--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Time is a sphere made up of language…" description: "\"“Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells, senses and sounds, a sphere in which you and the world coexist, an instrument with which to put..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg" --- # Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells… ![“Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells, senses and sounds, a sphere in which you and the world coexist, an instrument with which to put the world in order and comprehend it, one of the reasons for your survival. But if time grows too tight, then it becomes a reason for doing away…” quote by Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg) > ““Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells, senses and sounds, a sphere in which you and the world coexist, an instrument with which to put the world in order and comprehend it, one of the reasons for your survival. But if time grows too tight, then it becomes a reason for doing away with yourself. Time is not an illusion. Nor is it the only reality. It is one possible, widespread form for encounters between the mind and the surrounding world. But not the only possible one. If you are driven by curiosity, or if you are ill and cannot survive any other way, then you can enter the laboratory and touch time. And then it will change.”” [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Time is portrayed as a multi‑sensory construct that organizes experience, but when it becomes oppressive it can drive self‑destruction; curiosity can transform our relationship with it. **In simple terms:** Time shapes life, but can also trap us; curiosity can free us. Key Takeaway Balance structure with curiosity. Themes time perception survival curiosity Mood reflective contemplative hopeful Type philosophical literary inspirational When to use this quote - creative work - scientific research - personal crisis - artistic expression Key Concepts phenomenology existentialism narrative structure Questions to Reflect On - How does your perception of time affect your choices? - Can curiosity reshape constraints? A Different Perspective Time can become a source of pressure, limiting freedom. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Time is an illusion. Sensations are an illusion. Reality, for the most part, is an illusion. The illusion is, perhaps, the most concrete and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/time-is-an-illusion-sensations-are-an-illusion-reality-for-the-most/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [“Time is an illusion created by the ego for the sole purpose of denying the unbreakable bond between cause and effect. Mindfulness joins the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-main/time-is-an-illusion-created-by-the-ego-for-the-sole-purpose-of/) [Darren Main](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-main/) > [“Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time." Page 212.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/time-is-an-illusion-that-only-makes-us-pant-i-survived-because-i/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Time is an illusion. Look at mother nature. The wind blows when it pleases and the trees grow when they see fit to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/time-is-an-illusion-look-at-mother-nature-the-wind-blows-when-it/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [“Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I survived because I forgot even the very notion of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/time-is-an-illusion-that-only-makes-us-pant-i-survived-because-i-2/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [“Time grows short, my love. Let’s end with the beginning of the world, shall we? Yes. We shall.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/time-grows-short-my-love-let-s-end-with-the-beginning-of-the-world/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [Time as he grows old teaches all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/time-as-he-grows-old-teaches-all-things/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [“To him it seemed a miracle that we should last so much as a single day. There is no antidote, he writes, against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/to-him-it-seemed-a-miracle-that-we-should-last-so-much-as-a-single/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [See the BEAR of fearsome size! All the WORLD'S within his eyes. TIME grows thin, the past is a riddle; The TOWER awaits you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/see-the-bear-of-fearsome-size-all-the-world-s-within-his-eyes-time/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Some departure from the norm Will occur as time grows more open about it. The consensus gradually changed; nobody Lies about it any more.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/some-departure-from-the-norm-will-occur-as-time-grows-more-open-about/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [“Time is so subjective, its measure totally dependent upon the means by which we mark its passage. When we follow the conventional milestones, meting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radclyffe/time-is-so-subjective-its-measure-totally-dependent-upon-the-means-by/) Radclyffe > [“Time, as it grows old, teaches all things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/time-as-it-grows-old-teaches-all-things/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [Time as he grows old teaches many lessons. - Aeschylus Time is the wisest counselor of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pericles/time-as-he-grows-old-teaches-many-lessons-aeschylus-time-is-the/) [Pericles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pericles/) > [Will occur as time grows more open about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/will-occur-as-time-grows-more-open-about-it/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [Arriving someplace more desirable at some future time is an illusion. This is it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-kabat-zinn/arriving-someplace-more-desirable-at-some-future-time-is-an-illusion/) [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-kabat-zinn/) ## More by Peter Høeg > [“Time is something you have to hold on to.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/time-is-something-you-have-to-hold-on-to/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“When you are in the company of people who look down upon themselves as though they were animals, you too become like an animal.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/when-you-are-in-the-company-of-people-who-look-down-upon-themselves/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“With age I have voluntarily chosen certain limitations. I don't have the energy to start over again. To learn new skills or fight my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/with-age-i-have-voluntarily-chosen-certain-limitations-i-don-t-have/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“That was the way of the rule. They had so many to keep an eye on. As long as you kept a low profile,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/that-was-the-way-of-the-rule-they-had-so-many-to-keep-an-eye-on-as/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“That was what we meant by science. That both question and answer are tied up with uncertainty, and that they are painful. But that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/that-was-what-we-meant-by-science-that-both-question-and-answer-are/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [I like him. I have a weakness for losers. Invalids, foreigners, the fat boy of the class, the ones nobody ever wants to dance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/i-like-him-i-have-a-weakness-for-losers-invalids-foreigners-the-fat/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“There's no simple aritmetic for life's distribution of happiness and sorrow, no such thing as a standard share.