--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sky all at once is overhead dim and…" description: "\"“The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of blocks sprawl, their own horizon; the city looks like a cemetery full of weak daylight, cool a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg" --- # The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of… ![“The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of blocks sprawl, their own horizon; the city looks like a cemetery full of weak daylight, cool and a little wrong, making Ella feel a little put upon, like leap-year day—nothing in itself, but a nudge jostling every other day.” quote by Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg) > ““The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of blocks sprawl, their own horizon; the city looks like a cemetery full of weak daylight, cool and a little wrong, making Ella feel a little put upon, like leap-year day—nothing in itself, but a nudge jostling every other day.”” [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The city feels oppressive and surreal, making Ella uneasy, as if time itself nudges her daily life. **In simple terms:** Ella feels unsettled by the bleak cityscape. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and adjust to unsettling environments. Themes urban alienation perception time psychology Mood melancholic reflective Type descriptive literary When to use this quote - daily commute - urban planning - mental health - creative writing Key Concepts existential dread environmental influence Questions to Reflect On - How does environment shape mood? - What small changes could improve the city’s feel? A Different Perspective The description may be overly poetic, obscuring concrete issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Day Nudge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-nudge-3793312/) [Daylight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daylight/) [Ella Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ella-feel-3793310/) [Like Leap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-leap-3251176/) [Weak Daylight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak-daylight-3793311/) ## Related quotes > [I shift, an infinitesimal movement, towards him. It is like the leap from a waterfall. I do not know, until then, what I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-miller/i-shift-an-infinitesimal-movement-towards-him-it-is-like-the-leap/) [Madeline Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-miller/) > [“When there was nothing but space between you, everything felt like a leap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-e-smith/when-there-was-nothing-but-space-between-you-everything-felt-like-a/) [Jennifer E. Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-e-smith/) > [Look if you like, but you will have to leap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/look-if-you-like-but-you-will-have-to-leap/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The first thing I think about is music, and the last thing I think about is music. I'm like some Monk. I don't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zimmer/the-first-thing-i-think-about-is-music-and-the-last-thing-i-think/) [Hans Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zimmer/) > [The sovereignty of America has just been eroded in plain daylight by Clinton and the Congress, who take an oath to the Constitution. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/the-sovereignty-of-america-has-just-been-eroded-in-plain-daylight-by/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [We take a lot of things for granted in our lives, such as gravity, air, daylight and time. Yet time is one of God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-barnett/we-take-a-lot-of-things-for-granted-in-our-lives-such-as-gravity-air/) [Tommy Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-barnett/) > [And when an architect has designed a house with large windows, which is a necessity today in order to pull the daylight into these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-jacobsen/and-when-an-architect-has-designed-a-house-with-large-windows-which/) [Arne Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-jacobsen/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [You see these thick curtains shut out the daylight: artificial light suits me a great deal better; it's absolutely steady, and much more exciting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/you-see-these-thick-curtains-shut-out-the-daylight-artificial-light/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Ive only daylight to keep me warm, only darkness to hold me as I sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ive-only-daylight-to-keep-me-warm-only-darkness-to-hold-me-as-i-sleep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Never walk near the bed; to a ghost your ankle is your most vulnerable part-once in bed, you're safe; he may lie around under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/never-walk-near-the-bed-to-a-ghost-your-ankle-is-your-most-vulnerable/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [He says one word, nodding into the daylight. "Look." It's an astounding word. It's a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/he-says-one-word-nodding-into-the-daylight-look-it-s-an-astounding/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [The single aim of my life is that every child is: free to be a child, free to grow and develop, free to eat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-satyarthi/the-single-aim-of-my-life-is-that-every-child-is-free-to-be-a-child/) [Kailash Satyarthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-satyarthi/) > [We'll walk together holding hands, and kiss in broad daylight, and love each other as much as we want to, and no one will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/we-ll-walk-together-holding-hands-and-kiss-in-broad-daylight-and-love/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) ## More by Michael Cisco > [Ask anyone what that means, what it means to see a miracle, and they will say that it's something impossible, but they mean that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/ask-anyone-what-that-means-what-it-means-to-see-a-miracle-and-they/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [“Echoing streets melt into dark autumn rooms—melt to black plastic bags inflated by the wind and spinning on playground blacktop like free-floating punctuation...the horizon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/echoing-streets-melt-into-dark-autumn-rooms-melt-to-black-plastic/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [Poetry