--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: \"I know perfectly well that at this…" description: "\"\"I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us,\" Jean Giraudoux wrote in The Madwoman of Chaillot, \"and that every wo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg" --- # "I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole… ![“"I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us," Jean Giraudoux wrote in The Madwoman of Chaillot, "and that every word we say echoes to the remotest star."That poetic paranoia is a perfect description of what the Sun, as a gravitational lens, could do for the…” quote by Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg) > “"I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us," Jean Giraudoux wrote in The Madwoman of Chaillot, "and that every word we say echoes to the remotest star."That poetic paranoia is a perfect description of what the Sun, as a gravitational lens, could do for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that every spoken word reaches across the cosmos, implying a profound interconnectedness that could aid SETI searches. **In simple terms:** Words travel far, linking us to distant stars. Key Takeaway Consider the cosmic impact of our communication. Themes communication cosmos interconnectedness science exploration Mood wonder curiosity Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - radio broadcasting - public speaking - space missions Key Concepts physics philosophy astrophysics Questions to Reflect On - How does this perspective change your view of communication? - What responsibilities arise from knowing we are heard? A Different Perspective The universe may not be as receptive as imagined, limiting practical SETI signals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Extraterrestrial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extraterrestrial/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Paranoia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paranoia/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Sun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [Clearly, unless thinking beings inevitably wipe themselves out soon after developing technology, extraterrestrial intelligence could often be millions or billions of years in advance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/clearly-unless-thinking-beings-inevitably-wipe-themselves-out-soon/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Another random thing I do is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI. And you may be familiar with the movie 'Contact,' which sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-myhrvold/another-random-thing-i-do-is-the-search-for-extraterrestrial/) [Nathan Myhrvold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-myhrvold/) > [“I’m frequently asked, “Do you believe there’s extraterrestrial intelligence?” I give the standard arguments—there are a lot of places out there, the molecules of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-m-frequently-asked-do-you-believe-there-s-extraterrestrial-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [What a splendid perspective contact with a profoundly different civilization might provide! In a cosmic setting vast and old beyond ordinary human understanding we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/what-a-splendid-perspective-contact-with-a-profoundly-different/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [“One cannot find out whether or not there's an extraterrestrial intelligence inside the mushroom unless one is willing to take the mushroom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrance-mckenna/one-cannot-find-out-whether-or-not-there-s-an-extraterrestrial/) Terrance McKenna > [Angels are not merely forms of extraterrestrial intelligence. They are forms of extra-cosmic intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-adler/angels-are-not-merely-forms-of-extraterrestrial-intelligence-they-are/) [Mortimer Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-adler/) > [In the deepest sense the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a search for ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-the-deepest-sense-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-intelligence-is/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [CSETI (The Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has in the past 18 months succeeded in intentionally establishing contact with extraterrestrial spacecraft, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-m-greer/cseti-the-center-for-the-study-of-extraterrestrial-intelligence-has/) [Steven M. Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-m-greer/) > [The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/the-thing-to-keep-in-mind-is-that-we-re-still-in-the-very-early-days/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [“I'm frequently asked, "Do you believe there's extraterrestrial intelligence?" I give the standard arguments- there are a lot of places out there, the molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/i-m-frequently-asked-do-you-believe-there-s-extraterrestrial/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Extraterrestrial intelligence could have sent DNA-seed packets out through space to plant life on hospitable planets such as earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/extraterrestrial-intelligence-could-have-sent-dna-seed-packets-out/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Once He created the Big Bang... He could have envisioned it going in billions of directions as it evolved, including billions of life-forms and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-hesburgh/once-he-created-the-big-bang-he-could-have-envisioned-it-going-in/) [Theodore Hesburgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-hesburgh/) > [“The best proof of extraterrestrial intelligence is that they haven't contacted us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/the-best-proof-of-extraterrestrial-intelligence-is-that-they-haven-t/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/perfect-paranoia-is-perfect-awareness/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The universe is listening. You get back what you put in. Negative shit gets you negative shit. Positive energy begets positive energy. Whatever you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-scott/the-universe-is-listening-you-get-back-what-you-put-in-negative-shit/) [Emma Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-scott/) ## More by Frank Drake > [The story seems to be that almost every star has a planetary system... and, also, the definition of 'habitable zone' has expanded. In our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/the-story-seems-to-be-that-almost-every-star-has-a-planetary-system/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [People presume we've been somehow monitoring the entire sky at all frequencies, all the time, but we haven't yet been able to do any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/people-presume-we-ve-been-somehow-monitoring-the-entire-sky-at-all/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [In 1957, I was studying the Pleiades star cluster at Harvard University's radio observatory. On one occasion, we saw an added feature in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/in-1957-i-was-studying-the-pleiades-star-cluster-at-harvard/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [There was a magic about pulsars... no other things in the sky had such labels on them. Each one had its own distinct pulsing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/there-was-a-magic-about-pulsars-no-other-things-in-the-sky-had-such/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [No company is hiring anyone to search for messages from aliens. Most people don't seem to think there's much benefit to it. The lack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/no-company-is-hiring-anyone-to-search-for-messages-from-aliens-most/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Right now, there could well be messages from the stars flying right through this room. Through you and me. And if we had the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/right-now-there-could-well-be-messages-from-the-stars-flying-right/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Nature never uses prime numbers. But mathematicians do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/nature-never-uses-prime-numbers-but-mathematicians-do/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [To use Newton's words, our efforts up till this moment have but turned over a pebble or shell here and there on the beach,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/to-use-newton-s-words-our-efforts-up-till-this-moment-have-but-turned/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [While NASA talks about 'Are we alone?' as a number one question, they are putting zero money into searching for intelligent life. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/while-nasa-talks-about-are-we-alone-as-a-number-one-question-they-are/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [The pulsar map is not dangerous at all. It will likely never even be seen by extraterrestrials.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/the-pulsar-map-is-not-dangerous-at-all-it-will-likely-never-even-be/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Other intelligent life-forms will differ greatly in appearance - they may resemble the creature in E.T. or startle us with their beauty - but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/other-intelligent-life-forms-will-differ-greatly-in-appearance-they/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Forty years as an astronomer have not quelled my enthusiasm for lying outside after dark, staring up at the stars. It isn't only the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/forty-years-as-an-astronomer-have-not-quelled-my-enthusiasm-for-lying/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [It now appears that essentially every star has a planetary system. In the very beginning, we thought at best half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/it-now-appears-that-essentially-every-star-has-a-planetary-system-in/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [Only by doing the best we can with the very best that an era offers, do we find the way to do better in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/only-by-doing-the-best-we-can-with-the-very-best-that-an-era-offers/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) > [We send messages all the time, free of charge. There's a big shell out there now, 80 light-years around us. A civilization only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/we-send-messages-all-the-time-free-of-charge-there-s-a-big-shell-out/) [Frank Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) [Explore all 18 Frank Drake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/) ## 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. 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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": "\"I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us,\" Jean Giraudoux wrote in The Madwoman of Chaillot, \"and that every word we say echoes to the remotest star.\"That poetic paranoia is a perfect description of what the Sun, as a gravitational lens, could do for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Drake" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-moment-the-whole-universe-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Astronomy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-moment-the-whole-universe-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ca/frank-drake-29398_astronomy_i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-momen_349985.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“\"I know perfectly well that at this moment the whole universe is listening to us,\" Jean Giraudoux wrote in…” — Frank Drake", "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": "Frank Drake", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-drake/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "\"I know perfectly well that at...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-moment-the-whole-universe-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-drake/i-know-perfectly-well-that-at-this-moment-the-whole-universe-is/#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 } } ] } ```