--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one understands eternity. One simply…" description: "\"No one understands eternity. One simply recognizes its existence.\" — Marguerite Yourcenar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_eternity_no-one-understands-eternity-one-simply-r_1094562.png" --- # No one understands eternity. One simply recognizes its… ![“No one understands eternity. One simply recognizes its existence.” quote by Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_eternity_no-one-understands-eternity-one-simply-r_1094562.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_eternity_no-one-understands-eternity-one-simply-r_1094562.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/marguerite-yourcenar-2114_eternity_no-one-understands-eternity-one-simply-r_1094562.png) > “No one understands eternity. One simply recognizes its existence.” [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eternity is beyond comprehension, yet we can acknowledge its presence **In simple terms:** We can recognize eternity without fully understanding it Key Takeaway Accept mystery while appreciating existence Themes eternity recognition philosophy Mood thoughtful serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - spiritual contemplation - artistic inspiration - scientific inquiry - life planning Key Concepts metaphysics existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with the unknown? - What rituals ground you in the present? A Different Perspective Eternity may cause existential anxiety ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Eternity Simply](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity-simply-2657821/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Recognizes Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/recognizes-existence-2846941/) [Understands Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understands-eternity-2846940/) ## Related quotes > [Whatever the theologians might say about heaven being in a state of union with God, I knew it consisted of an infinite library; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dervla-murphy/whatever-the-theologians-might-say-about-heaven-being-in-a-state-of/) [Dervla Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dervla-murphy/) > [If one understands eternity as timelessness, and not as an unending timespan, then whoever lives in the present lives for all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/if-one-understands-eternity-as-timelessness-and-not-as-an-unending/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) ## More by Marguerite Yourcenar > [“Any law too often subject to infraction is bad; it is the duty of the legislator to repeal or to change it, lest the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/any-law-too-often-subject-to-infraction-is-bad-it-is-the-duty-of-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/of-all-our-games-love-s-play-is-the-only-one-which-threatens-to/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A book may lie dormant for fifty years or for two thousand years in a forgotten corner of a library, only to reveal, upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-book-may-lie-dormant-for-fifty-years-or-for-two-thousand-years-in-a/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“To eat fruit is to welcome into oneself a fair living object, which is alien to us but is nourished and protected like us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/to-eat-fruit-is-to-welcome-into-oneself-a-fair-living-object-which-is/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything is too far away in the past, or mysteriously too close.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-is-too-far-away-in-the-past-or-mysteriously-too-close/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Writing is a perpetual choice between a thousand expressions, none of which satisfies me, none of which, above all, satisfies me without the others.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/writing-is-a-perpetual-choice-between-a-thousand-expressions-none-of/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The landscape of my days appears to be composed, like mountainous regions, of varied materials heaped up pell-mell. There I see my nature, itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-landscape-of-my-days-appears-to-be-composed-like-mountainous/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [But happiness is brittle, and if men and circumstances don't destroy it, it is threatened by ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/but-happiness-is-brittle-and-if-men-and-circumstances-don-t-destroy/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [A young musician plays scales in his room and only bores his family. A beginning writer, on the other hand, sometimes has the misfortune…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-young-musician-plays-scales-in-his-room-and-only-bores-his-family-a/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“ A amizade é, acima de tudo, certeza - é isso o que a distingue do amor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/a-amizade-acima-de-tudo-certeza-isso-o-que-a-distingue-do-amor/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“It is not by blood, anyhow, that man's true continuity is established: Alexander's direct heir is Caesar, and not the frail infant born of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/it-is-not-by-blood-anyhow-that-man-s-true-continuity-is-established/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [“Quel bel levriero... si distese sulla mia vita (Memorie di Adriano, Saeculum Aureum)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/quel-bel-levriero-si-distese-sulla-mia-vita-memorie-di-adriano/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Love is a punishment. We are punished for not having been strong enough to remain alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/love-is-a-punishment-we-are-punished-for-not-having-been-strong/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [Everything turns out to be valuable that one does for one’s self without thought of profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/everything-turns-out-to-be-valuable-that-one-does-for-one-s-self/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [The world is big … May it please the One who perchance is to expand the human heart to life's full measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/the-world-is-big-may-it-please-the-one-who-perchance-is-to-expand-the/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) [Explore all 112 Marguerite Yourcenar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) ## More Eternity quotes > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You may have some friends that come and go, but having a friend like God will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/you-may-have-some-friends-that-come-and-go-but-having-a-friend-like/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Browse all 3,482 Eternity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No one understands eternity. 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