--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The real world is in a much darker and…" description: "\"“The real world is in a much darker and deeper place than this, and most of it is occupied by jellyfish and things. We just happen to to forget all tha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/haruki-murakami-21_darkness_the-real-world-is-in-a-much-darker-and-d_1755896.jpg" --- # The real world is in a much darker and deeper place than… ![“The real world is in a much darker and deeper place than this, and most of it is occupied by jellyfish and things. We just happen to to forget all that. Don't you agree? Two-thirds of earth's surface is ocean, and all we can see with the naked eye is the surface: the skin.” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/haruki-murakami-21_darkness_the-real-world-is-in-a-much-darker-and-d_1755896.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/haruki-murakami-21_darkness_the-real-world-is-in-a-much-darker-and-d_1755896.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/haruki-murakami-21_darkness_the-real-world-is-in-a-much-darker-and-d_1755896.jpg) > ““The real world is in a much darker and deeper place than this, and most of it is occupied by jellyfish and things. We just happen to to forget all that. Don't you agree? Two-thirds of earth's surface is ocean, and all we can see with the naked eye is the surface: the skin.”” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The world beneath the surface is vast and mysterious, yet we often ignore its depth, focusing only on what is immediately visible. **In simple terms:** We ignore deeper realities, seeing only the surface. Key Takeaway Look beyond appearances to grasp hidden complexity. Themes depth ignorance illusion ocean perspective Mood thoughtful contemplative Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - daily life - scientific research - artistic creation - education Key Concepts existentialism environmental awareness philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What unseen forces shape your daily decisions? - How can you cultivate deeper awareness? A Different Perspective Surface focus can limit understanding and action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Real world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-world/) [Surfaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surfaces/) ## Related quotes > [Two-thirds of earth's surface is ocean, and all we can see with the naked eye is the surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/two-thirds-of-earth-s-surface-is-ocean-and-all-we-can-see-with-the/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“What we see before us is just one tiny part of the world. We get into the habit of thinking, This is the world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/what-we-see-before-us-is-just-one-tiny-part-of-the-world-we-get-into-2/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [We're not building a nuclear reactor here. We're not drilling a mile beneath the surface of the ocean with no plan in case something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gord-downie/we-re-not-building-a-nuclear-reactor-here-we-re-not-drilling-a-mile/) [Gord Downie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gord-downie/) > [“In a world of seven billion people, where every inch of land has been mapped, much of it developed, and too much of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nestor/in-a-world-of-seven-billion-people-where-every-inch-of-land-has-been/) [James Nestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nestor/) > [There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater,you realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/there-s-nothing-wrong-with-enjoying-looking-at-the-surface-of-the/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [“Why do you like jellyfish so much?" I asked. "I don't know. I guess I think they're cute," she said. "But one thing did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/why-do-you-like-jellyfish-so-much-i-asked-i-don-t-know-i-guess-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [My photographs don't go below the surface. They don't go below anything. They're readings of the surface. I have great faith in surfaces. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-avedon/my-photographs-don-t-go-below-the-surface-they-don-t-go-below-2/) [Richard Avedon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-avedon/) > [“Of people, of places, surfaces don't interest me. Depths do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadia-hakim/of-people-of-places-surfaces-don-t-interest-me-depths-do/) [Sadia Hakim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadia-hakim/) > [“You must let it glide on surfaces so you don't make a mess of things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/you-must-let-it-glide-on-surfaces-so-you-don-t-make-a-mess-of-things/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [In particular, I am interested in understanding hyperbolic surfaces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryam-mirzakhani/in-particular-i-am-interested-in-understanding-hyperbolic-surfaces/) [Maryam Mirzakhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maryam-mirzakhani/) > [“We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/we-live-i-regret-to-say-in-an-age-of-surfaces/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I am pleased enough with the surfaces - in fact they alone seem to me to be of much importance. Such things for example…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/i-am-pleased-enough-with-the-surfaces-in-fact-they-alone-seem-to-me/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Do not allow yourself to be misled by the surfaces of things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/do-not-allow-yourself-to-be-misled-by-the-surfaces-of-things/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Give me truths for I am weary of the surfaces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/give-me-truths-for-i-am-weary-of-the-surfaces/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I did finals on all the surfaces.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrey-rublev/i-did-finals-on-all-the-surfaces/) [Andrey Rublev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrey-rublev/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“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/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [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 [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The real world is in a much darker and deeper place than this, and most of it is occupied by jellyfish and things. We just happen to to forget all that. Don't you agree? 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