---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the sky here's very strange. I often have…"
description: "\"“the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . [fr..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg"
---

#  the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation…

![“the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . &#91;from&#93; nothing, I suppose. Just darkness. Absolute night.” quote by Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg)

> ““the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . \[from\] nothing, I suppose. Just darkness. Absolute night.””

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

## 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 perceives the sky as a solid barrier protecting humanity from the void and darkness beyond.

**In simple terms:** Seeing the sky as a protective shield.

Key Takeaway

Recognize perceived safety may be an illusion.

Themes

philosophy existential perception protection void

Mood

thoughtful melancholy

Type

philosophical poetic

When to use this quote

- contemplating nature
- existential reflection
- fear of unknown

Key Concepts

metaphor human psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- How does viewing the sky as a barrier affect your sense of security?
- What lies beyond our perceived protections?

A Different Perspective

May overlook the sky's dynamic nature.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Existentialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existentialism/)

## Related quotes

> [“Annabelle, if there is one thing I’ve learned over my years watching and protecting humans, it’s that we can talk about black and white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-p-bartels/annabelle-if-there-is-one-thing-i-ve-learned-over-my-years-watching/)

[A.P. Bartels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-p-bartels/)

> [“She may be from the sky, yet she is not so strange after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/she-may-be-from-the-sky-yet-she-is-not-so-strange-after-all/)

[Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/)

> [One world on its own is a strange enough seethe of coiling, unknowable veins of intention and chance, but two? Where two worlds mingle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/one-world-on-its-own-is-a-strange-enough-seethe-of-coiling-unknowable/)

[Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/)

> [“Comfort and reassurance and a wordless understanding that there is always darkness. In some part of us, there is absolute darkness, as much as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelley-armstrong/comfort-and-reassurance-and-a-wordless-understanding-that-there-is/)

[Kelley Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelley-armstrong/)

> [The moment I lost you, the Sun simply went out. For a time, I wandered in Darkness absolute, understanding truly, the bottomless depths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/the-moment-i-lost-you-the-sun-simply-went-out-for-a-time-i-wandered/)

[Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/)

> [“If I've learned anything in my life, it's that there is no darkness so absolute that it cannot be dispelled by the faintest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerrigan-byrne/if-i-ve-learned-anything-in-my-life-it-s-that-there-is-no-darkness-so/)

[Kerrigan Byrne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerrigan-byrne/)

> [ Clinching the \[County\] Championship is a strange sensation... There's more atmosphere in a doctor's waiting room ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hughes/clinching-the-county-championship-is-a-strange-sensation-there-s-more/)

[Simon Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hughes/)

> [It's a strange sensation to live inside another person's life, to wonder all the time what he is doing, or thinking or feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-rosoff/it-s-a-strange-sensation-to-live-inside-another-person-s-life-to/)

[Meg Rosoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-rosoff/)

> [“I had a great sensation that we were on our own in front of this colossal force. It was a strange sensation: it felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holger-eckhertz/i-had-a-great-sensation-that-we-were-on-our-own-in-front-of-this/)

Holger Eckhertz

> [“It was such a strange sensation knowing that someone loved you enough to die for you but not enough to fall in love with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fisher-amelie/it-was-such-a-strange-sensation-knowing-that-someone-loved-you-enough/)

[Fisher Amelie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fisher-amelie/)

> [I’ve been around a lot of wraiths, and he doesn’t feel like that either, though. It’s a strange sensation. Like human wrapped in evil.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-ve-been-around-a-lot-of-wraiths-and-he-doesn-t-feel-like-that/)

[Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/)

> [It's the first time it's happened to me and maybe the last. It's a strange sensation, not normal for me. I can't remember scoring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zinedine-zidane/it-s-the-first-time-it-s-happened-to-me-and-maybe-the-last-it-s-a/)

[Zinedine Zidane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zinedine-zidane/)

> [Though there was no sound, there was a change. The atmosphere, which had gone tense at my accusation, relaxed. I wondered how I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/though-there-was-no-sound-there-was-a-change-the-atmosphere-which-had/)

[Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/)

> [“My breathing calmed and I left my body. I felt myself rising up from the floor, where I was pinned. It was a very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-trujillo/my-breathing-calmed-and-i-left-my-body-i-felt-myself-rising-up-from/)

