--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The black sky was underpinned with long…" description: "\"The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seeme..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b07/flannery-o-connor-639_all-time_the-black-sky-was-underpinned-with-long_1188121.jpg" --- # The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks… ![“The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seemed to be moving very slowly as if they were about some vast construction work that involved the whole universe and would take all time to complete…” quote by Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b07/flannery-o-connor-639_all-time_the-black-sky-was-underpinned-with-long_1188121.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b07/flannery-o-connor-639_all-time_the-black-sky-was-underpinned-with-long_1188121.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b07/flannery-o-connor-639_all-time_the-black-sky-was-underpinned-with-long_1188121.jpg) > “The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seemed to be moving very slowly as if they were about some vast construction work that involved the whole universe and would take all time to complete. No one was paying attention to the sky.” [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes a vast, star‑filled sky as a slow, monumental construction, noting humanity’s inattention to cosmic wonder. **In simple terms:** The universe is a slow, massive project we ignore. Key Takeaway Notice the grandeur around you. Themes nature cosmos attention humility wonder Mood contemplative aweful Type descriptive philosophical When to use this quote - stargazing - philosophical reflection - artistic inspiration Key Concepts Existentialism aesthetic perception scale Questions to Reflect On - What does the sky symbolize for you? - How does ignoring wonder affect daily life? A Different Perspective May overlook personal significance of the scene. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Construction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction/) [Construction work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/construction-work/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Paying Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paying-attention/) [Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Streaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/streaks/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [In the vast reaches of the dry, cold night, thousands of stars were constantly appearing, and their sparkling icicles, loosened at once, began to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-the-vast-reaches-of-the-dry-cold-night-thousands-of-stars-were/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“I am wholly willing to be here, Between the bright silent thousands of stars And the life of the grass pouring out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-am-wholly-willing-to-be-here-between-the-bright-silent-thousands-of/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Whenever I look at the sky.. In the place of stars.. I found some moving lights.. I wish to be there.. I also want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chakshu-aggarwal/whenever-i-look-at-the-sky-in-the-place-of-stars-i-found-some-moving/) [Chakshu Aggarwal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chakshu-aggarwal/) > [We can say the stars are moving because we have a relative context.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/we-can-say-the-stars-are-moving-because-we-have-a-relative-context/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [This is the first real evidence that we've seen now of high gravitational field strengths: monstrous things like stars moving at the velocity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-weiss/this-is-the-first-real-evidence-that-we-ve-seen-now-of-high/) [Rainer Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-weiss/) > [Thousands of stars in the night sky, And shells on the shore together, Hundreds of birds that go singing by, Especially in sunny weather.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walter-bratton/thousands-of-stars-in-the-night-sky-and-shells-on-the-shore-together/) [John Walter Bratton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walter-bratton/) > [“The stars cut into the inky black sky, like glinting shards of glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-barnhill/the-stars-cut-into-the-inky-black-sky-like-glinting-shards-of-glass/) [Kelly Barnhill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-barnhill/) > [There will be a new industry, and we are just now in the beginning. I will predict that in twelve or fifteen years there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burt-rutan/there-will-be-a-new-industry-and-we-are-just-now-in-the-beginning-i/) [Burt Rutan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burt-rutan/) > [“The jet-black sky behind him was reflected in this smile, and under the soft candlelight, it seemed to radiate with the brilliance of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tang-qi/the-jet-black-sky-behind-him-was-reflected-in-this-smile-and-under/) Tang Qi > [What beauty. I saw clouds and their light shadows on the distant dear earth…. The water looked like darkish, slightly gleaming spots…. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuri-gagarin/what-beauty-i-saw-clouds-and-their-light-shadows-on-the-distant-dear/) [Yuri Gagarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuri-gagarin/) > [Look how black the sky is, the writer said. I made it that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/look-how-black-the-sky-is-the-writer-said-i-made-it-that-way/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [“There’s something tragic about the way the moonlight hits her. It’s like tonight is hers. The black sky looking down and shaking its head.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-abbott/there-s-something-tragic-about-the-way-the-moonlight-hits-her-it-s/) [Daniel Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-abbott/) > [“I put back my head, looking up at the deep black sky swimming with hot stars. If you knew they were really balls of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/i-put-back-my-head-looking-up-at-the-deep-black-sky-swimming-with-hot/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [It's such a lonely way. This one'll be black. The jet black always in the sky. It reflects hatred in my eyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/children-of-bodom/it-s-such-a-lonely-way-this-one-ll-be-black-the-jet-black-always-in/) [Children Of Bodom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/children-of-bodom/) > [Somebody said you got a new friend. Does she love you better than I can? There's a big black sky over my town. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn/somebody-said-you-got-a-new-friend-does-she-love-you-better-than-i/) [Robyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robyn/) ## More by Flannery O'Connor > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [... the man in the violent situation reveals those qualities least dispensable in his personality, those qualities which are all he will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/the-man-in-the-violent-situation-reveals-those-qualities-least/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“I don’t know how to cure the source-itis except to tell you that I can discover a good many possible sources myself for Wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-don-t-know-how-to-cure-the-source-itis-except-to-tell-you-that-i/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/for-the-fiction-writer-himself-the-whole-story-is-the-meaning-because/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Everything that gave her pleasure was small and depressed him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/everything-that-gave-her-pleasure-was-small-and-depressed-him/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/to-the-hard-of-hearing-you-shout-and-for-the-almost-blind-you-draw/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [“He felt his hunger no longer as a pain but as a tide. 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She thought the word Jesus should be kept inside the church building like other words inside the bedroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/mrs-may-winced-she-thought-the-word-jesus-should-be-kept-inside-the/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [I feel that discussing story-writing in terms of plot, character, and theme is like trying to describe the expression on a face by saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/i-feel-that-discussing-story-writing-in-terms-of-plot-character-and/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [She had observed that the more education they got, the less they could do. 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