--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We’re constantly moving dust from one…" description: "\"“We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another, only to have it replaced by more dust — entropy always wins.”\" — Pablo Picasso" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg" --- # We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another… ![“We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another, only to have it replaced by more dust — entropy always wins.” quote by Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg) > ““We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another, only to have it replaced by more dust — entropy always wins.”” [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Constantly moving matter only to be replaced, showing entropy’s dominance. **In simple terms:** Matter shifts but entropy wins. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence and focus on meaning. Themes entropy impermanence change Mood melancholic thoughtful Type scientific reflective When to use this quote - environmental policy - personal loss - technology upgrades - life transitions Key Concepts physics philosophy systems theory Questions to Reflect On - How do you find purpose amid change? - What can you preserve despite entropy? A Different Perspective Entropy is a scientific law, not a moral judgment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Dust Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust-entropy-809890/) [Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) [Entropy Wins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy-wins-809889/) [Moving Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving-dust-809887/) ## Related quotes > [“When I was very young I couldn't watch anything black and white on TV because I knew the people moving were now dust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/when-i-was-very-young-i-couldn-t-watch-anything-black-and-white-on-tv/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [“A piece of space-dust falls on your head once every day… With every breath, we inhale a bit of the story of our universe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/a-piece-of-space-dust-falls-on-your-head-once-every-day-with-every/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Another way to describe the Second Law is in terms of entropy, the degree of disorder and randomness in a system. Any spontaneous process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/another-way-to-describe-the-second-law-is-in-terms-of-entropy-the/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) > [Entropy theory, on the other hand, is not concerned with the probability of succession in a series of items but with the overall distribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-on-the-other-hand-is-not-concerned-with-the/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [“One thing seems certain. Our galaxy is now in the brief springtime of its life—a springtime made glorious by such brilliant blue-white stars as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/one-thing-seems-certain-our-galaxy-is-now-in-the-brief-springtime-of/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [“It is very desirable to have a word to express the Availability for work of the heat in a given magazine; a term for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-guthrie-tait/it-is-very-desirable-to-have-a-word-to-express-the-availability-for/) [Peter Guthrie Tait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-guthrie-tait/) > [The increase of disorder or entropy is what distinguishes the past from the future, giving a direction to time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-increase-of-disorder-or-entropy-is-what-distinguishes-the-past/) [Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/) > [You know, entropy is associated thermodynamically, in systems involving heat, with disorder. And in an analogous way, information is associated with disorder, which seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/you-know-entropy-is-associated-thermodynamically-in-systems-involving/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [“What I have said about the newspapers and the movies applies equally to the radio, to television, and even to bookselling. Thus we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norbert-wiener/what-i-have-said-about-the-newspapers-and-the-movies-applies-equally/) [Norbert Wiener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norbert-wiener/) > [“Entropy The Disintegrating Integration of Cheez-Whiz Squirts Insipid Inspiration Quoth the Oblong Eclipse of Nether-Knowledge Never Knowing Decaying Matter in a Decaying Orbit Orangutans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ubiquitous-bubba/entropy-the-disintegrating-integration-of-cheez-whiz-squirts-insipid/) [Ubiquitous Bubba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ubiquitous-bubba/) > [We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-polanyi/we-could-not-for-example-arrive-at-a-principle-like-that-of-entropy/) [Michael Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-polanyi/) > [Systems program building is an entropy-decreasing process, hence inherently metastable. Program maintenance is an entropy-increasing process, and even its most skillful execution only delays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/systems-program-building-is-an-entropy-decreasing-process-hence/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [Forgotten thought is the ultimate entropy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-lintern/forgotten-thought-is-the-ultimate-entropy/) [Neil Lintern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-lintern/) ## More by Pablo Picasso > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [When I haven't any blue I use red.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/when-i-haven-t-any-blue-i-use-red/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The Parthenon is really only a farmyard over which someone put a roof; colonades and sculptures were added because there were people in Athens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-parthenon-is-really-only-a-farmyard-over-which-someone-put-a-roof/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous... I am only a public entertainer who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/by-amusing-myself-with-all-these-games-all-this-nonsense-all-these/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [If I paint a hammer and sickle people may think it is a representation of Communism, but for me it is only a hammer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/if-i-paint-a-hammer-and-sickle-people-may-think-it-is-a/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [One never knows what one is going to do. One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite different.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/one-never-knows-what-one-is-going-to-do-one-starts-a-painting-and/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Now there is fame! Of all - hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public - fame is by far the worst. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/now-there-is-fame-of-all-hunger-misery-the-incomprehension-by-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [It takes a long time to become young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/it-takes-a-long-time-to-become-young/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth at least the truth that is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-all-know-that-art-is-not-truth-art-is-a-lie-that-makes-us-realize/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [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/) > [The best calculation is the absence of calculation. Once you have attained a certain level of recognition, others generally figure that when you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-best-calculation-is-the-absence-of-calculation-once-you-have/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [Action is the foundational key to all success. --Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/action-is-the-foundational-key-to-all-success-pablo-picasso/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [The earth doesn't have a housekeeper to do the dusting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-earth-doesn-t-have-a-housekeeper-to-do-the-dusting/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/god-is-really-only-another-artist-he-invented-the-giraffe-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/a-baby-will-make-love-stronger-days-shorter-nights-longer-bankroll/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Explore all 477 Pablo Picasso quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) ## More Dust quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/) [Cameron Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-rogers/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/gatsby-turned-out-all-right-at-the-end-it-is-what-preyed-on-gatsby/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/) [Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Browse all 1,783 Dust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another, only to have it replaced by more dust — entropy always wins.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pablo Picasso" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-place-to-another-only-to-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-place-to-another-only-to-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc1/pablo-picasso-552_quote_we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-pl_856890.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We’re constantly moving dust from one place to another, only to have it replaced by more dust — entropy…” — Pablo Picasso", "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": "Pablo Picasso", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We’re constantly moving dust from one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-place-to-another-only-to-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/we-re-constantly-moving-dust-from-one-place-to-another-only-to-have/#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 } } ] } ```