--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The universe was once conceived as the…" description: "\"“The universe was once conceived as the passive stage upon which the dramatic conflict of human wills was enacted and resolved. Today man has discovere..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/maya-deren-41439_identity_the-universe-was-once-conceived-as-the-p_2802365.jpg" --- # The universe was once conceived as the passive stage upon… ![“The universe was once conceived as the passive stage upon which the dramatic conflict of human wills was enacted and resolved. Today man has discovered that that which seemed simple and stable is, instead, complex and volatile; his own inventions have put into motion new forces, toward which he…” quote by Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/maya-deren-41439_identity_the-universe-was-once-conceived-as-the-p_2802365.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/maya-deren-41439_identity_the-universe-was-once-conceived-as-the-p_2802365.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/maya-deren-41439_identity_the-universe-was-once-conceived-as-the-p_2802365.jpg) > ““The universe was once conceived as the passive stage upon which the dramatic conflict of human wills was enacted and resolved. Today man has discovered that that which seemed simple and stable is, instead, complex and volatile; his own inventions have put into motion new forces, toward which he has yet to invent a new relationship. Unlike Ulysses, he can no longer travel over a universe stable in space and time to find adventures; nor can he solve intimate antagonisms with an adversary sportingly suitable in stature. Rather, each individual is the center of a personal vortex; and the aggressive variety and enormity of the adventures which swirl about and confront him are unified only by his personal identity… The integrity of the individual identity is counterpointed to the volatile character of a relativistic universe.”” [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human identity confronts a chaotic, ever‑changing universe, making personal meaning essential. **In simple terms:** Life is volatile; personal identity anchors us. Key Takeaway Embrace adaptability, define your own purpose. Themes identity change existentialism Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career transitions - technological disruption - personal crises Key Concepts philosophy relativism complex systems Questions to Reflect On - What does personal identity mean in a rapidly shifting world? - How can you stay grounded amid uncertainty? A Different Perspective Identity may be fragmented by external forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Individual Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-identity/) [Integrity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/integrity/) [New relationship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-relationship/) [Personal identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-identity/) [Personal Vortex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-vortex-3458772/) [Space and time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space-and-time/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Universe Conceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe-conceived-3458770/) [Universe Stable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe-stable-3458771/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [For all that we have done, as a civilization, as individuals, the universe is not stable, and nor is any single thing within it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-k-morgan/for-all-that-we-have-done-as-a-civilization-as-individuals-the/) [Richard K. Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-k-morgan/) > [Up until 1920, women couldn't vote. Until 1974, married women couldn't get their own credit cards or, in some cases, their own loans. Basically,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-traister/up-until-1920-women-couldn-t-vote-until-1974-married-women-couldn-t/) [Rebecca Traister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-traister/) > [“A woman who is herself only a sexual object, lives finally in a world of objects, unable to touch in others the individual identity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-friedan/a-woman-who-is-herself-only-a-sexual-object-lives-finally-in-a-world/) [Betty Friedan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-friedan/) > [A-ha is not me, Paul, or Magne: it is its own individual that has its own identity and characteristics. It is a result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morten-harket/a-ha-is-not-me-paul-or-magne-it-is-its-own-individual-that-has-its/) [Morten Harket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morten-harket/) > [“When people die they retain their individual identity on the other side. 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So when we think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr/change-has-to-do-with-an-organizations-identity-not-just-its/) [Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrith-vanlon-smith-jr/) > [Our attitude toward abortion . . . is fixed by our knowledge that according to an eternal plan all of the spirit children of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/our-attitude-toward-abortion-is-fixed-by-our-knowledge-that-according/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [“Every individual is multicultural; cultures are not monolithic islands but criss-crossed alluvial plains. Individual identity stems from the encounter of multiple collective identities within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tzevtan-todorov/every-individual-is-multicultural-cultures-are-not-monolithic-islands/) [Tzevtan Todorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tzevtan-todorov/) > [“In true community, the person is protected. Indeed, a solitary person may take a lonely stand in witnessing to a particular truth. Dissent is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-augsburger/in-true-community-the-person-is-protected-indeed-a-solitary-person/) [David Augsburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-augsburger/) > [“Contemplation of the movement and shifting composition of sea-waves is a useful symbolical approach; for, not only are the waves and the sea identical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hoover/contemplation-of-the-movement-and-shifting-composition-of-sea-waves/) [Thomas Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hoover/) > [To create value in the world, we must first recognize our own individual