--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile…" description: "\"The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for communicating how small we are over time and space.\" — Neil deGrasse Tyson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png" --- # The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for… ![“The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for communicating how small we are over time and space.” quote by Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png) > “The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for communicating how small we are over time and space.” [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The cosmic calendar helps people grasp humanity’s tiny place in the vast timeline of the universe. **In simple terms:** Shows how small we are in time and space. Key Takeaway Use analogies to convey scale. Themes science humility perspective Mood wonderful thoughtful Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - classrooms - public talks - media presentations Key Concepts cosmology education Questions to Reflect On - How does scale affect your life choices? - What other metaphors reveal our insignificance? A Different Perspective Analogies can oversimplify complex concepts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time and space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-and-space/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [We humans appear on the cosmic calendar so recently that our recorded history occupies only the last few seconds of the last minute of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-humans-appear-on-the-cosmic-calendar-so-recently-that-our-recorded/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [The cosmic calendar compresses the local history of the universe into a single year. If the universe began on January 1st it was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-cosmic-calendar-compresses-the-local-history-of-the-universe-into/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [For me, one of the most fertile consequences of the space program is the extent to which it stimulates people to innovate because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/for-me-one-of-the-most-fertile-consequences-of-the-space-program-is/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Mars once was wet and fertile. It's now bone dry. Something bad happened on Mars. I want to know what happened on Mars so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/mars-once-was-wet-and-fertile-it-s-now-bone-dry-something-bad/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There was a transition going on - Baghdad being the intellectual capital of the world where major advances were made in agriculture and mathematics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/there-was-a-transition-going-on-baghdad-being-the-intellectual/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [In astrophysics, we care about how matter, motion and energy manifest in objects and phenomenon in the universe. Stars are born. They live out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-astrophysics-we-care-about-how-matter-motion-and-energy-manifest/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [So while you're getting ripped apart head to toe as you fall into a black hole, you will also extrude through the fabric of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/so-while-you-re-getting-ripped-apart-head-to-toe-as-you-fall-into-a/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I've never been one of those who wanted to fill my calendar up 90 percent of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-gottfried/i-ve-never-been-one-of-those-who-wanted-to-fill-my-calendar-up-90/) [Gilbert Gottfried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-gottfried/) > [More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/more-software-projects-have-gone-awry-for-lack-of-calendar-time-than/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [I have now been an officer in this Church for a very long time. I am an old man who cannot deny the calendar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/i-have-now-been-an-officer-in-this-church-for-a-very-long-time-i-am/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [It is not without trepidation that I have appropriated the codes of the Sublime and the Picturesque in my work. After all, serious photographers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pfahl/it-is-not-without-trepidation-that-i-have-appropriated-the-codes-of/) [John Pfahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pfahl/) > [There are only two days on my calendar... today and the day of judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/there-are-only-two-days-on-my-calendar-today-and-the-day-of-judgment/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The ways in which acquired savants show up are usually the same ways that congenital, or non-acquired, savant syndrome shows up. They tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darold-treffert/the-ways-in-which-acquired-savants-show-up-are-usually-the-same-ways/) [Darold Treffert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darold-treffert/) > [The battle for our hearts is fought on the pages of our calendar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/the-battle-for-our-hearts-is-fought-on-the-pages-of-our-calendar/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) ## More by Neil deGrasse Tyson > [I don't want to go into space because of war. I think we would if it was triggered. If China said they want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-go-into-space-because-of-war-i-think-we-would-if-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Quantum physics fluctuates all the time. But now the fluctuations are not just particles coming into and out of existence, which happens all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/quantum-physics-fluctuates-all-the-time-but-now-the-fluctuations-are/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The Pacific is the best toilet for satellites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-pacific-is-the-best-toilet-for-satellites/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [... informed ignorance provides the natural state of mind for research scientists at the ever-shifting frontiers of knowledge. People who believe themselves ignorant of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/informed-ignorance-provides-the-natural-state-of-mind-for-research/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [If you seek only easy problems to solve, then ultimately, there'll be nothing about you to distinguish yourself from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-you-seek-only-easy-problems-to-solve-then-ultimately-there-ll-be/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The caricature of science is that we hold tight to the theories we have, and shun challenges to them. That's just not true. