--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are the hands and eyes and ears, the…" description: "\"“We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing feelers through which the emergent, intelligent universe comes to know its own form and purp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/grant-morrison-2360_blank-paper_we-are-the-hands-and-eyes-and-ears-the-s_1778492.jpg" --- # We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing… ![“We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing feelers through which the emergent, intelligent universe comes to know its own form and purpose. We bring the thunderbolt of meaning and significance to unconscious matter, blank paper, the night sky. We are already divine magicians…” quote by Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/grant-morrison-2360_blank-paper_we-are-the-hands-and-eyes-and-ears-the-s_1778492.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/grant-morrison-2360_blank-paper_we-are-the-hands-and-eyes-and-ears-the-s_1778492.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/503/grant-morrison-2360_blank-paper_we-are-the-hands-and-eyes-and-ears-the-s_1778492.jpg) > ““We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing feelers through which the emergent, intelligent universe comes to know its own form and purpose. We bring the thunderbolt of meaning and significance to unconscious matter, blank paper, the night sky. We are already divine magicians, already supergods. Why shouldn't we use all our brilliance to leap in as many single bounds as it takes to a world beyond ours, threatened by overpopulation, mass species extinction, environmental degradation, hunger, and exploitation? Superman and his pals would figure a way out of any stupid cul-de-sac we could find ourselves in - and we made Superman, after all. All it takes is that one magic word.”” [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humans act as the universe’s conscious agents, shaping reality through meaning and purpose. **In simple terms:** We give meaning to the world. Key Takeaway Use brilliance to solve global crises. Themes creativity responsibility human potential Mood inspired determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - environmental activism - technological innovation - philosophical discourse - global policy - artistic expression Key Concepts cosmology agency transcendence Questions to Reflect On - How can individual creativity influence planetary change? - What responsibilities arise from seeing ourselves as divine magicians? A Different Perspective Our impact is limited by systemic inertia and unequal resources. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blank paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank-paper/) [Environmental degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environmental-degradation/) [Extinction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extinction/) [Night sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-sky/) [Overpopulation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overpopulation/) [Superman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superman/) ## Related quotes > [“If our shallow, self-critical culture sometimes seems to lack a sense of the numinous or spiritual it’s only in the same way a fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/if-our-shallow-self-critical-culture-sometimes-seems-to-lack-a-sense/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Im not 68 , Im not superman , but I will do whatever it takes to win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-michaels/im-not-68-im-not-superman-but-i-will-do-whatever-it-takes-to-win/) [Shawn Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-michaels/) > [Nobody doubts the importance of conscious experience; why then should we doubt the significance of unconscious happenings? They also are part of our life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/nobody-doubts-the-importance-of-conscious-experience-why-then-should/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [We cannot take a step toward the heavens. God crosses the universe and comes to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/we-cannot-take-a-step-toward-the-heavens-god-crosses-the-universe-and/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [“When that part of the woman meets with a man, all the flowers in the world suddenly bloom! All the birds of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-dong-hwa/when-that-part-of-the-woman-meets-with-a-man-all-the-flowers-in-the/) [Kim Dong Hwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-dong-hwa/) > [Inflation is really like drugging the baby universe with speed. The supercool union of the hitherto unfriendly gods was blessed by amphetamine, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joao-magueijo/inflation-is-really-like-drugging-the-baby-universe-with-speed-the/) [Joao Magueijo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joao-magueijo/) > [Nature, God, or whatever you want to call the creator of the universe comes through the microscope clearly and strongly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-vishniac/nature-god-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-the-creator-of-the-universe/) [Roman Vishniac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-vishniac/) > [The light and heat of the universe comes from the sun, and its cold and darkness from the withdrawal of the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-light-and-heat-of-the-universe-comes-from-the-sun-and-its-cold/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [“What did he say? He is in love? My brain stops, my heart stops, my blood ceases to flow. My appendages go weak and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-sarff/what-did-he-say-he-is-in-love-my-brain-stops-my-heart-stops-my-blood/) Julie Sarff > [“Everything you send out into the universe comes back to you in equivalence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marius-forte/everything-you-send-out-into-the-universe-comes-back-to-you-in/) Marius Forte > [My mind turned by anxiety, or other cause, from its scrutiny of blank paper, is like a lost child–wandering the house, sitting on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-turned-by-anxiety-or-other-cause-from-its-scrutiny-of-blank/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [All I have to do is keep my spirit, feelings and conscience like a sheet of blank paper, and let the Spirit and power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/all-i-have-to-do-is-keep-my-spirit-feelings-and-conscience-like-a/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [“The words in his book wormed off the pages. Everything glittered like blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-words-in-his-book-wormed-off-the-pages-everything-glittered-like/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Writing is very difficult. You have 120 pages of blank paper and it's like, "Go fill that up with some funny stuff," and that's challenging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-farrelly/writing-is-very-difficult-you-have-120-pages-of-blank-paper-and-it-s/) [Bobby Farrelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-farrelly/) > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) ## More by Grant Morrison > [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/) > [“Look at it, Dane. Look at the city and the world in its proud array, like a cask of jewels laid open for you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/look-at-it-dane-look-at-the-city-and-the-world-in-its-proud-array/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Sometimes I pretend not to look at my own characters, because that's like different people getting off with your girlfriend or something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/sometimes-i-pretend-not-to-look-at-my-own-characters-because-that-s/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Why am I in Hell? It hurts. It hurts all the time. Why am I in Hell? I just want to go home and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/why-am-i-in-hell-it-hurts-it-hurts-all-the-time-why-am-i-in-hell-i/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [The