---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: About the fearful sphere which we…"
description: "\"About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre may be calculated and whose circumference is physically established, there spin metaphors whose..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg"
---

#  About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre…

![“About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre may be calculated and whose circumference is physically established, there spin metaphors whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference shows itself only through holes in the dark.” quote by Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg)

> “About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre may be calculated and whose circumference is physically established, there spin metaphors whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference shows itself only through holes in the dark.”

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The passage uses geometric metaphor to describe fear as a pervasive sphere whose center is calculable, but its boundaries are only visible through gaps, suggesting that fear is both measurable and mysterious.

**In simple terms:** Fear is like a sphere with a known center but hidden edges.

Key Takeaway

Explore and illuminate hidden aspects of fear.

Themes

fear perception metaphor

Mood

thoughtful introspective

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- personal anxieties
- social tensions
- creative writing

Key Concepts

psychology philosophy geometry

Questions to Reflect On

- What hidden fears shape your life?
- How can you reveal the unknown parts of fear?

A Different Perspective

Fear’s complexity may resist simple measurement.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Fearful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fearful/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/)

## Related quotes

> [The world has no circumference. It would certainly have a circumference if it had a centre, in which case it would contain within itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-of-cusa/the-world-has-no-circumference-it-would-certainly-have-a/)

[Nicholas of Cusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-of-cusa/)

> [The home is the centre and circumference, the start and the finish, of most of our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-perkins-gilman/the-home-is-the-centre-and-circumference-the-start-and-the-finish-of/)

[Charlotte Perkins Gilman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-perkins-gilman/)

> [“Thus content with an inner sphere which they inhabit together, it is not immediately that the outward world can obtrude itself upon their notice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/thus-content-with-an-inner-sphere-which-they-inhabit-together-it-is/)

[Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/)

> [Love is the centre and circumference; The cause and aim of all things--'tis the key To joy and sorrow, and the recompense For all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/love-is-the-centre-and-circumference-the-cause-and-aim-of-all-things/)

[Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/)

> [A person who is able to be a living centre of peace in today's world and who is able to radiate that peace powerfully,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-assagioli/a-person-who-is-able-to-be-a-living-centre-of-peace-in-today-s-world/)

[Roberto Assagioli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-assagioli/)

> [An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail , listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/an-article-on-playwrights-in-the-daily-mail-listed-according-to-hard/)

[Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/)

> [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/)

[Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/)

> [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/)

[Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/)

> [In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/in-order-to-the-attaining-of-all-useful-knowledge-this-is-most/)

[Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/)

> [The entire hierarchy of angels can best be described as an endlessly vast sphere of beings, who surround an unknowable centre-point, which is called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-godwin/the-entire-hierarchy-of-angels-can-best-be-described-as-an-endlessly/)

[Malcolm Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-godwin/)

> [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/)

[Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/)

> [I don't really like being in the centre of attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-thunburg/i-don-t-really-like-being-in-the-centre-of-attention/)

[Greta Thunburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-thunburg/)

> [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [“She had gone into herself and was looking for a centre, a pivotal point between what she had been and what she would become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-had-gone-into-herself-and-was-looking-for-a-centre-a-pivotal/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Michael Ayrton

> [Michelangelo's contemporaries thought him the greatest artist who ever lived and called him 'divine.' His reputation as sculptor, architect, painter and draughtsman has not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/michelangelo-s-contemporaries-thought-him-the-greatest-artist-who/)

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

> [Certainly, the history of my life and the works of art which have especially enriched it is precisely that: the depiction or incantation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/certainly-the-history-of-my-life-and-the-works-of-art-which-have/)

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

> [Pride is a wound and vanity is the scab on it. One's life picks at the scab to open that wound again and again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/pride-is-a-wound-and-vanity-is-the-scab-on-it-one-s-life-picks-at-the/)