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/there-s-no-simple-aritmetic-for-life-s-distribution-of-happiness-and/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“She said she had been thinking about the way you remembered your past. What you remembered, she said, was a string of events and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/she-said-she-had-been-thinking-about-the-way-you-remembered-your-past/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“The cookies combine butter and spices in such a way that you could eat a hundred of them and only realize how sick you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/the-cookies-combine-butter-and-spices-in-such-a-way-that-you-could/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [It's these small differences in people's karma that determine if we get up or remain lying on the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/it-s-these-small-differences-in-people-s-karma-that-determine-if-we/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [There's a look of mischief in his eyes. 'Smilla. Why is it that such an elegant and petite girl like you has such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/there-s-a-look-of-mischief-in-his-eyes-smilla-why-is-it-that-such-an/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [When my mother didn't come back I realized that any moment could be the last. Nothing in life should simply be a passage from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/when-my-mother-didn-t-come-back-i-realized-that-any-moment-could-be/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [She was transparent, like a watercolor. As if she were about to dissolve in sound, in tones not yet created.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/she-was-transparent-like-a-watercolor-as-if-she-were-about-to/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [“As far as I'm concerned, you could send all the cars in the world through a compactor and shoot them out through the stratosphere…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/as-far-as-i-m-concerned-you-could-send-all-the-cars-in-the-world/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [I don't fall in love anymore. Just like I don't get the mumps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/i-don-t-fall-in-love-anymore-just-like-i-don-t-get-the-mumps/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) [Explore all 110 Peter Høeg quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) ## More Clock quotes > [Even Einstein had to rely for his time on his clock.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/even-einstein-had-to-rely-for-his-time-on-his-clock/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) > [“Time was never neutral and often felt dangerous. We either think we have all the time in the world or time moves too fast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-reay/time-was-never-neutral-and-often-felt-dangerous-we-either-think-we/) [Katherine Reay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-reay/) > [Before a clock was in the tower, Or e'er a watch was worn; I knew of night the passing hour, And prophesied the morn;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/before-a-clock-was-in-the-tower-or-e-er-a-watch-was-worn-i-knew-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [“Time is, to put it in its most impressive and some might say poncy-sounding form, my domain. I can see things that once happened,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-rayner/time-is-to-put-it-in-its-most-impressive-and-some-might-say-poncy/) [Jacqueline Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-rayner/) > [Time travel offends our sense of cause and effect - but maybe the universe doesn't insist on cause and effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-m-lerner/time-travel-offends-our-sense-of-cause-and-effect-but-maybe-the/) [Edward M. Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-m-lerner/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [Time.The greatest creator, and the worst destroyer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levi-keely/time-the-greatest-creator-and-the-worst-destroyer/) Levi Keely > [Steven Spielberg seems to have wanted to be a director from 13. He put his dog in a certain position and made him eat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-brooks/steven-spielberg-seems-to-have-wanted-to-be-a-director-from-13-he-put/) [Albert Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-brooks/) > [No life goes past so swiftly as an eventless one, no clock spins like a clock whose days are all alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stegner/no-life-goes-past-so-swiftly-as-an-eventless-one-no-clock-spins-like/) [Wallace Stegner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stegner/) > [Those who stop marketing to save money are like those who stop a clock to save time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/those-who-stop-marketing-to-save-money-are-like-those-who-stop-a/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Time is the nervous system of narration, whether factual or fictive. If it gets confused some of the minutiae of human nature are certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenway-wescott/time-is-the-nervous-system-of-narration-whether-factual-or-fictive-if/) [Glenway Wescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenway-wescott/) > [I don't know if it's just me or everyone, but the whole vibe with skiing is not so much thriving on competition against others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/picabo-street/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-just-me-or-everyone-but-the-whole-vibe-with/) [Picabo Street](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/picabo-street/) > [Time goes on, even when yer not looking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/time-goes-on-even-when-yer-not-looking/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/clock-n-a-machine-of-great-moral-value-to-man-allaying-his-concern/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) [Browse all 2,738 Clock quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clock/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells, senses and sounds, a sphere in which you and the world coexist, an instrument with which to put the world in order and comprehend it, one of the reasons for your survival. But if time grows too tight, then it becomes a reason for doing away with yourself. Time is not an illusion. Nor is it the only reality. It is one possible, widespread form for encounters between the mind and the surrounding world. But not the only possible one. If you are driven by curiosity, or if you are ill and cannot survive any other way, then you can enter the laboratory and touch time. And then it will change.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Høeg" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-colours-smells-senses-and-sounds/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Clock" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-colours-smells-senses-and-sounds/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbf/peter-h-eg-3553_quote_time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-col_1869658.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Time is a sphere made up of language, colours, smells, senses and sounds, a sphere in which you and the…” — Peter Høeg", "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": "Peter Høeg", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Time is a sphere made up...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-colours-smells-senses-and-sounds/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/time-is-a-sphere-made-up-of-language-colours-smells-senses-and-sounds/#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 } } ] } ```