--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If 'dead' matter has reared up this…" description: "\"“If 'dead' matter has reared up this curious landscape of fiddling crickets, song sparrows, and wondering men, it must be plain even to the most devote..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/loren-eiseley-3848_life_if-dead-matter-has-reared-up-this-curiou_1318399.jpg" --- # If 'dead' matter has reared up this curious landscape of… ![“If 'dead' matter has reared up this curious landscape of fiddling crickets, song sparrows, and wondering men, it must be plain even to the most devoted materialists that the matter of which he speaks contains amazing, if not dreadful, powers, and may not impossibly be, as Thomas Hardy has…” quote by Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/loren-eiseley-3848_life_if-dead-matter-has-reared-up-this-curiou_1318399.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/loren-eiseley-3848_life_if-dead-matter-has-reared-up-this-curiou_1318399.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/loren-eiseley-3848_life_if-dead-matter-has-reared-up-this-curiou_1318399.jpg) > ““If 'dead' matter has reared up this curious landscape of fiddling crickets, song sparrows, and wondering men, it must be plain even to the most devoted materialists that the matter of which he speaks contains amazing, if not dreadful, powers, and may not impossibly be, as Thomas Hardy has suggested, 'but one mask of many worn by the Great Face behind.”” [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Matter, even when dead, can generate complex life and consciousness, suggesting hidden powers beyond materialist views. **In simple terms:** Dead matter can create life and consciousness. Key Takeaway Recognize unseen potentials in the world. Themes science philosophy existence mystery materialism Mood wonderful reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - environmental study - philosophical debate - creative writing Key Concepts emergent complexity cosmic consciousness anthropic principle Questions to Reflect On - What unseen forces shape reality? - How do we balance materialism with mystery? A Different Perspective Materialist explanations may overlook non‑physical influences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Devoted Materialists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devoted-materialists-4385323/) [Hardy Suggested](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardy-suggested-4385322/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Materialists Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/materialists-matter-4385321/) [Matter Speaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-speaks-4385324/) [Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning/) [Meaning of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-of-life/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thomas-hardy/) ## Related quotes > [ “Stilletos of a frozen stillicide \[...\] In the lovely line heading this comment the reader should note the last word. 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He did not appear to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-mason/west-country-novelist-thomas-hardy-almost-did-not-survive-his-birth/) [Phil Mason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-mason/) > [“I The moving sun-shapes on the spray, The sparkles where the brook was flowing, Pink faces, plightings, moonlit May, These were the things we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-nuttall/i-the-moving-sun-shapes-on-the-spray-the-sparkles-where-the-brook-was/) [Christopher Nuttall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-nuttall/) > [“During any prolonged activity one tends to forget original intentions. But I believe that, when making a start on A Month in the Country,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-l-carr/during-any-prolonged-activity-one-tends-to-forget-original-intentions/) [J.L. 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Nor is it dark or light. It is contained within ourselves; its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-future-is-neither-ahead-nor-behind-on-one-side-or-another-nor-is/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Out of the choked Devonian waters emerged sight and sound and the music that rolls invisible through the composer's brain. They are there still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/out-of-the-choked-devonian-waters-emerged-sight-and-sound-and-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [One could not pluck a flower without troubling a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/one-could-not-pluck-a-flower-without-troubling-a-star/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“I once saw, on a flower pot in my own living room, the efforts of a field mouse to build a remembered field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/i-once-saw-on-a-flower-pot-in-my-own-living-room-the-efforts-of-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The secret, if one may paraphrase a savage vocabulary, lies in the egg of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-secret-if-one-may-paraphrase-a-savage-vocabulary-lies-in-the-egg/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Without the gift of flowers and the infinite diversity of their fruits, man and bird, if they had continued to exist at all, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/without-the-gift-of-flowers-and-the-infinite-diversity-of-their/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Black magic, the magic of the primeval chaos, blots out or transmogrifies the true form of things. At the stroke of twelve the princess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/black-magic-the-magic-of-the-primeval-chaos-blots-out-or/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) [Explore all 121 Loren Eiseley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. 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