--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I cannot be grasped in the here and now…" description: "\"I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling place is much among the dead, As the yet unborn, Slightly closer to the heart of creation than..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg" --- # I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling… ![“I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling place is much among the dead, As the yet unborn, Slightly closer to the heart of creation than usual, But still not close enough.” quote by Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg) > “I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling place is much among the dead, As the yet unborn, Slightly closer to the heart of creation than usual, But still not close enough.” [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels detached from present reality, existing between death, unborn potential, and creation, yet still distant from true creative core. **In simple terms:** Feeling detached from now, between death and future creation. Key Takeaway Embrace present awareness to bridge the gap. Themes existence creativity detachment Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - artistic introspection - philosophical meditation - creative brainstorming Key Concepts metaphysics spirituality temporal liminality Questions to Reflect On - How does feeling between worlds affect your work? - Can you find grounding in the present? A Different Perspective Such liminal states may hinder decisive action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Dwelling place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dwelling-place/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Here and now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/here-and-now/) ## Related quotes > [The artist's work constitutes the only satisfactory relationship he can have with his fellow men since he seeks his real friends among the dead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-artist-s-work-constitutes-the-only-satisfactory-relationship-he/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [There are two perfectly good men, one dead, and the other unborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinese-proverbs/there-are-two-perfectly-good-men-one-dead-and-the-other-unborn/) Chinese Proverbs > [“Human beings had created words to communicate with the dead, and with those yet unborn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shion-miura/human-beings-had-created-words-to-communicate-with-the-dead-and-with/) [Shion Miura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shion-miura/) > [“The dead and the unborn are as much members of society as the living. To dishonour the dead is to reject the relation on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/on-rousseau-roger-scruton/the-dead-and-the-unborn-are-as-much-members-of-society-as-the-living/) On Rousseau Roger Scruton > [“Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/imagine-a-place-where-the-dead-rest-on-shelves-like-books-each-body/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) > [Tugay is writhing around all over the place as if he were dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-green/tugay-is-writhing-around-all-over-the-place-as-if-he-were-dead/) [Alan Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-green/) > [A person does not belong to a place until there is someone dead under the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/a-person-does-not-belong-to-a-place-until-there-is-someone-dead-under/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [“This is the last time I would ever visit the cemetery or my wife's grave, but I didn't want to expend too much effort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-scalzi/this-is-the-last-time-i-would-ever-visit-the-cemetery-or-my-wife-s/) [John Scalzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-scalzi/) > [“We place our dead in carefully tended cemeteries, strictly separate from the rest of our lives, only to be visited on anniversaries and special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-maslakovic/we-place-our-dead-in-carefully-tended-cemeteries-strictly-separate/) Neve Maslakovic > [Flower lifted a brow, dubious. 'You have to pay for a place to be dead in?' Moon shrugged. 'Sometimes, in cities. It’s a groundling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-wells/flower-lifted-a-brow-dubious-you-have-to-pay-for-a-place-to-be-dead/) [Martha Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-wells/) > [“Look into his mind, his universe. We may think it's sick, but for him, this place is a little slice of paradise. A place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tess-gerritsen/look-into-his-mind-his-universe-we-may-think-it-s-sick-but-for-him/) [Tess Gerritsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tess-gerritsen/) > [“This was the threshold to the place of the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-goodkind/this-was-the-threshold-to-the-place-of-the-dead/) [Terry Goodkind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-goodkind/) > [“knowing that to this sunken place all the dead had come, I trembled and did not wish again to speak with the lotos-faces. Yet”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft-2/knowing-that-to-this-sunken-place-all-the-dead-had-come-i-trembled/) [H.P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft-2/) > [I feel that the task of criticizing my poetry is best left to others (i.e. critics) and would much rather have it take place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-feel-that-the-task-of-criticizing-my-poetry-is-best-left-to-others/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Library: A place where the dead lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/library-a-place-where-the-dead-lie/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) ## More by Paul Klee > [Art makes something a lot more visible or audible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/art-makes-something-a-lot-more-visible-or-audible/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Children also have artistic ability, and there is wisdom in there having it! The more helpless they are, the more instructive are the examples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/children-also-have-artistic-ability-and-there-is-wisdom-in-there/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Color is the place where our brain and the universe meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/color-is-the-place-where-our-brain-and-the-universe-meet/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [See with one eye, feel with the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/see-with-one-eye-feel-with-the-other/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [“After all, it's rather difficult to achieve the exact minimum, and it involves risks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/after-all-it-s-rather-difficult-to-achieve-the-exact-minimum-and-it/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [The worst state of affairs is when science begins to concern itself with art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-worst-state-of-affairs-is-when-science-begins-to-concern-itself/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [What my art probably lacks is a kind of passionate humanity... There is no sensuous relationship, not even the noblest, between myself and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/what-my-art-probably-lacks-is-a-kind-of-passionate-humanity-there-is/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [The pictorial work was born of movement, is itself recorded movement, and is assimilated through movement (eye muscles).