--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: On a cosmic scale, our life is…" description: "\"On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg" --- # On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this… ![“On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.” quote by Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg) > “On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.” [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence feels tiny in the universe, but our brief lives prompt profound questions about meaning. **In simple terms:** Life is brief but meaningful. Key Takeaway Embrace curiosity despite insignificance. Themes existence meaning philosophy Mood contemplative thoughtful Type philosophical existential When to use this quote - personal reflection - academic study - spiritual contemplation Key Concepts ontology existentialism temporal perspective Questions to Reflect On - What questions give your life purpose? - How does awareness of scale affect your choices? A Different Perspective The vastness can overwhelm, causing nihilism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Meaningful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningful/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“No one had ever looked at him that way, as if life were insignificant without him and he’d never valued anyone more than he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-roberts/no-one-had-ever-looked-at-him-that-way-as-if-life-were-insignificant/) [C.J. Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-roberts/) > [Because women can do nothing except love, they've given it a ridiculous importance. They want to persuade us that it's the whole of life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/because-women-can-do-nothing-except-love-they-ve-given-it-a/) [W. 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Like when someone comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-hawkins-remember-me/whatever-you-do-in-life-will-be-insignificant-but-it-s-very-important/) Tyler Hawkins Remember Me > [Like looking through a telescope into the Milky Way and wondering if we're alone in the universe, it made me realize with the glaring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aron-ralston/like-looking-through-a-telescope-into-the-milky-way-and-wondering-if-2/) [Aron Ralston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aron-ralston/) > [“Everything you do in life will be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghandi/everything-you-do-in-life-will-be-insignificant-but-it-s-very/) [Ghandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghandi/) > [Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but its very important that you do it. Because nobody else will. Like when someone comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gandhi/whatever-you-do-in-life-will-be-insignificant-but-its-very-important/) [Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gandhi/) > [“Everything you do in life will be insignificant, but it is important that you do it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ghandi/everything-you-do-in-life-will-be-insignificant-but-it-is-important/) [Ghandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ghandi/) > [“When we feel lost in time, with only shadows of the past living in our mind; when the moment, which “was", no longer "is”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/when-we-feel-lost-in-time-with-only-shadows-of-the-past-living-in-our/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [When is a crisis reached? 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And what next?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/whenever-my-life-came-to-a-halt-the-questions-would-arise-why-and/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“It was simply a marking of time with no meaningful changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/it-was-simply-a-marking-of-time-with-no-meaningful-changes/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“Being online controls so much of our day that we often neglect to invest time with meaningful relationships offline.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/being-online-controls-so-much-of-our-day-that-we-often-neglect-to/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) ## More by Paul Ricoeur > [If it is true that there is always more than one way of construing a text, it is not true that all interpretations are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/if-it-is-true-that-there-is-always-more-than-one-way-of-construing-a/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [What must be the nature of the world... if human beings are able to introduce changes into it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/what-must-be-the-nature-of-the-world-if-human-beings-are-able-to/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Although there has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity, the hermeneutic question today seems to us a new one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/although-there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny. Myth expresses in terms of the world -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [But myth is something else than an explanation of the world, of history, and of destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/but-myth-is-something-else-than-an-explanation-of-the-world-of-2/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Man is this plural and collective unity in which the unity of destination and the differences of destinies are to be understood through each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/man-is-this-plural-and-collective-unity-in-which-the-unity-of/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There was a wise old owl who sat in a tree The less he spoke the more he heard The more he heard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-was-a-wise-old-owl-who-sat-in-a-tree-the-less-he-spoke-the-more/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Wisdom finds its literary expression in wisdom literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/wisdom-finds-its-literary-expression-in-wisdom-literature/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [There has always been a hermeneutic problem in Christianity because Christianity proceeds from a proclamation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/there-has-always-been-a-hermeneutic-problem-in-christianity-because/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [It is always possible to argue against an interpretation, to confront interpretations, to arbitrate between them and to seek for an agreement, even if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/it-is-always-possible-to-argue-against-an-interpretation-to-confront/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Hope, insofar as it is hope of resurrection, is the living contradiction of what it proceeds from and what is placed under the sign…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/hope-insofar-as-it-is-hope-of-resurrection-is-the-living/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Testimony should be a philosophical problem and not limited to legal or historical contexts where it refers to the account of a witness who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/testimony-should-be-a-philosophical-problem-and-not-limited-to-legal/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [The narrative constructs the identity of the character, what can be called his or her narrative identity, in constructing that of the story told.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-narrative-constructs-the-identity-of-the-character-what-can-be/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [Narrative identity takes part in the story's movement, in the dialectic between order and disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/narrative-identity-takes-part-in-the-story-s-movement-in-the/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) > [“The dictionary contains no metaphors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/the-dictionary-contains-no-metaphors/) [Paul Ricoeur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) [Explore all 39 Paul Ricoeur quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/) ## More Arise quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [The financial crisis we are facing today arises from the fact that there is almost no more social, cultural, natural, and spiritual capital left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/the-financial-crisis-we-are-facing-today-arises-from-the-fact-that/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [Let art, then, imitate nature, find what she desires, and follow as she directs. 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Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) Browse all 1,703 Arise quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Ricoeur" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignificant-yet-this-brief-period/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arise" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignificant-yet-this-brief-period/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68c/paul-ricoeur-16430_arise_on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignific_2219355.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time…” — Paul Ricoeur", "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 Ricoeur", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ricoeur/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "On a cosmic scale, our life...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignificant-yet-this-brief-period/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ricoeur/on-a-cosmic-scale-our-life-is-insignificant-yet-this-brief-period/#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 } } ] } ```