restores language by breaking it, and I think that much contemporary writing restores fantasy, as a genre of writing in contrast to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/poetry-restores-language-by-breaking-it-and-i-think-that-much/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [“What it must feel like to lie back with cut wrists in a warm bath, a voluptuous dwindling feeling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/what-it-must-feel-like-to-lie-back-with-cut-wrists-in-a-warm-bath-a/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [“Anyone could say that a miracle is something impossible, but they say it thoughtlessly, mindlessly, because most people have such weak imaginations they couldn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/anyone-could-say-that-a-miracle-is-something-impossible-but-they-say/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [“My exuberance breaks things, breaks me. It marches me up to people and elicits from me declarations of love, if only to give me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/my-exuberance-breaks-things-breaks-me-it-marches-me-up-to-people-and/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [“The wind seems to be blowing through the gaps in the conversation like the rushing of empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/the-wind-seems-to-be-blowing-through-the-gaps-in-the-conversation/) [Michael Cisco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/) > [Cadavers and spirits are human refuse, and they are absurdly difficult to dispose of properly. 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"Look." It's an astounding word. It's a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-destefano/he-says-one-word-nodding-into-the-daylight-look-it-s-an-astounding/) [Lauren DeStefano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-destefano/) > [Never walk near the bed; to a ghost your ankle is your most vulnerable part-once in bed, you're safe; he may lie around under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/never-walk-near-the-bed-to-a-ghost-your-ankle-is-your-most-vulnerable/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“Have you found your life distasteful? My life did and does smack sweet. Was your youth of pleasure wasteful? Mine I save and hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/have-you-found-your-life-distasteful-my-life-did-and-does-smack-sweet/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Ive only daylight to keep me warm, only darkness to hold me as I sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ive-only-daylight-to-keep-me-warm-only-darkness-to-hold-me-as-i-sleep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You see these thick curtains shut out the daylight: artificial light suits me a great deal better; it's absolutely steady, and much more exciting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/you-see-these-thick-curtains-shut-out-the-daylight-artificial-light/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [And when an architect has designed a house with large windows, which is a necessity today in order to pull the daylight into these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-jacobsen/and-when-an-architect-has-designed-a-house-with-large-windows-which/) [Arne Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-jacobsen/) > [We take a lot of things for granted in our lives, such as gravity, air, daylight and time. Yet time is one of God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-barnett/we-take-a-lot-of-things-for-granted-in-our-lives-such-as-gravity-air/) [Tommy Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-barnett/) > [The sovereignty of America has just been eroded in plain daylight by Clinton and the Congress, who take an oath to the Constitution. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/the-sovereignty-of-america-has-just-been-eroded-in-plain-daylight-by/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [The first thing I think about is music, and the last thing I think about is music. I'm like some Monk. I don't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zimmer/the-first-thing-i-think-about-is-music-and-the-last-thing-i-think/) [Hans Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zimmer/) > [When you're a regular gal, you look in the rearview mirror, and in the bright daylight you see that line around your mouth, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-stone/when-you-re-a-regular-gal-you-look-in-the-rearview-mirror-and-in-the/) [Sharon Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-stone/) > [I saw clear as daylight how strange it is that not a single person living in this mad world has had the daring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-saw-clear-as-daylight-how-strange-it-is-that-not-a-single-person/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The temptation is to stay inside; to subside into the kind of recluse whom neighborhood children regard with derision and little awe; to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-temptation-is-to-stay-inside-to-subside-into-the-kind-of-recluse/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) [Browse all 405 Daylight quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daylight/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of blocks sprawl, their own horizon; the city looks like a cemetery full of weak daylight, cool and a little wrong, making Ella feel a little put upon, like leap-year day—nothing in itself, but a nudge jostling every other day.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Cisco" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and-grey-puzzle-of-blocks-sprawl/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Daylight" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and-grey-puzzle-of-blocks-sprawl/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fa/michael-cisco-38605_daylight_the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and_430110.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The sky all at once is overhead dim and grey, puzzle of blocks sprawl, their own horizon; the city looks…” — Michael Cisco", "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 Cisco", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cisco/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The sky all at once is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and-grey-puzzle-of-blocks-sprawl/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cisco/the-sky-all-at-once-is-overhead-dim-and-grey-puzzle-of-blocks-sprawl/#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 } } ] } ```