--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the Order we call it ‘inverse…" description: "\"“In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve observed it in any number of cases. The deeper you go into the cosmic mysteries, the less interest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/lev-grossman-747_profundity_in-the-order-we-call-it-inverse-profundi_2691976.png" --- # In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve… ![“In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve observed it in any number of cases. The deeper you go into the cosmic mysteries, the less interesting everything gets.” quote by Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/lev-grossman-747_profundity_in-the-order-we-call-it-inverse-profundi_2691976.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/lev-grossman-747_profundity_in-the-order-we-call-it-inverse-profundi_2691976.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ac/lev-grossman-747_profundity_in-the-order-we-call-it-inverse-profundi_2691976.png) > ““In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve observed it in any number of cases. The deeper you go into the cosmic mysteries, the less interesting everything gets.”” [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Deeper exploration of cosmic mysteries often leads to diminishing interest, termed “inverse profundity.” **In simple terms:** The deeper you go, the less interesting it becomes. Key Takeaway Know when to step back. Themes philosophy exploration nihilism Mood reflective philosophical Type literary metaphysical When to use this quote - research - spiritual quests - writing Key Concepts inverse profundity cosmic curiosity Questions to Reflect On - Why does depth sometimes feel empty? - How to maintain curiosity? A Different Perspective May cause disengagement. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cosmic Mysteries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic-mysteries-701616/) [Deeper Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeper-cosmic-2664272/) [Inverse Profundity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inverse-profundity-2664271/) [Profundity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profundity/) [Profundity Ve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profundity-ve-2664273/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [A big silvery janitor. Penny, this can’t be how the universe works.” “In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve observed it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/a-big-silvery-janitor-penny-this-can-t-be-how-the-universe-works-in/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I was on the verge of something numinous and profound and in one more second the universe was going to crack open and arcana…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-was-on-the-verge-of-something-numinous-and-profound-and-in-one-more/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [In short, there are mysteries of science and of soul that will never be understood no matter how hard we measure, no matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/in-short-there-are-mysteries-of-science-and-of-soul-that-will-never/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The public easily confuses him who fishes in troubled waters with him who draws up water from the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-public-easily-confuses-him-who-fishes-in-troubled-waters-with-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The discipline of suffering, of great suffering- do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-discipline-of-suffering-of-great-suffering-do-you-not-know-that-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/relaxing-with-something-as-familiar-as-loneliness-is-good-discipline/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [In one sense what may pass between the pope and myself may be trivialities. In another sense the fact of talking trivialities is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-fisher/in-one-sense-what-may-pass-between-the-pope-and-myself-may-be/) [Geoffrey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-fisher/) > [You can't learn pathos or profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/you-can-t-learn-pathos-or-profundity/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [Could truth perhaps be a woman who has reasons for not permitting her reasons to be seen? Could her name perhaps be--to speak Greek--Baubo?...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/could-truth-perhaps-be-a-woman-who-has-reasons-for-not-permitting-her/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [At first there is nothing, then there is a profound nothingness, after that a blue profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/at-first-there-is-nothing-then-there-is-a-profound-nothingness-after/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [I'm glad that so many of Donald Pease's unique and revealing insights on Dr. Seuss--observations he shared with me on camera with an effusiveness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-lamothe/i-m-glad-that-so-many-of-donald-pease-s-unique-and-revealing-insights/) [Ron Lamothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-lamothe/) > [Above all you must illumine your own soul with its profundities and its shallows, and its vanities and its generosities, and say what your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/above-all-you-must-illumine-your-own-soul-with-its-profundities-and/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I think there's as much profundity and wisdom in Shakespeare, more so in fact, than those in the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-coogan/i-think-there-s-as-much-profundity-and-wisdom-in-shakespeare-more-so/) [Steve Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-coogan/) > [In peace there is profundity from which the highest respect arises from respect comes power and command therefore observe peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akkineni-nagarjuna/in-peace-there-is-profundity-from-which-the-highest-respect-arises/) [Akkineni Nagarjuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akkineni-nagarjuna/) > [Jazz music celebrates life! Human life; the range of it, the absurdity of it, the ignorance of it, the greatness of it, the intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/jazz-music-celebrates-life-human-life-the-range-of-it-the-absurdity/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) ## More by Lev Grossman > [“It was about damn time something happened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/it-was-about-damn-time-something-happened/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [We're wired to expect the world to be brighter and more meaningful and more obviously interesting than it actually is. And when we realize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/we-re-wired-to-expect-the-world-to-be-brighter-and-more-meaningful/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“He was going to sign the papers and he was going to be a motherfucking magician.