--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we look upon lives so human and yet…" description: "\"When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_creatures_when-we-look-upon-lives-so-human-and-yet_520920.jpg" --- # When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel… ![“When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that a deity might feel if he had created something that he could not understand.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_creatures_when-we-look-upon-lives-so-human-and-yet_520920.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_creatures_when-we-look-upon-lives-so-human-and-yet_520920.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c7/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_creatures_when-we-look-upon-lives-so-human-and-yet_520920.jpg) > “When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that a deity might feel if he had created something that he could not understand.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We feel humbled and oddly inflated when confronting ordinary life, recognizing both its insignificance and its profound mystery, prompting a sense of responsibility akin to a creator's. **In simple terms:** Ordinary life makes us feel both small and oddly important, urging responsibility. Key Takeaway Respect the mystery of everyday life. Themes humility responsibility wonder Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily interactions - environmental stewardship - care for animals - community service Key Concepts existentialism theology anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing smallness change your duties? - What responsibilities arise from feeling awe? A Different Perspective Our sense of grandeur can blind us to practical action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deities/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Obligation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obligation/) [Stature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stature/) ## Related quotes > [I doubt if anyone of any tenderness or imagination can see the hand of a child and not be a little frightened of it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/i-doubt-if-anyone-of-any-tenderness-or-imagination-can-see-the-hand/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [In our interconnected world, we must learn to feel enlarged, not threatened, by difference - that is what I have argued.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-sacks/in-our-interconnected-world-we-must-learn-to-feel-enlarged-not/) [Jonathan Sacks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-sacks/) > [I can very much enjoy taking a year off. Whereas some people would feel crippled by that, I can feel enlarged by it. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-hunter/i-can-very-much-enjoy-taking-a-year-off-whereas-some-people-would-2/) [Holly Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-hunter/) > [I can very much enjoy taking a year off. 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But if I can make you think a thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-i-supply-you-with-a-thought-you-may-remember-it-and-you-may-not/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. 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Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Creatures quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. 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They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) Browse all 3,703 Creatures quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we look upon lives so human and yet so small, we feel as if we ourselves were enlarged to an embarrassing bigness of stature. We feel the same kind of obligation to these creatures that a deity might feel if he had created something that he could not understand.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gilbert K. 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