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

> [The process of drawing is... the process of putting the visual intelligence into action, the very mechanics of visual thought. Unlike painting and sculpture...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/the-process-of-drawing-is-the-process-of-putting-the-visual/)

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

> [Pride is a wound, and vanity is the scab on it. One's life picks at the scab to open the wound again and again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/pride-is-a-wound-and-vanity-is-the-scab-on-it-one-s-life-picks-at-the-2/)

[Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

[Explore all 6 Michael Ayrton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/)

## More Centre quotes

> [“She had gone into herself and was looking for a centre, a pivotal point between what she had been and what she would become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/she-had-gone-into-herself-and-was-looking-for-a-centre-a-pivotal/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Plant flowers in others' gardens and your life becomes a bouquet! Submitted by Lisa Letto, Coordinator, Nutrition Resource and Volunteer Centre, College of Pharmacy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/plant-flowers-in-others-gardens-and-your-life-becomes-a-bouquet/)

[Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/)

> [At the centre of the human heart is the longing for an absolute good, a longing which is always there and is never appeased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/at-the-centre-of-the-human-heart-is-the-longing-for-an-absolute-good/)

[Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/)

> [I don't really like being in the centre of attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-thunburg/i-don-t-really-like-being-in-the-centre-of-attention/)

[Greta Thunburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-thunburg/)

> [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/)

[Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/)

> [The entire hierarchy of angels can best be described as an endlessly vast sphere of beings, who surround an unknowable centre-point, which is called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-godwin/the-entire-hierarchy-of-angels-can-best-be-described-as-an-endlessly/)

[Malcolm Godwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-godwin/)

> [In order to the attaining of all useful knowledge this is most necessary, that we fear God; we are not qualified to profit by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/in-order-to-the-attaining-of-all-useful-knowledge-this-is-most/)

[Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/)

> [Memory that yearns to join the centre, a limb remembering the body from which it has been severed, like those bamboo thighs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-walcott/memory-that-yearns-to-join-the-centre-a-limb-remembering-the-body/)

[Derek Walcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-walcott/)

> [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/)

[Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/)

> [An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail , listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/an-article-on-playwrights-in-the-daily-mail-listed-according-to-hard/)

[Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/)

> [A person who is able to be a living centre of peace in today's world and who is able to radiate that peace powerfully,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-assagioli/a-person-who-is-able-to-be-a-living-centre-of-peace-in-today-s-world/)

[Roberto Assagioli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-assagioli/)

> [There is a book called San Francisco Tape Music Centre:1960s Counterculture and the Avant-Garde and this book describes everything that you want to know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-oliveros/there-is-a-book-called-san-francisco-tape-music-centre-1960s/)

[Pauline Oliveros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-oliveros/)

> [In the humanist ideal, the mainstream is where interesting debate, the generating of new ideas and creativity take place. In rational society this mainstream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/in-the-humanist-ideal-the-mainstream-is-where-interesting-debate-the/)

[John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/)

> [Your country is one of the most notorious centres of trading in endangered species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-philip/your-country-is-one-of-the-most-notorious-centres-of-trading-in/)

[Prince Philip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince-philip/)

> [If you are playing King Lear you are the centre of attention anyway. You don't need to draw attention to yourself. It's all laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mckellen/if-you-are-playing-king-lear-you-are-the-centre-of-attention-anyway/)

[Ian Mckellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mckellen/)

Browse all 761 Centre quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre may be calculated and whose circumference is physically established, there spin metaphors whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference shows itself only through holes in the dark.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michael Ayrton"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabit-whose-centre-may-be/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Centre"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabit-whose-centre-may-be/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/51d/michael-ayrton-55332_centre_about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabi_1677957.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“About the fearful sphere which we inhabit, whose centre may be calculated and whose circumference is…” — Michael Ayrton",
                "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": "Michael Ayrton",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "About the fearful sphere which we...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabit-whose-centre-may-be/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/about-the-fearful-sphere-which-we-inhabit-whose-centre-may-be/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
