--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I mean, d'you know what eternity is?…" description: "\"“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg" --- # I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big… ![“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-" -"What little bird?" said Aziraphale suspiciously. -"This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-" -"The same bird…” quote by Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg) > ““I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-" -"What little bird?" said Aziraphale suspiciously. -"This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-" -"The same bird every thousand years?" -Crowley hesitated. "Yeah," he said. -"Bloody ancient bird, then." -"Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies-" -"-limps-" -"-flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak-" -"Hold on. You can't do that. Between here and the end of the universe there's loads of-" The angel waved a hand expansively, if a little unsteadily. "Loads of buggerall, dear boy." -"But it gets there anyway," Crowley persevered. -"How?" -"It doesn't matter!" -"It could use a space ship," said the angel. Crowley subsided a bit. "Yeah," he said. "If you like. Anyway, this bird-" -"Only it is the end of the universe we're talking about," said Aziraphale. "So it'd have to be one of those space ships where your descendants are the ones who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants, you say, When you get to the Mountain, you've got to-" He hesitated. "What have they got to do?" -"Sharpen its beak on the mountain," said Crowley. "And then it flies back-" -"-in the space ship-" -"And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again," said Crowley quickly. There was a moment of drunken silence. -"Seems a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak," mused Aziraphale. -"Listen," said Crowley urgently, "the point is that when the bird has worn the mountain down to nothing, right, then-" Aziraphale opened his mouth. Crowley just knew he was going to make some point about the relative hardness of birds' beaks and granite mountains, and plunged on quickly. -"-then you still won't have finished watching The Sound of Music." Aziraphale froze. -"And you'll enjoy it," Crowley said relentlessly. "You really will." -"My dear boy-" -"You won't have a choice." -"Listen-" -"Heaven has no taste." -"Now-" -"And not one single sushi restaurant." A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face.”” [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A whimsical dialogue uses a bird sharpening its beak on a mountain to illustrate endless, perhaps futile, cycles and the absurdity of grand plans. **In simple terms:** Endless cycles can seem pointless yet persist. Key Takeaway Embrace the absurdity of endless tasks. Themes humor philosophy absurdity Mood playful thoughtful Type satirical contemplative When to use this quote - creative writing - theatrical performance - philosophical debate Key Concepts infinity purpose effort Questions to Reflect On - What does the bird symbolize for you? - Do endless tasks ever feel meaningful? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex existential questions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Serious face](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious-face/) [Sound of music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound-of-music/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [“One of the nice thing about Time, Crowley always said, was that it was steadily taking him further away from the fourteenth century, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/one-of-the-nice-thing-about-time-crowley-always-said-was-that-it-was/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [If there is only 24 hours to save the universe why are you talking to us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-lynch/if-there-is-only-24-hours-to-save-the-universe-why-are-you-talking-to/) [Declan Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declan-lynch/) > [“The universe is talking. 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"I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-am-i-now-alai-still-good-at-what-at-anything-there-s-a-million/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [I've seen the end of the universe, and it happens to be in the United States and, oddly enough, it's in Houston, Texas. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-black/i-ve-seen-the-end-of-the-universe-and-it-happens-to-be-in-the-united/) [Lewis Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-black/) > [Los Angeles is like a beauty parlor at the end of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-mortimer/los-angeles-is-like-a-beauty-parlor-at-the-end-of-the-universe/) [Emily Mortimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-mortimer/) > [“There ya go, end of the universe, butterfingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-doctor-david-tennant/there-ya-go-end-of-the-universe-butterfingers/) [The Doctor David Tennant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-doctor-david-tennant/) ## More by Neil Gaiman > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. 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If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You can tell the date of an old science fiction novel by every word on the page. Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“The quickest way is sometimes the longest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-quickest-way-is-sometimes-the-longest/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“They were spells, spelled with words to make worlds, waiting for me, in the pages of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-were-spells-spelled-with-words-to-make-worlds-waiting-for-me-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/finish-what-you-re-writing-whatever-you-have-to-do-to-finish-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [What do stars do? They shine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-do-stars-do-they-shine/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-get-on-with-your-own-life-lettie-gave-it-to-you-you-just-have-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Eyes will not see you. Minds will not hold you. Where you are is nothing and nobody”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/eyes-will-not-see-you-minds-will-not-hold-you-where-you-are-is/) [neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) [Explore all 2,526 Neil Gaiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## 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": "“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird-\" -\"What little bird?\" said Aziraphale suspiciously. -\"This little bird I'm talking about. And every thousand years-\" -\"The same bird every thousand years?\" -Crowley hesitated. \"Yeah,\" he said. -\"Bloody ancient bird, then.\" -\"Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies-\" -\"-limps-\" -\"-flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak-\" -\"Hold on. You can't do that. Between here and the end of the universe there's loads of-\" The angel waved a hand expansively, if a little unsteadily. \"Loads of buggerall, dear boy.\" -\"But it gets there anyway,\" Crowley persevered. -\"How?\" -\"It doesn't matter!\" -\"It could use a space ship,\" said the angel. Crowley subsided a bit. \"Yeah,\" he said. \"If you like. Anyway, this bird-\" -\"Only it is the end of the universe we're talking about,\" said Aziraphale. \"So it'd have to be one of those space ships where your descendants are the ones who get out at the other end. You have to tell your descendants, you say, When you get to the Mountain, you've got to-\" He hesitated. \"What have they got to do?\" -\"Sharpen its beak on the mountain,\" said Crowley. \"And then it flies back-\" -\"-in the space ship-\" -\"And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again,\" said Crowley quickly. There was a moment of drunken silence. -\"Seems a lot of effort just to sharpen a beak,\" mused Aziraphale. -\"Listen,\" said Crowley urgently, \"the point is that when the bird has worn the mountain down to nothing, right, then-\" Aziraphale opened his mouth. Crowley just knew he was going to make some point about the relative hardness of birds' beaks and granite mountains, and plunged on quickly. -\"-then you still won't have finished watching The Sound of Music.\" Aziraphale froze. -\"And you'll enjoy it,\" Crowley said relentlessly. \"You really will.\" -\"My dear boy-\" -\"You won't have a choice.\" -\"Listen-\" -\"Heaven has no taste.\" -\"Now-\" -\"And not one single sushi restaurant.\" A look of pain crossed the angel's suddenly very serious face.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil Gaiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there-s-this-big-mountain-see-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there-s-this-big-mountain-see-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ac/neil-gaiman-29_eternity_i-mean-d-you-know-what-eternity-is-there_2586933.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I mean, d'you know what eternity is? 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