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-caricature-of-science-is-that-we-hold-tight-to-the-theories-we/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [New generations of humans inherit the acquired discoveries of generations past, allowing cosmic insight to accumulate without limit. Each discovery of science therefore adds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/new-generations-of-humans-inherit-the-acquired-discoveries-of/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [ They \[scientists of centuries past\] call on God only from the lonely and precarious edge of incomprehension. Where they feel certain about their explanations,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/they-scientists-of-centuries-past-call-on-god-only-from-the-lonely/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [We explore our environment, more than we are compelled to utter poetry, when we're toddlers. We start doing that later. Before that happens, every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-explore-our-environment-more-than-we-are-compelled-to-utter-poetry/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/you-can-t-have-people-making-decisions-about-the-future-of-the-world/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Science surrounds you. It's not something that you can step aside, step over or push out of your way because you were never good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/science-surrounds-you-it-s-not-something-that-you-can-step-aside-step/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The idea that God resides in the unknown is what philosophers call the God of the gaps. And we have this thing called science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-idea-that-god-resides-in-the-unknown-is-what-philosophers-call/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Everybody's got money for vacation time. Look at how much we all spend just to get - well, I get sick on the loop-the-loop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/everybody-s-got-money-for-vacation-time-look-at-how-much-we-all-spend/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) [Explore all 1,143 Neil deGrasse Tyson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) ## More Calendars quotes > [To divide one's life by years is of course to tumble into a trap set by our own arithmetic. The calendar consents to carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifton-fadiman/to-divide-one-s-life-by-years-is-of-course-to-tumble-into-a-trap-set/) [Clifton Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifton-fadiman/) > [The battle for our hearts is fought on the pages of our calendar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/the-battle-for-our-hearts-is-fought-on-the-pages-of-our-calendar/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [The ways in which acquired savants show up are usually the same ways that congenital, or non-acquired, savant syndrome shows up. They tend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darold-treffert/the-ways-in-which-acquired-savants-show-up-are-usually-the-same-ways/) [Darold Treffert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darold-treffert/) > [There are only two days on my calendar... today and the day of judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/there-are-only-two-days-on-my-calendar-today-and-the-day-of-judgment/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [It is not without trepidation that I have appropriated the codes of the Sublime and the Picturesque in my work. After all, serious photographers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pfahl/it-is-not-without-trepidation-that-i-have-appropriated-the-codes-of/) [John Pfahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pfahl/) > [I have now been an officer in this Church for a very long time. I am an old man who cannot deny the calendar.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/i-have-now-been-an-officer-in-this-church-for-a-very-long-time-i-am/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-brooks/more-software-projects-have-gone-awry-for-lack-of-calendar-time-than/) [Fred Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-brooks/) > [I've never been one of those who wanted to fill my calendar up 90 percent of the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-gottfried/i-ve-never-been-one-of-those-who-wanted-to-fill-my-calendar-up-90/) [Gilbert Gottfried](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-gottfried/) > [There is a small segment of people with autism that have savant skills, where they can memorize entire maps of whole entire city. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/there-is-a-small-segment-of-people-with-autism-that-have-savant/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [Time, by moments, steals away, First the hour, and then the day; Small the daily loss appears, Yet it soon amounts to years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-newton/time-by-moments-steals-away-first-the-hour-and-then-the-day-small-the/) [John Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-newton/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The calendar? A mere convention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-ratushinskaya/the-calendar-a-mere-convention/) Irina Ratushinskaya > [Next time!' In what calendar are kept the records of those next times which never come?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-hunt-jackson/next-time-in-what-calendar-are-kept-the-records-of-those-next-times/) [Helen Hunt Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-hunt-jackson/) > [I saw a close friend of mine the other day. . . . He said, "Stephen, why haven't you called me?" I said, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/i-saw-a-close-friend-of-mine-the-other-day-he-said-stephen-why-haven/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [“A story conducted by the time of a clock and calendars alone would be a story not of human beings but of mechanical toys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lascelles/a-story-conducted-by-the-time-of-a-clock-and-calendars-alone-would-be/) [Mary Lascelles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lascelles/) Browse all 258 Calendars quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for communicating how small we are over time and space.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil deGrasse Tyson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-mode-for-communicating-how/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Calendars" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-mode-for-communicating-how/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/528/neil-degrasse-tyson-143_calendars_the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-m_2793393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The cosmic calendar is quite a fertile mode for communicating how small we are over time and space.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson", "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": "Neil deGrasse Tyson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The cosmic calendar is quite a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-mode-for-communicating-how/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-cosmic-calendar-is-quite-a-fertile-mode-for-communicating-how/#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 } } ] } ```