--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Astronomy is something like the ministry…" description: "\"Astronomy is something like the ministry. No one should go into it without a call. I got that unmistakable call, and I know that even if I were second-..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/edwin-powell-hubble-25172_astronomy_astronomy-is-something-like-the-ministry_2420416.png" --- # Astronomy is something like the ministry. No one should go… ![“Astronomy is something like the ministry. No one should go into it without a call. I got that unmistakable call, and I know that even if I were second-rate or third-rate, it was astronomy that mattered.” quote by Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/edwin-powell-hubble-25172_astronomy_astronomy-is-something-like-the-ministry_2420416.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/edwin-powell-hubble-25172_astronomy_astronomy-is-something-like-the-ministry_2420416.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/edwin-powell-hubble-25172_astronomy_astronomy-is-something-like-the-ministry_2420416.png) > “Astronomy is something like the ministry. No one should go into it without a call. I got that unmistakable call, and I know that even if I were second-rate or third-rate, it was astronomy that mattered.” [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Astronomy requires a deep personal calling; even mediocrity is valuable if the passion is genuine. **In simple terms:** Astronomy needs a true calling, not just skill. Key Takeaway Pursue fields that truly call to you. Themes calling passion purpose science humility Mood inspirational thoughtful Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career choice - academic research - personal fulfillment Key Concepts vocational calling intrinsic motivation scientific dedication Questions to Reflect On - Do you feel a genuine call toward your field? - How can you nurture that calling? A Different Perspective Not everyone can be a top scientist; passion matters more than talent. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Ministry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ministry/) [Second rate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-rate/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Star gazing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/star-gazing/) ## Related quotes > [I knew that even if I were second or third rate, it was astronomy that mattered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/i-knew-that-even-if-i-were-second-or-third-rate-it-was-astronomy-that/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Astrology is an aesthetic affront. It cheapens astronomy, like using Beethoven for commercial jingles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/astrology-is-an-aesthetic-affront-it-cheapens-astronomy-like-using/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Places like Ministry of Sound are too druggie for me. Smaller, local places are where it's at for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-price/places-like-ministry-of-sound-are-too-druggie-for-me-smaller-local/) [Katie Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-price/) > [I like Ministry, but I'm probably never going to make a song that sounds like Ministry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-tatum/i-like-ministry-but-i-m-probably-never-going-to-make-a-song-that/) [Jack Tatum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-tatum/) > [“I wonder if it's ok being a second-rate painter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wonder-if-it-s-ok-being-a-second-rate-painter/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [He must understand that if he is the world's finest plum and someone he loves does not like plums, he has the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-buscaglia/he-must-understand-that-if-he-is-the-world-s-finest-plum-and-someone/) [Leo Buscaglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-buscaglia/) > [If an enterprise does not aspire to be the best of its kind, it will attract second-rate employees, and it will be soon forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/if-an-enterprise-does-not-aspire-to-be-the-best-of-its-kind-it-will/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Love is like those second-rate hotels where all the luxury is in the lobby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-jean-toulet/love-is-like-those-second-rate-hotels-where-all-the-luxury-is-in-the/) Paul-Jean Toulet > [If a company is second rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-rand/if-a-company-is-second-rate-the-logo-will-eventually-be-perceived-as/) [Paul Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-rand/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [In Formula One, the car can make a difference in a way that a driver cannot. Whereas Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna spent their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-jacques/in-formula-one-the-car-can-make-a-difference-in-a-way-that-a-driver/) [Martin Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-jacques/) > [Why in the hell do journalists insist on coming up with a second rate Freudian evaluation on my lyrics when 90% of the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/why-in-the-hell-do-journalists-insist-on-coming-up-with-a-second-rate/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [“Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nothing-is-more-painful-to-me-than-the-disdain-with-which-people/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Always be a first-rate version of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-hepburn/always-be-a-first-rate-version-of-yourself/) [Audrey Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-hepburn/) > [You can compromise on anything else in your life but love. It's the one time where under no circumstances should you let yourself have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-sykes/you-can-compromise-on-anything-else-in-your-life-but-love-it-s-the/) [Oliver Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-sykes/) ## More by Edwin Powell Hubble > [The history of astronomy is a history of receding horizons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/the-history-of-astronomy-is-a-history-of-receding-horizons/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Wisdom cannot be directly transmitted, and does not readily accumulate through the ages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/wisdom-cannot-be-directly-transmitted-and-does-not-readily-accumulate/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [A scientist naturally and inevitably ... mulls over the data and guesses at a solution. He proceeds to testing of the guess by new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/a-scientist-naturally-and-inevitably-mulls-over-the-data-and-guesses/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Not until the empirical resources are exhausted, need we pass on to the dreamy realms of speculation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/not-until-the-empirical-resources-are-exhausted-need-we-pass-on-to/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [The great spirals, with their enormous radial velocities and insensible proper motions, apparently lie outside our Solar system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/the-great-spirals-with-their-enormous-radial-velocities-and/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Observation always involves theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/observation-always-involves-theory/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Science is the one human activity that is truly progressive. The body of positive knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/science-is-the-one-human-activity-that-is-truly-progressive-the-body/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Equipped with our five senses - along with telescopes and microscopes and mass spectrometers and seismographs and magnetometers and particle accelerators and detectors sensitive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/equipped-with-our-five-senses-along-with-telescopes-and-microscopes/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [With increasing distance, our knowledge fades, and fades rapidly. Eventually, we reach the dim boundary-the utmost limits of our telescopes. There, we measure shadows,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/with-increasing-distance-our-knowledge-fades-and-fades-rapidly/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [I knew that even if I were second or third rate, it was astronomy that mattered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/i-knew-that-even-if-i-were-second-or-third-rate-it-was-astronomy-that/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [There we measure shadows, and we search among ghostly errors of measurement for landmarks that are scarcely more substantial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/there-we-measure-shadows-and-we-search-among-ghostly-errors-of/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [The universe is unfolding as it should.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/the-universe-is-unfolding-as-it-should/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [Science is the one human activity that is totally progressive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/science-is-the-one-human-activity-that-is-totally-progressive/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [We do not know why we are born into the world, but we can try to find out what sort of a world it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/we-do-not-know-why-we-are-born-into-the-world-but-we-can-try-to-find/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) > [We find them smaller and fainter, in constantly increasing numbers, and we know that we are reaching into space, farther and farther, until, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-powell-hubble/we-find-them-smaller-and-fainter-in-constantly-increasing-numbers-and/) [Edwin Powell Hubble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) [Explore all 23 Edwin Powell Hubble quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-powell-hubble/) ## 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": "Astronomy is something like the ministry. No one should go into it without a call. 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