--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the whole earth is infinitely small in…" description: "\"If the whole earth is infinitely small in comparison with the sphere of the stars, what is man compared with all these created beings!\" — Maimonides" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/maimonides-2639_astronomy_if-the-whole-earth-is-infinitely-small-i_3004829.png" --- # If the whole earth is infinitely small in comparison with… ![“If the whole earth is infinitely small in comparison with the sphere of the stars, what is man compared with all these created beings!” quote by Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/maimonides-2639_astronomy_if-the-whole-earth-is-infinitely-small-i_3004829.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/maimonides-2639_astronomy_if-the-whole-earth-is-infinitely-small-i_3004829.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/maimonides-2639_astronomy_if-the-whole-earth-is-infinitely-small-i_3004829.png) > “If the whole earth is infinitely small in comparison with the sphere of the stars, what is man compared with all these created beings!” [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings are minuscule compared to the vast cosmos and its myriad creations. **In simple terms:** Man is tiny in the universe. Key Takeaway Embrace humility about our place. Themes philosophy cosmology humility Mood thoughtful humble Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - scientific inquiry - spiritual contemplation Key Concepts existentialism scale creation Questions to Reflect On - What does this perspective inspire in you? - How does it affect your sense of responsibility? A Different Perspective Human significance can feel meaningless without purpose. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astronomy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astronomy/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) ## Related quotes > [For me, being alove it is being close to nature, either by the beach or near the ocean. When I look around and see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-landin/for-me-being-alove-it-is-being-close-to-nature-either-by-the-beach-or/) [Betsy Landin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-landin/) > [Lord, how you afflict your lovers! But everything is small in comparison to what you give them afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/lord-how-you-afflict-your-lovers-but-everything-is-small-in/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [“The sky mingled with the Earth infinitely in the tenderness of rain drops.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meeta-ahluwalia/the-sky-mingled-with-the-earth-infinitely-in-the-tenderness-of-rain/) [Meeta Ahluwalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meeta-ahluwalia/) > [“There is no folly of the beast of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-is-no-folly-of-the-beast-of-the-earth-which-is-not-infinitely/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“I think; here I lie under a haystack… The tiny space I occupy is so infinitely small in comparison with the rest of space,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/i-think-here-i-lie-under-a-haystack-the-tiny-space-i-occupy-is-so/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [To those who ask what the infinitely small quantity in mathematics is, we answer that it is actually zero. Hence there are not so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonhard-euler/to-those-who-ask-what-the-infinitely-small-quantity-in-mathematics-is/) [Leonhard Euler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonhard-euler/) > [Man lives between the infinitely large and the infinitely small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/man-lives-between-the-infinitely-large-and-the-infinitely-small/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [A quantity which is increased or decreased by an infinitely small quantity is neither increased nor decreased.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-bernoulli/a-quantity-which-is-increased-or-decreased-by-an-infinitely-small/) Johann Bernoulli > [I really am only one infinitely small part of an aching humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrice-sparks/i-really-am-only-one-infinitely-small-part-of-an-aching-humanity/) [Beatrice Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrice-sparks/) > [If a nonnegative quantity was so small that it is smaller than any given one, then it certainly could not be anything but zero.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonhard-euler/if-a-nonnegative-quantity-was-so-small-that-it-is-smaller-than-any/) [Leonhard Euler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonhard-euler/) > [It is required to find the infinitely big inside what's infinitely small to feel the presence of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pythagoras/it-is-required-to-find-the-infinitely-big-inside-what-s-infinitely/) [Pythagoras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pythagoras/) > [The role of the infinitely small in nature is infinitely great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/the-role-of-the-infinitely-small-in-nature-is-infinitely-great/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [There is no beyond, there is only here, the infinitely small, infinitely great and utterly demanding present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iris-murdoch/there-is-no-beyond-there-is-only-here-the-infinitely-small-infinitely/) [Iris Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iris-murdoch/) > [I love all things, not only the grand but the infinitely small: thimble, spurs, plates, flower vases…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/i-love-all-things-not-only-the-grand-but-the-infinitely-small-thimble/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“The infinitely small have a pride infinitely great.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-infinitely-small-have-a-pride-infinitely-great/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Maimonides > [The so-called evils are evils only in relation to a certain thing, and that which is evil in relation to a certain existing thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-so-called-evils-are-evils-only-in-relation-to-a-certain-thing-and/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Hear the truth from whomever says it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/hear-the-truth-from-whomever-says-it/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent one to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/it-is-better-and-more-satisfactory-to-acquit-a-thousand-guilty/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [God cannot be compared to anything. Note this.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/god-cannot-be-compared-to-anything-note-this/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Even the existence of this corporeal element, low as it in reality is, because it is the source of death and all evils, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/even-the-existence-of-this-corporeal-element-low-as-it-in-reality-is/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [WHEN reading my present treatise, bear in mind that by "faith" we do not understand merely that which is uttered with the lips, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/when-reading-my-present-treatise-bear-in-mind-that-by-faith-we-do-not/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [The philosophers likewise assume that in Nature there is nothing in vain, so that everything that is not the product of human industry serves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/the-philosophers-likewise-assume-that-in-nature-there-is-nothing-in/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [That which is produced with intention has passed over from non-existence to existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/that-which-is-produced-with-intention-has-passed-over-from-non/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [No form remains permanently in a substance; a constant change takes place, one form is taken off and another is put on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/no-form-remains-permanently-in-a-substance-a-constant-change-takes/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Further, there are things of which the mind understands one part, but remains ignorant of the other; and when man is able to comprehend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/further-there-are-things-of-which-the-mind-understands-one-part-but/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Now, we occupy a lowly position, both in space and rank in comparison with the heavenly sphere, and the Almighty is Most High not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/now-we-occupy-a-lowly-position-both-in-space-and-rank-in-comparison/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [If men possessed wisdom, which stands in the same relation to the form of man as the sight to the eye, they would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/if-men-possessed-wisdom-which-stands-in-the-same-relation-to-the-form/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [If one avoids haughtiness to the utmost extent and is exceedingly humble, he is termed a saint, and this is the standard of saintliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/if-one-avoids-haughtiness-to-the-utmost-extent-and-is-exceedingly/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [Know that the difficulties which lead to confusion in the question what is the purpose of the Universe or of any of its parts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/know-that-the-difficulties-which-lead-to-confusion-in-the-question/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) > [You will find that there is no other difference of opinion as regards any portions of the Universe, except that the philosophers believe in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maimonides/you-will-find-that-there-is-no-other-difference-of-opinion-as-regards/) [Maimonides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) [Explore all 156 Maimonides quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maimonides/) ## More Astronomy quotes > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. 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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 > [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/) > [“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." ... quote has been credited to Les Brown.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylviek/shoot-for-the-moon-even-if-you-miss-it-you-will-land-among-the-stars/) Sylviek > [When certain stars take you under their wing, it does help as they gauge your potential and are willing to work with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikram-bhatt/when-certain-stars-take-you-under-their-wing-it-does-help-as-they/) [Vikram Bhatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikram-bhatt/) > [We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. We are beholden to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/we-were-put-here-as-witnesses-to-the-miracle-of-life-we-see-the-stars/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. 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