--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of the countless realities there are, the…" description: "\"“Of the countless realities there are, the four greatest I know are these: God, or the holy; the universe; life; and human experience. The significance..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/gene-ruyle-41835_human-experience_of-the-countless-realities-there-are-the_1617492.jpg" --- # Of the countless realities there are, the four greatest I… ![“Of the countless realities there are, the four greatest I know are these: God, or the holy; the universe; life; and human experience. The significance of the latter is that for all human beings, the first three can be known only through it.” quote by Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/gene-ruyle-41835_human-experience_of-the-countless-realities-there-are-the_1617492.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/gene-ruyle-41835_human-experience_of-the-countless-realities-there-are-the_1617492.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fcc/gene-ruyle-41835_human-experience_of-the-countless-realities-there-are-the_1617492.jpg) > ““Of the countless realities there are, the four greatest I know are these: God, or the holy; the universe; life; and human experience. The significance of the latter is that for all human beings, the first three can be known only through it.”” [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Four fundamental realities are God, the universe, life, and human experience, which lets us know the other three. **In simple terms:** Human experience reveals God, universe, and life. Key Takeaway Reflect on lived experience to understand deeper truths. Themes philosophy spirituality existence Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - education - interfaith dialogue - scientific inquiry Key Concepts ontology epistemology humanism Questions to Reflect On - What does human experience teach you about the divine? - Can science explain the sacred? A Different Perspective Not all accept these four as ultimate realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Countless Realities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countless-realities-6166537/) [Holy Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy-universe-5557599/) [Human experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experience/) [Know God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-god/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Realities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realities/) [Realities Greatest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realities-greatest-6166536/) ## Related quotes > [The universe is holy and everything in the universe is holy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambel-panganiban-pitel/the-universe-is-holy-and-everything-in-the-universe-is-holy/) [Ambel Panganiban Pitel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambel-panganiban-pitel/) > [The Kabbalists say that the holy one of the universe is broken, and that we are extensions of the holy one and carry that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-pidgeon/the-kabbalists-say-that-the-holy-one-of-the-universe-is-broken-and/) [Rebecca Pidgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-pidgeon/) > [I'm interested in the parallel narrative of our fantasy lives. How the moment of 'now' that is palpably real, is surrounded by our memories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-mckean/i-m-interested-in-the-parallel-narrative-of-our-fantasy-lives-how-the/) [Dave McKean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-mckean/) > [If I accept the fact that a god is absolute and beyond all human experiences, he leaves me cold. I do not affect him,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/if-i-accept-the-fact-that-a-god-is-absolute-and-beyond-all-human/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [When you suffer a loss, there is before the death and after the death - those become your two existences and your two realities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophia-bush/when-you-suffer-a-loss-there-is-before-the-death-and-after-the-death/) [Sophia Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophia-bush/) > [Images can make realities out of people and struggles - the reality we give them. Images really matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-paglen/images-can-make-realities-out-of-people-and-struggles-the-reality-we/) [Trevor Paglen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-paglen/) > [What we, thanks to Jung, call "synchronicity" (coincidence on steroids), Buddhists have long known as "the interpenetration of realities." Whether it's a natural law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/what-we-thanks-to-jung-call-synchronicity-coincidence-on-steroids/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [What we think of as physical reality is an intermingling of appropriate realities, a fluid massive consciousness in which each of us exists independently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/what-we-think-of-as-physical-reality-is-an-intermingling-of/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [“Civilisation consists in giving something a name that doesn't belong to it and then dreaming over the result. And the false name joined to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/civilisation-consists-in-giving-something-a-name-that-doesn-t-belong/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Being and not being are not two different realities, but two different aspects of the same reality.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/being-and-not-being-are-not-two-different-realities-but-two-different/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [“Remember, your audience is aware of the realities, but they would like to hear it from you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virender-kapoor/remember-your-audience-is-aware-of-the-realities-but-they-would-like/) [Virender Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virender-kapoor/) > [...there's no rule book or game plan when it comes to the grim realities of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-elkeles/there-s-no-rule-book-or-game-plan-when-it-comes-to-the-grim-realities/) [Simone Elkeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-elkeles/) > [For Jesus, heaven and hell were present realities. Ways of living we can enter into here and now. He talked very little of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/for-jesus-heaven-and-hell-were-present-realities-ways-of-living-we/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [I think that once I started connecting dots of where my food was coming from and the reality of that, as opposed to maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-aries/i-think-that-once-i-started-connecting-dots-of-where-my-food-was/) [Austin Aries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-aries/) > [Woe to him whose beliefs play fast and loose with the order which realities follow in his experience; they will lead him nowhere or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/woe-to-him-whose-beliefs-play-fast-and-loose-with-the-order-which/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) ## More by Gene