[Olga Trujillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-trujillo/)

> [“But then he would come home...and he would feel a strange sensation, like his feet growing heavy. It was as if he was sinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-addison-allen/but-then-he-would-come-home-and-he-would-feel-a-strange-sensation/)

[Sarah Addison Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-addison-allen/)

## More by Paul Bowles

> [“When I was young” … “Before I was twenty, I mean, I used to think that life was a thing that kept gaining impetus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/when-i-was-young-before-i-was-twenty-i-mean-i-used-to-think-that-life/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [A black star appears, a point of darkness in the night sky's clarity. Point of darkness and gateway to repose. Reach out, pierce the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/a-black-star-appears-a-point-of-darkness-in-the-night-sky-s-clarity/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [We've never managed, either one of us, to get all the way into life. We're hanging on to the outside for all we're worth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/we-ve-never-managed-either-one-of-us-to-get-all-the-way-into-life-we/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [Everyone is isolated from everyone else. The concept of society is like a cushion to protect us from the knowledge of that isolation. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/everyone-is-isolated-from-everyone-else-the-concept-of-society-is/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [Illness reduces man to his basic state: a cloaca in which the chemical processes continue. The meaningless hegemony of the involuntary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/illness-reduces-man-to-his-basic-state-a-cloaca-in-which-the-chemical/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“You know what?” he said with great earnestness. “I think we’re both afraid of the same thing. And for the same reason. We’ve never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/you-know-what-he-said-with-great-earnestness-i-think-we-re-both/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“... how could any young man merely sit back and wait for divine justice to take its course? It was asking the impossible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/how-could-any-young-man-merely-sit-back-and-wait-for-divine-justice/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“There could be nothing, he reflected, to equal a government which was simply the honest enforcement, by means of the sword, of the laws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/there-could-be-nothing-he-reflected-to-equal-a-government-which-was/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [Not all the ravages caused by our merciless age are tangible ones. The subtler forms of destruction, those involving only the human spirit, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/not-all-the-ravages-caused-by-our-merciless-age-are-tangible-ones-the/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“What a wonderful thing to be an American!" he said impetuously. "Yes," said Dyar automatically, never having given much thought to what it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/what-a-wonderful-thing-to-be-an-american-he-said-impetuously-yes-said/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“How peaceful it was, with the light evening breeze stirring the small leaves of the grapevine that clustered around the electric bulb, making the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/how-peaceful-it-was-with-the-light-evening-breeze-stirring-the-small/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/because-we-don-t-know-when-we-will-die-we-get-to-think-of-life-as-an/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [She was saved from prettiness by the intensity of her gaze.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/she-was-saved-from-prettiness-by-the-intensity-of-her-gaze/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“If people are living the same as always, with their bellies full of food, they'll just go on the same way. If they get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/if-people-are-living-the-same-as-always-with-their-bellies-full-of/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

> [“Scene VI (1940) It is our fault we love only the skull of Beauty Without knowing who she was, of what she died. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/scene-vi-1940-it-is-our-fault-we-love-only-the-skull-of-beauty/)

[Paul Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

[Explore all 122 Paul Bowles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/)

## More Darkness quotes

> [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/)

[Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/)

> [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/)

[Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/)

> [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/)

[Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/)

> [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/)

[Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/)

> [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/)

[Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/)

> [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/)

[Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/)

> [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/)

[Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/)

> [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/)

[anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/)

> [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/)

[Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/)

> [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/)

[Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/)

> [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/)

[Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/)

> [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/)

[Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/)

> [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/)

[Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/)

> [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/)

Nicole Gentile

[Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there, protecting us from what's behind . . . [from] nothing, I suppose. Just darkness. Absolute night.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Paul Bowles"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have-the-sensation-when-i-look-at/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Darkness"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have-the-sensation-when-i-look-at/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/paul-bowles-3731_darkness_the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have_2825781.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“the sky here's very strange. I often have the sensation when I look at it that it's a solid thing up there…” — Paul Bowles",
                "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": "Paul Bowles",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bowles/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“the sky here's very strange. I...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have-the-sensation-when-i-look-at/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bowles/the-sky-here-s-very-strange-i-often-have-the-sensation-when-i-look-at/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
