--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Statistically, the probability of any one…" description: "\"“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that the mere fact of our existence should keep us all in a state of contented ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg" --- # Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here… ![“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that the mere fact of our existence should keep us all in a state of contented dazzlement.” quote by Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg) > ““Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that the mere fact of our existence should keep us all in a state of contented dazzlement.”” [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our existence is astronomically unlikely, prompting awe and humility about life’s rarity. **In simple terms:** Life is extremely unlikely, inspiring wonder. Key Takeaway Cherish existence and stay humble. Themes existence awe humility Mood wonderful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - contemplating life - philosophical discussions - spiritual reflection Key Concepts probability cosmic perspective anthropic principle Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing rarity affect daily choices? - What responsibilities arise from this perspective? A Different Perspective It may lead to fatalism or nihilism if misinterpreted. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Probability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/probability/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [By the mere fact that we do not go forward, we go backward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/by-the-mere-fact-that-we-do-not-go-forward-we-go-backward/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Why is it so important - what others have done? Why does it become sacred by the mere fact of not being your own?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/why-is-it-so-important-what-others-have-done-why-does-it-become/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“As every reader knows in his or her heart, there is much more to truth than mere fact.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-croggon/as-every-reader-knows-in-his-or-her-heart-there-is-much-more-to-truth/) [Alison Croggon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-croggon/) > [Mere fact has no chance of being formally perfect. It will get in the way, it will be all elbows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/mere-fact-has-no-chance-of-being-formally-perfect-it-will-get-in-the/) [Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/) > [Statistically and emotionally, I believe that the way I can be of help to society is by doing what I know and what I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/statistically-and-emotionally-i-believe-that-the-way-i-can-be-of-help/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [The univers is statistically more likely to be ironic than not,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-univers-is-statistically-more-likely-to-be-ironic-than-not/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“statistically noticeable” or “statistically detectable” instead of “statistically significant”! That would be truer to the meaning of the method,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jordan-ellenberg/statistically-noticeable-or-statistically-detectable-instead-of/) [Jordan Ellenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jordan-ellenberg/) > [I could prove God statistically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-h-gallup/i-could-prove-god-statistically/) George H Gallup > [I don't know if this is statistically right, but I'm assuming I have the most Grammys of anyone my age, but I haven't won…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-don-t-know-if-this-is-statistically-right-but-i-m-assuming-i-have/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone - the chances that all the functions of an individual would just happen is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-gallup/i-could-prove-god-statistically-take-the-human-body-alone-the-chances/) George Gallup > [My goal is to get better every year and statistically that has happened in a lot of different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jameis-winston/my-goal-is-to-get-better-every-year-and-statistically-that-has/) [Jameis Winston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jameis-winston/) > [I do not consider myself the best dribbler. You can look at that statistically.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diogo-jota/i-do-not-consider-myself-the-best-dribbler-you-can-look-at-that/) [Diogo Jota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diogo-jota/) > [Statistically speaking, when a woman says I'm not going to have sex with you, she'll often have sex with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/statistically-speaking-when-a-woman-says-i-m-not-going-to-have-sex/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [“we are statistically punished for being nice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/we-are-statistically-punished-for-being-nice/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) ## More by Lewis Thomas > [“We are endowed with genes which code out our reaction to beavers and otters, maybe our reaction to each other as well. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-endowed-with-genes-which-code-out-our-reaction-to-beavers-and/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“It is not a simple thing to decide where we fit, for at one time or another in our lives we manage to organize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-not-a-simple-thing-to-decide-where-we-fit-for-at-one-time-or/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It is in our genes to understand the universe if we can, to keep trying even if we cannot, and to be enchanted by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-is-in-our-genes-to-understand-the-universe-if-we-can-to-keep/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [If an idea cannot move on its own, pushing it doesn't help; best to let it lie there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/if-an-idea-cannot-move-on-its-own-pushing-it-doesn-t-help-best-to-let/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Left to ourselves, mechanistic and autonomic, we hanker for friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/left-to-ourselves-mechanistic-and-autonomic-we-hanker-for-friends/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I do not agree with this century's fashion of running down the human species as a failed try, a doomed sport. At our worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-do-not-agree-with-this-century-s-fashion-of-running-down-the-human/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [It would seem to me... an offense against nature, for us to come on the same scene endowed as we are with the curiosity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/it-would-seem-to-me-an-offense-against-nature-for-us-to-come-on-the/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [The drive to be useful is encoded in our genes. But when we gather in very large numbers, as in the modern nation-state, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-drive-to-be-useful-is-encoded-in-our-genes-but-when-we-gather-in/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [I would send the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft. But that would be boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/i-would-send-the-complete-works-of-johann-sebastian-bach-into-outer/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“Nature abhors a long silence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/nature-abhors-a-long-silence/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The future is too interesting and dangerous to be entrusted to any predictable, reliable agency. We need all the fallibility we can get. Most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-future-is-too-interesting-and-dangerous-to-be-entrusted-to-any/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [We pass the word around; we ponder how the case is put by different people, we read the poetry; we meditate over the literature;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-pass-the-word-around-we-ponder-how-the-case-is-put-by-different/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [“The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-uniformity-of-the-earth-s-life-more-astonishing-than-its/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Having long suspected that there was something alive in there, running the place, separate from everything else, absolutely individual and independent, we've celebrated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/having-long-suspected-that-there-was-something-alive-in-there-running/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Explore all 173 Lewis Thomas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) ## More Existence quotes > [Getting on the cover of TIME guarantees the existence of opposition in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/getting-on-the-cover-of-time-guarantees-the-existence-of-opposition/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [It does not seem to me to be sufficiently recognized everywhere among the officials that the existence or non-existence of our people and Empire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-von-hindenburg/it-does-not-seem-to-me-to-be-sufficiently-recognized-everywhere-among/) [Paul von Hindenburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-von-hindenburg/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [One of the things I regret about not putting in that book or I think it's there but I didn't really elaborate on it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/one-of-the-things-i-regret-about-not-putting-in-that-book-or-i-think/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/my-mind-rebels-at-stagnation-give-me-problems-give-me-work-give-me/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [May God bless each of us in our calls to serve. May our faith strengthen as we serve in righteousness, faithfully keeping the commandments.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-tom-perry/may-god-bless-each-of-us-in-our-calls-to-serve-may-our-faith/) [L. Tom Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-tom-perry/) > [Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/never-belong-to-a-crowd-never-belong-to-a-nation-never-belong-to-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) > [Just as everybody has the vote including women, I think children should, because as a child is conscious of itself then it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gertrude-stein/just-as-everybody-has-the-vote-including-women-i-think-children/) [Gertrude Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gertrude-stein/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Browse all 7,646 Existence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that the mere fact of our existence should keep us all in a state of contented dazzlement.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Thomas" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Existence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/lewis-thomas-2299_existence_statistically-the-probability-of-any-one_932371.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that the mere fact of our existence…” — Lewis Thomas", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lewis Thomas", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Statistically, the probability of any one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/statistically-the-probability-of-any-one-of-us-being-here-is-so-small-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```