--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At first I couldn't see anything. I…" description: "\"“At first I couldn't see anything. I fumbled along the cobblestone street. I lit a cigarette. Suddenly the moon appeared from behind a black cloud, lig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f36/octavio-paz-1790_cosmos_at-first-i-couldn-t-see-anything-i-fumbl_2725804.jpg" --- # At first I couldn't see anything. I fumbled along the… ![“At first I couldn't see anything. I fumbled along the cobblestone street. I lit a cigarette. Suddenly the moon appeared from behind a black cloud, lighting a white wall that was crumbled in places. I stopped, blinded by such whiteness. Wind whistled slightly. I breathed the air of the tamarinds…” quote by Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f36/octavio-paz-1790_cosmos_at-first-i-couldn-t-see-anything-i-fumbl_2725804.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f36/octavio-paz-1790_cosmos_at-first-i-couldn-t-see-anything-i-fumbl_2725804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f36/octavio-paz-1790_cosmos_at-first-i-couldn-t-see-anything-i-fumbl_2725804.jpg) > ““At first I couldn't see anything. I fumbled along the cobblestone street. I lit a cigarette. Suddenly the moon appeared from behind a black cloud, lighting a white wall that was crumbled in places. I stopped, blinded by such whiteness. Wind whistled slightly. I breathed the air of the tamarinds. The night hummed, full of leaves and insects. Crickets bivouacked in the tall grass. I raised my head: up there the stars too had set up camp. I thought that the universe was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink, were nothing but pauses and syllables, scattered phrases from that dialogue. What word could it be, of which I was only a syllable? Who speaks the word? To whom is it spoken? I threw my cigarette down on the sidewalk. Falling, it drew a shining curve, shooting out brief sparks like a tiny comet. I walked a long time, slowly. I felt free, secure between the lips that were at that moment speaking me with such happiness. The night was a garden of eyes.”” [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator reflects on night’s sensory richness, seeing the universe as a dialogue of signs. **In simple terms:** Night reveals a poetic conversation of signs. Key Takeaway Observe and listen to subtle universal cues. Themes nature philosophy perception Mood contemplative poetic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - creative writing - mindfulness Key Concepts signs dialogue existential wonder Questions to Reflect On - What does the night symbolize for the narrator? - How do signs shape personal meaning? A Different Perspective Interpretation can be overly subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cosmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [“Their voices came in clearly from the golf course. The laughing and yelping made a raucous counterpoint to the metronomic tock-tock-tock of the bunny's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/their-voices-came-in-clearly-from-the-golf-course-the-laughing-and/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“I will whisper secrets in your ears, just nod yes and be silent. A soul moon appeared in the path of my heart. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/i-will-whisper-secrets-in-your-ears-just-nod-yes-and-be-silent-a-soul/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [“A few shy stars and a pale moon had already appeared in the sky, ready to take up reign from the sun that had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irina-shapiro/a-few-shy-stars-and-a-pale-moon-had-already-appeared-in-the-sky-ready/) Irina Shapiro > [“The sky grew orange and pink, a pale ghost of the full moon appeared above Salem, waiting to glow brilliant in the velvet black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-newberry/the-sky-grew-orange-and-pink-a-pale-ghost-of-the-full-moon-appeared/) [Amber Newberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-newberry/) > [“At Loch Mor we walked down a spongy hill to a valley. The sun was dropping then dropped, leaving a sky of frilly reds.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/at-loch-mor-we-walked-down-a-spongy-hill-to-a-valley-the-sun-was/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“How does she do that?” Bird asked. I didn’t have to ask who the she was. I knew it was Tiffany. Nor did I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-hawthorne/how-does-she-do-that-bird-asked-i-didn-t-have-to-ask-who-the-she-was/) [Rachel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-hawthorne/) > [“Everything starts with a thought. The universe is very sensitive to a human being. Even just one single clear thought, goes off into the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rajkotwala/everything-starts-with-a-thought-the-universe-is-very-sensitive-to-a/) [Sarah Rajkotwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rajkotwala/) > [Fear only exists when you do not understand that you have the power to project thought and that the Universe will respond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/fear-only-exists-when-you-do-not-understand-that-you-have-the-power/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [“Carter thought the Universe was a lot like God, except that the Universe didn't have a book telling you how to be and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-thornton/carter-thought-the-universe-was-a-lot-like-god-except-that-the/) [Marshall Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-thornton/) > [“I thought, There is nowhere else in the universe I would rather be at this moment. I could count the places I would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/i-thought-there-is-nowhere-else-in-the-universe-i-would-rather-be-at-2/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [Somerset Maugham ... wrote somewhere that "Nobody is any better than he ought to be."... I carried it along with me as a working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/somerset-maugham-wrote-somewhere-that-nobody-is-any-better-than-he/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [The Logos was both that which thought, and the thing which it thought: thinker and thought together. The universe, then, is thinker and thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/the-logos-was-both-that-which-thought-and-the-thing-which-it-thought/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“The world had opened out and so had the universe, or what she since had thought must have been the universe, lying all spread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-d-simak/the-world-had-opened-out-and-so-had-the-universe-or-what-she-since/) [Clifford D. Simak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-d-simak/) > [“Just the thought of you and all the universe conspires against me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-limbu/just-the-thought-of-you-and-all-the-universe-conspires-against-me/) [J. Limbu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-limbu/) > [“When you send out a powerful thought into the universe, you send out ripples to all parts of it which come back to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-richards/when-you-send-out-a-powerful-thought-into-the-universe-you-send-out/) [Stephen Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-richards/) ## More by Octavio Paz > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [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 thought that the world was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-thought-that-the-world-was-a-vast-system-of-signs-a-conversation/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Changes are inseparable from democracy. To defend democracy is to defend the possibility of change; in turn, changes alone can strengthen democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/changes-are-inseparable-from-democracy-to-defend-democracy-is-to/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Grace is gratuitous; it is a gift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/grace-is-gratuitous-it-is-a-gift/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Death is the mother of forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/death-is-the-mother-of-forms/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [It is not proper to project our feelings onto things or to attribute our own sensations and passions to them. Can it also be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/it-is-not-proper-to-project-our-feelings-onto-things-or-to-attribute/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Without democracy freedom is a chimera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/without-democracy-freedom-is-a-chimera/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“I went to the little window and inhaled the country air. One could hear the breathing of the night, feminine, enormous. ("The Blue Bouquet")”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/i-went-to-the-little-window-and-inhaled-the-country-air-one-could/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [A glass pitcher, a wicker basket, a tunic of coarse cloth. Their beauty is inseparable from their function. Handicrafts belong to a world existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/a-glass-pitcher-a-wicker-basket-a-tunic-of-coarse-cloth-their-beauty/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Between going and staying the day wavers, in love with its own transparency. The circular afternoon is now a bay where the world in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/between-going-and-staying-the-day-wavers-in-love-with-its-own/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Two bodies face to face Are at times two waves And the night is an ocean. Two bodies face to face Are sometimes two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/two-bodies-face-to-face-are-at-times-two-waves-and-the-night-is-an/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Writers, you know, are the beggars of Western society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/writers-you-know-are-the-beggars-of-western-society/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/solitude-is-the-profoundest-fact-of-the-human-condition/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [“...you are you and your body of steam, you and your face of night, you and your hair, unhurried lightning, you cross the street…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/you-are-you-and-your-body-of-steam-you-and-your-face-of-night-you-and/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) [Explore all 150 Octavio Paz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More Cosmos quotes > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [... 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/) > [“The necessity of nothingness does not create anything. The real value and meaning of the Being are not in its necessity but in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/the-necessity-of-nothingness-does-not-create-anything-the-real-value/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [The entire cosmos is one vast burning bush, permeated by the fire of the divine power and glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallistos-ware/the-entire-cosmos-is-one-vast-burning-bush-permeated-by-the-fire-of/) [Kallistos Ware](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallistos-ware/) > [If the estimated age of the cosmos were shortened to seventy-two years, a human life would take about ten seconds. But look at time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-grudin/if-the-estimated-age-of-the-cosmos-were-shortened-to-seventy-two/) [Robert Grudin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-grudin/) > [I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-don-t-want-to-be-the-embarrassment-of-the-galaxy-to-have-had-the/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“When a person dies, they cross over from the realm of freedom to the realm of slavery. Life is freedom, and dying is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vasily-grossman/when-a-person-dies-they-cross-over-from-the-realm-of-freedom-to-the/) [Vasily Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vasily-grossman/) > [“We take off into the cosmos, ready for anything: for solitude, for hardship, for exhaustion, death. Modesty forbids us to say so, but there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanis-aw-lem/we-take-off-into-the-cosmos-ready-for-anything-for-solitude-for/) [Stanisław Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanis-aw-lem/) > [As George Bernard Shaw observed: "All great truths begin as blasphemies." Yet I have to say, the idea that there is intelligent life elsewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/as-george-bernard-shaw-observed-all-great-truths-begin-as-blasphemies/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [If the purpose of the universe was to create humans then the cosmos was embarrassingly inefficient about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/if-the-purpose-of-the-universe-was-to-create-humans-then-the-cosmos/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Finally, if life happened by chance on this earth and evolved upward, then it could seemingly happen elsewhere in the universe. But if, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hunt/finally-if-life-happened-by-chance-on-this-earth-and-evolved-upward/) [Dave Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hunt/) > [“Zero is a gateway.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/zero-is-a-gateway/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Just as a wave is a movement of the whole ocean, you are the energy of the cosmos. Don't underestimate your power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/just-as-a-wave-is-a-movement-of-the-whole-ocean-you-are-the-energy-of/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Science is not just there for technology. It's part of what addressing who you are in the universe and understanding your place in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/science-is-not-just-there-for-technology-it-s-part-of-what-addressing/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) > [“the entire operating system of the cosmos could be summed up by a single overriding command: spread energy!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/the-entire-operating-system-of-the-cosmos-could-be-summed-up-by-a/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) [Browse all 783 Cosmos quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmos/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“At first I couldn't see anything. I fumbled along the cobblestone street. I lit a cigarette. Suddenly the moon appeared from behind a black cloud, lighting a white wall that was crumbled in places. I stopped, blinded by such whiteness. Wind whistled slightly. I breathed the air of the tamarinds. The night hummed, full of leaves and insects. Crickets bivouacked in the tall grass. I raised my head: up there the stars too had set up camp. I thought that the universe was a vast system of signs, a conversation between giant beings. My actions, the cricket's saw, the star's blink, were nothing but pauses and syllables, scattered phrases from that dialogue. What word could it be, of which I was only a syllable? Who speaks the word? To whom is it spoken? I threw my cigarette down on the sidewalk. Falling, it drew a shining curve, shooting out brief sparks like a tiny comet. I walked a long time, slowly. I felt free, secure between the lips that were at that moment speaking me with such happiness. 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