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/he-was-going-to-sign-the-papers-and-he-was-going-to-be-a/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“Being brave was easy when you would rather die than give up. Fatigue meant nothing when you actually wanted to suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/being-brave-was-easy-when-you-would-rather-die-than-give-up-fatigue/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [As a writer I'm more drawn to villains who are just slightly mad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/as-a-writer-i-m-more-drawn-to-villains-who-are-just-slightly-mad/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“He wasn't in a safe little story where wrongs were automatically righted; he was still in the real world, where bad bitter things happened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/he-wasn-t-in-a-safe-little-story-where-wrongs-were-automatically/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I love rare books. Not that I own a lot of them, mind you. You couldn't quite call me a rare-book collector. 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A monkey making life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/it-s-true-eliot-said-statistically-historically-and-however-else-you/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [“God, I hope we don’t have to use that,” was all he said out loud. “Oh, come on, Quentina. We’re not looking for trouble.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/god-i-hope-we-don-t-have-to-use-that-was-all-he-said-out-loud-oh-come/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I mean, when you're tired of book reviews, you're tired of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-mean-when-you-re-tired-of-book-reviews-you-re-tired-of-life/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [My specialty as a collector is books that almost have value. When I love a book, I don't buy the first edition, because those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/my-specialty-as-a-collector-is-books-that-almost-have-value-when-i/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I used to write in a local coffee shop, but there was another guy, another writer, who kept sitting in my favorite seat. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-used-to-write-in-a-local-coffee-shop-but-there-was-another-guy/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [I don't know if I've ever derived such an immediate sense of calm and well-being from any book as I did from 'Right Ho,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-ever-derived-such-an-immediate-sense-of-calm-and/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) [Explore all 379 Lev Grossman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) ## More Profundity quotes > [At first there is nothing, then there is a profound nothingness, after that a blue profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-klein/at-first-there-is-nothing-then-there-is-a-profound-nothingness-after/) [Yves Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-klein/) > [The public easily confuses him who fishes in troubled waters with him who draws up water from the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-public-easily-confuses-him-who-fishes-in-troubled-waters-with-him/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [In peace there is profundity from which the highest respect arises from respect comes power and command therefore observe peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akkineni-nagarjuna/in-peace-there-is-profundity-from-which-the-highest-respect-arises/) [Akkineni Nagarjuna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akkineni-nagarjuna/) > [I think there's as much profundity and wisdom in Shakespeare, more so in fact, than those in the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-coogan/i-think-there-s-as-much-profundity-and-wisdom-in-shakespeare-more-so/) [Steve Coogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-coogan/) > [Above all you must illumine your own soul with its profundities and its shallows, and its vanities and its generosities, and say what your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/above-all-you-must-illumine-your-own-soul-with-its-profundities-and/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I'm glad that so many of Donald Pease's unique and revealing insights on Dr. Seuss--observations he shared with me on camera with an effusiveness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-lamothe/i-m-glad-that-so-many-of-donald-pease-s-unique-and-revealing-insights/) [Ron Lamothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-lamothe/) > [Jazz music celebrates life! Human life; the range of it, the absurdity of it, the ignorance of it, the greatness of it, the intelligence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/jazz-music-celebrates-life-human-life-the-range-of-it-the-absurdity/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [Could truth perhaps be a woman who has reasons for not permitting her reasons to be seen? Could her name perhaps be--to speak Greek--Baubo?...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/could-truth-perhaps-be-a-woman-who-has-reasons-for-not-permitting-her/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [You can't learn pathos or profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-kennedy/you-can-t-learn-pathos-or-profundity/) [Nigel Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-kennedy/) > [In one sense what may pass between the pope and myself may be trivialities. In another sense the fact of talking trivialities is itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-fisher/in-one-sense-what-may-pass-between-the-pope-and-myself-may-be/) [Geoffrey Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-fisher/) > [Relaxing with something as familiar as loneliness is good discipline for realizing the profundity of the unresolved moments of our lives. We are cheating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/relaxing-with-something-as-familiar-as-loneliness-is-good-discipline/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The discipline of suffering, of great suffering- do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-discipline-of-suffering-of-great-suffering-do-you-not-know-that-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [A man's profundity may keep him from opening on a first interview, and his caution on a second; but I should suspect his emptiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-man-s-profundity-may-keep-him-from-opening-on-a-first-interview-and/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [The amount of chiaroscuro an idea harbors is the only index of its profundity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/the-amount-of-chiaroscuro-an-idea-harbors-is-the-only-index-of-its/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [When I talk of reality, I am always thinking of essentials. Profundity is not located in some remote, inaccessible region. It is rooted in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoni-tapies/when-i-talk-of-reality-i-am-always-thinking-of-essentials-profundity/) [Antoni Tapies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoni-tapies/) [Browse all 100 Profundity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profundity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In the Order we call it ‘inverse profundity.’ We’ve observed it in any number of cases. 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