Ruyle > [“The greater power is not that which ushers in the new, but that able to make even the old new once more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/the-greater-power-is-not-that-which-ushers-in-the-new-but-that-able/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“Only those who leave home ever really find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/only-those-who-leave-home-ever-really-find-it/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“Most people miss so much of what they are, but the tragedy is they miss it without knowing that they missed it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/most-people-miss-so-much-of-what-they-are-but-the-tragedy-is-they/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“Those who spend most of the time talking about their relationship don't have one anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/those-who-spend-most-of-the-time-talking-about-their-relationship-don/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“A half truth is much worse than a whole lie because it makes it even harder to tell the difference between the two.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/a-half-truth-is-much-worse-than-a-whole-lie-because-it-makes-it-even/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“To seek the truth while living a lie is to fool oneself . . . and a complete waste of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/to-seek-the-truth-while-living-a-lie-is-to-fool-oneself-and-a/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“No human being ever needs to tell another what it's like to be alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/no-human-being-ever-needs-to-tell-another-what-it-s-like-to-be-alone/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“Shadows show the direction in which the light lies, but you have to travel to make it to where it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/shadows-show-the-direction-in-which-the-light-lies-but-you-have-to/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) > [“The truly free aren't those busily doing what they want, but those already engaged in growing into all they want to become. What the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-ruyle/the-truly-free-aren-t-those-busily-doing-what-they-want-but-those/) [Gene Ruyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) [Explore all 10 Gene Ruyle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-ruyle/) ## More Human experience quotes > [God's Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. And it gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-rothschild/god-s-word-does-provide-life-lessons-to-teach-us-how-to-live-and-it/) [Jennifer Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-rothschild/) > [“Naval officers were not mother's sort; very few people were her sort in those days, and that was her trouble - a very authentic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lowell/naval-officers-were-not-mother-s-sort-very-few-people-were-her-sort/) [Robert Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lowell/) > [“There is no one way of seeing. Nor is there a right way of seeing. Yet simply to accept the notion that both the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-lasalle/there-is-no-one-way-of-seeing-nor-is-there-a-right-way-of-seeing-yet/) [Mick LaSalle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-lasalle/) > [“Strangers when you meet, strangers when you part -a gymnasium of bodies namelessly masturbating each other. People with no morals often considered themselves more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/strangers-when-you-meet-strangers-when-you-part-a-gymnasium-of-bodies/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [There is no normal. I've never met a normal person. The concept is flawed. It implies that there is only one way people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-johnson/there-is-no-normal-i-ve-never-met-a-normal-person-the-concept-is/) [Maureen Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-johnson/) > [“know that I’m not a human being having a spiritual experience. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-gordon/know-that-i-m-not-a-human-being-having-a-spiritual-experience-i-m-a/) [Jon Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-gordon/) > [I think it's something to do with the nurturing side of the psyche; tying up a sunflower or whatever and helping it grow, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-lycett/i-think-it-s-something-to-do-with-the-nurturing-side-of-the-psyche/) [Joe Lycett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-lycett/) > [Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/learn-your-way-around-loneliness-make-a-map-of-it-sit-with-it-for/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [The whole idea of the pursuit of goods and possessions has completely corrupted the human experience, along with religion, which I think limits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/the-whole-idea-of-the-pursuit-of-goods-and-possessions-has-completely/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [“The key to this translation of ideology to politics in both cases was an effective appeal to human experience at the crucial time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/the-key-to-this-translation-of-ideology-to-politics-in-both-cases-was/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [As the young spend less of their lives in natural surroundings, their senses narrow, physiologically and psychologically and this reduces the richness of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-louv/as-the-young-spend-less-of-their-lives-in-natural-surroundings-their/) [Richard Louv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-louv/) > [“Lightly, caressingly, Marie Antoinette picked up the crown as a gift. She was still too young to know that life never gives anything for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lightly-caressingly-marie-antoinette-picked-up-the-crown-as-a-gift/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Intimacy with Wright had seemed necessary; an essential human experience she didn’t think she’d get anywhere else, at least not on her terms. Ryker…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalie-stanton/intimacy-with-wright-had-seemed-necessary-an-essential-human/) [Rosalie Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalie-stanton/) > [But anyway, it's obvious through human experience that extended families and tribes are terribly important. We can do without an extended family as human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/but-anyway-it-s-obvious-through-human-experience-that-extended/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I feel we have the opportunity of being part of a new and emerging category for human co-experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/i-feel-we-have-the-opportunity-of-being-part-of-a-new-and-emerging/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) [Browse all 799 Human experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Of the countless realities there are, the four greatest I know are these: God, or the holy; the universe; life; and human experience. 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