identity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/to-create-value-in-the-world-we-must-first-recognize-our-own/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) ## More by Maya Deren > [The task of cinema or any other art form is not to translate hidden messages of the unconscious soul into art but to experiment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/the-task-of-cinema-or-any-other-art-form-is-not-to-translate-hidden/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [I am not greedy. I do not seek to possess the major portion of your days. I am content if, on those rare occasions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/i-am-not-greedy-i-do-not-seek-to-possess-the-major-portion-of-your/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [It is not morbidity which draws crowds to scenes of disaster or unusual joy. It is the desire to participate in a moment when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/it-is-not-morbidity-which-draws-crowds-to-scenes-of-disaster-or/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [And what more could I possibly ask as an artist than that your most precious visions, however rare, assume sometimes the forms of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/and-what-more-could-i-possibly-ask-as-an-artist-than-that-your-most/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [Art is actually based on the notion that if you would really celebrate an idea or a principle, you must think, you must plan,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/art-is-actually-based-on-the-notion-that-if-you-would-really/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [Myth is the facts of the mind made manifest in a fiction of matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/myth-is-the-facts-of-the-mind-made-manifest-in-a-fiction-of-matter/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [The way back is always shorter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/the-way-back-is-always-shorter/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/i-make-my-pictures-for-what-hollywood-spends-on-lipstick/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) > [Use your freedom to experiment with visual ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-deren/use-your-freedom-to-experiment-with-visual-ideas/) [Maya Deren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) [Explore all 10 Maya Deren quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-deren/) ## More Identity quotes > [I don't doubt that straight white men have identity issues and identity complexes and struggle with defining themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-simien/i-don-t-doubt-that-straight-white-men-have-identity-issues-and/) [Justin Simien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-simien/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. It gives you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-ayling-ellis/in-the-hearing-world-i-m-constantly-having-to-lip-read-and-trying-to/) [Rose Ayling-Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-ayling-ellis/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [You have expressive nationalism, I mean very identity driven, which shaped each other a lot of that in the Middle East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/you-have-expressive-nationalism-i-mean-very-identity-driven-which/) [Subrahmanyam Jaishankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subrahmanyam-jaishankar/) > [Family over friends, because real friends are family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-over-friends-because-real-friends-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think everybody, or the great majority of human beings, have this aspiration to become other: to live a different identity, at least for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/i-think-everybody-or-the-great-majority-of-human-beings-have-this/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [The language we share is at the core of our identity as citizens, and our ticket to full participation in American political life. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-i-hayakawa/the-language-we-share-is-at-the-core-of-our-identity-as-citizens-and/) [S. I. Hayakawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-i-hayakawa/) > [Tell me how much a nation knows about its own language, and I will tell you how much that nation knows about its own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ciardi/tell-me-how-much-a-nation-knows-about-its-own-language-and-i-will/) [John Ciardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ciardi/) > [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-intoxication-of-the-ego-of-i-am/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“At the moment, then, of Man’s victory over Nature, we find the whole human race subjected to some individual men, and those individuals subjected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/at-the-moment-then-of-man-s-victory-over-nature-we-find-the-whole/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [She might be without country, without nation, but inside her there was still a being that could exist and be free, that could simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-maas/she-might-be-without-country-without-nation-but-inside-her-there-was/) [Sharon Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-maas/) > [“Self-realization or self-knowing or awakening is about knowing/ becoming conscious of our true nature and living in harmony with the universe in an ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-vazhakunnathu/self-realization-or-self-knowing-or-awakening-is-about-knowing/) [Thomas Vazhakunnathu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-vazhakunnathu/) > [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [“Why were there no words that spoke positively about being concerned about the self? Why was there only negative connotation in terms like "selfish",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-dalton/why-were-there-no-words-that-spoke-positively-about-being-concerned/) [A.J. Dalton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-dalton/) [Browse all 11,949 Identity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The universe was once conceived as the passive stage upon which the dramatic conflict of human wills was enacted and resolved. Today man has discovered that that which seemed simple and stable is, instead, complex and volatile; his own inventions have put into motion new forces, toward which he has yet to invent a new relationship. 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