of-its-own-powers/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By the way, were we to find life-forms on Venus, we would probably call them Venutians, just as people from Mars would be Martians.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/by-the-way-were-we-to-find-life-forms-on-venus-we-would-probably-call/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“In college, what had always stuck with him in Astronomy 101 was that the first astronomers to think of points of light not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/in-college-what-had-always-stuck-with-him-in-astronomy-101-was-that/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [I may remind you that history is not a branch of literature. The facts of history, like the facts of geology or astronomy, can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-b-bury/i-may-remind-you-that-history-is-not-a-branch-of-literature-the-facts/) [J. B. Bury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-b-bury/) > [Throughout history, humankind has been resistant to change and to the acceptance of new ideas... When Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter, the astronomers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-weiss/throughout-history-humankind-has-been-resistant-to-change-and-to-the/) [Brian Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-weiss/) > [I started out, as most astronomers do, with a university job. But in my generation, women weren't very welcome at universities, and so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-roman/i-started-out-as-most-astronomers-do-with-a-university-job-but-in-my/) [Nancy Roman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-roman/) > [I was a kind of a one-man army. I could solder circuits together, I could turn out things on the lathe, I could work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-van-allen/i-was-a-kind-of-a-one-man-army-i-could-solder-circuits-together-i/) [James Van Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-van-allen/) > [John Kerry and Ralph Nader met face-to-face, it was a historic meeting. Astronomers said today their meeting actually created what is called a 'charisma…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/john-kerry-and-ralph-nader-met-face-to-face-it-was-a-historic-meeting/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Astronomers ought to be able to ask fundamental questions without accelerators](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-perlmutter/astronomers-ought-to-be-able-to-ask-fundamental-questions-without/) [Saul Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-perlmutter/) > [For seventeenth-century astronomers, the Epicurean doctrine of multiple worlds separated by void space was seen to fit with the new Copernican system in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-wilson/for-seventeenth-century-astronomers-the-epicurean-doctrine-of/) [Catherine Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-wilson/) > [Just because a man glances up at the sky at night does not make him an astronomer, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyne/just-because-a-man-glances-up-at-the-sky-at-night-does-not-make-him/) [John Boyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyne/) > [“Astronomers research outer space and I research inner space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/astronomers-research-outer-space-and-i-research-inner-space/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [ “\[In high school\] my interests outside my academic work were debating, tennis, and to a lesser extent, acting. I became intensely interested in astronomy… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-mcleod-cormack/in-high-school-my-interests-outside-my-academic-work-were-debating/) Allan McLeod Cormack > [I only hope that we shall not wait to adopt the program until after our astronomers have reported a new and unsuspected asteroid moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/i-only-hope-that-we-shall-not-wait-to-adopt-the-program-until-after/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) [Browse all 163 Astronomers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Have you noticed that the astronomers and mathematicians are much the most cheerful people of the lot? 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