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-pictorial-work-was-born-of-movement-is-itself-recorded-movement/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Democracy with its semi-civilization sincerely cherishes junk. The artists power should be spiritual. But the power of the majority is material. When these worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/democracy-with-its-semi-civilization-sincerely-cherishes-junk-the/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [My hand is entirely the implement of a distant sphere. It is not my head that functions but something else, something higher, something somewhere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/my-hand-is-entirely-the-implement-of-a-distant-sphere-it-is-not-my/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [I have a clear view of 12 years of history of my inner self. First the cramped self, that self with big blinkers, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/i-have-a-clear-view-of-12-years-of-history-of-my-inner-self-first-the/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [When looking at any significant work of art, remember that a more significant one probably has had to be sacrificed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/when-looking-at-any-significant-work-of-art-remember-that-a-more/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Colour has taken hold of me; no longer do I have to chase after it. I know that it has hold of me forever.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/colour-has-taken-hold-of-me-no-longer-do-i-have-to-chase-after-it-i/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) [Explore all 111 Paul Klee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) ## More Creation quotes > [“am not suggesting that successes in academics, athletics, or vocation somehow stand outside God’s good plan. Learning and play are joys that God himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-paul-jones/am-not-suggesting-that-successes-in-academics-athletics-or-vocation/) [Timothy Paul Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-paul-jones/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. 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Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [I believe if there is a creator it will basically ask me two questions, how well did you enjoy my creation and what did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/i-believe-if-there-is-a-creator-it-will-basically-ask-me-two/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [With no other choices open to us, we'd turned our gaze seaward. The oceans were our America: they reached farther than any prairie, untamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carsten-jensen/with-no-other-choices-open-to-us-we-d-turned-our-gaze-seaward-the/) [Carsten Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carsten-jensen/) > [In the quiet moments of your day, what do you think and do? When you are with your Self and no one else, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/in-the-quiet-moments-of-your-day-what-do-you-think-and-do-when-you/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [The creation lives as genesis beneath the visible surface of the work. All intelligent people see this after the fact, but only the creative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-creation-lives-as-genesis-beneath-the-visible-surface-of-the-work/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [When I was in my teens I had a series of intensely religious experiences. They deepened my sense of God as the creator of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-linzey/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-had-a-series-of-intensely-religious/) [Andrew Linzey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-linzey/) > [If you are trying to live a life in accordance with the Bible, the concept and call to justice are inescapable. We do justice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-are-trying-to-live-a-life-in-accordance-with-the-bible-the/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [I think that storytelling and creation are very close to what the center of what magic is about. I think not just for me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/i-think-that-storytelling-and-creation-are-very-close-to-what-the/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [To be part of the creation, I must act humbly. 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And so you have the Kurds and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clapper/the-country-of-iraq-is-somewhat-of-an-artificial-creation-going-back/) [James Clapper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clapper/) [Browse all 5,225 Creation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling place is much among the dead, As the yet unborn, Slightly closer to the heart of creation than usual, But still not close enough.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Klee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now-for-my-dwelling-place-is-much/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now-for-my-dwelling-place-is-much/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2c/paul-klee-4253_creation_i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now_1232830.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I cannot be grasped in the here and now, For my dwelling place is much among the dead, As the yet unborn…” — Paul Klee", "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 Klee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I cannot be grasped in the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now-for-my-dwelling-place-is-much/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/i-cannot-be-grasped-in-the-here-and-now-for-my-dwelling-place-is-much/#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 } } ] } ```