more I think about it, the more I realize that schools are just factories for turning out robots, that's all. They get you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/the-more-i-think-about-it-the-more-i-realize-that-schools-are-just/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [I plan years in advance, but I like to leave enough space in the narrative scheme to change things, because I always get my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/i-plan-years-in-advance-but-i-like-to-leave-enough-space-in-the/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Talking to oneself, I have often thought, is the best way to be sure of intelligent and witty conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/talking-to-oneself-i-have-often-thought-is-the-best-way-to-be-sure-of/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [I'm a fan myself, so I try to write the kind of comics I want to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/i-m-a-fan-myself-so-i-try-to-write-the-kind-of-comics-i-want-to-read/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Everyone does magic all the time in different ways. "Life" plus "significance" = magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/everyone-does-magic-all-the-time-in-different-ways-life-plus/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“If our shallow, self-critical culture sometimes seems to lack a sense of the numinous or spiritual it’s only in the same way a fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/if-our-shallow-self-critical-culture-sometimes-seems-to-lack-a-sense/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Only nothing is impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/only-nothing-is-impossible/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Remember it's all just a mirror we made to see ourselves in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/remember-it-s-all-just-a-mirror-we-made-to-see-ourselves-in/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“Hell is only the Cringe Eternal and the Place of our Self's Undoing. When Nietzsche proclaimed "God is Dead!" he forgot to add that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/hell-is-only-the-cringe-eternal-and-the-place-of-our-self-s-undoing/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [“Idealists and reformers all become executioners in their turn. The road to utopia ends with the steps of the scaffold, the endless moment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/idealists-and-reformers-all-become-executioners-in-their-turn-the/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [I think that superhero comics in particular are really useful for talking about big emotions and feelings, and personifying and concretizing symbols.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/i-think-that-superhero-comics-in-particular-are-really-useful-for/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) [Explore all 169 Grant Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) ## More Blank paper quotes > [“I believe in magic. As a writer, I create them on blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonnia-kemmer/i-believe-in-magic-as-a-writer-i-create-them-on-blank-paper/) [Sonnia Kemmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonnia-kemmer/) > [All I have to do is keep my spirit, feelings and conscience like a sheet of blank paper, and let the Spirit and power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/all-i-have-to-do-is-keep-my-spirit-feelings-and-conscience-like-a/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [“The words in his book wormed off the pages. Everything glittered like blank paper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-words-in-his-book-wormed-off-the-pages-everything-glittered-like/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [My mind turned by anxiety, or other cause, from its scrutiny of blank paper, is like a lost child–wandering the house, sitting on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/my-mind-turned-by-anxiety-or-other-cause-from-its-scrutiny-of-blank/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Writing is very difficult. You have 120 pages of blank paper and it's like, "Go fill that up with some funny stuff," and that's challenging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-farrelly/writing-is-very-difficult-you-have-120-pages-of-blank-paper-and-it-s/) [Bobby Farrelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-farrelly/) > [“If our shallow, self-critical culture sometimes seems to lack a sense of the numinous or spiritual it’s only in the same way a fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-morrison/if-our-shallow-self-critical-culture-sometimes-seems-to-lack-a-sense/) [Grant Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-morrison/) > [Blank paper has always inspired me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-handler/blank-paper-has-always-inspired-me/) [Daniel Handler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-handler/) > [You know that fiction, prose rather, is possibly the roughest trade of all in writing. You do not have the reference, the old important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-know-that-fiction-prose-rather-is-possibly-the-roughest-trade-of/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I was asked the age old question today: why are you an author? I suppose there are lots of answers to this question that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-due/i-was-asked-the-age-old-question-today-why-are-you-an-author-i/) [Richard Due](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-due/) > [To lead by example is to offer your life as a living diarry for others to read. Never make your life pages blank; make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-lead-by-example-is-to-offer-your-life-as-a-living-diarry-for/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sometime a blank paper tells u whole story. Some time even a book lacks the meanings. It is true that word are important But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/sometime-a-blank-paper-tells-u-whole-story-some-time-even-a-book/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“It just feels like meeting him again was like seeing a blank paper ready to be sketched, a different idea to be drawn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basma-salem/it-just-feels-like-meeting-him-again-was-like-seeing-a-blank-paper/) [Basma Salem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basma-salem/) > [Who but a brazen crazy person would go one-on-one with blank paper or canvas armed with nothing but ideas?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-vonnegut/who-but-a-brazen-crazy-person-would-go-one-on-one-with-blank-paper-or/) [Mark Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-vonnegut/) > [Blank paper at this time she will cry, I did not write anything in the last Letter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/blank-paper-at-this-time-she-will-cry-i-did-not-write-anything-in-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That's the horrible thing starting out, you get distracted a lot because anything is easier than writing. It's just the same enemy - blank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-breslin/that-s-the-horrible-thing-starting-out-you-get-distracted-a-lot/) [Jimmy Breslin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-breslin/) [Browse all 43 Blank paper quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blank-paper/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are the hands and eyes and ears, the sensitive probing feelers through which the emergent, intelligent universe comes to know its own form and purpose. We bring the thunderbolt of meaning and significance to unconscious matter, blank paper, the night sky. We are already divine magicians, already supergods. Why shouldn't we use all our brilliance to leap in as many single bounds as it takes to a world beyond ours, threatened by overpopulation, mass species extinction, environmental degradation, hunger, and exploitation? 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