--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I know that I am mortal by nature, and…" description: "\"“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png" --- # I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when… ![“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia” quote by Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png) > ““I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia”” [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) ## 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 describes a transcendent experience of contemplating celestial motions, feeling detached from earthly concerns and immersed in divine presence. **In simple terms:** Contemplating heavens lifts you beyond earth. Key Takeaway Seek awe through cosmic reflection. Themes spirituality astronomy philosophy transcendence Mood wonderful elevated Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - stargazing - meditation - philosophical writing - artistic inspiration - educational lectures Key Concepts ancient cosmology mythic imagination Questions to Reflect On - How does the cosmos inspire your inner life? - What practices connect you to larger universes? A Different Perspective Historical attribution may be inaccurate. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Heavenly bodies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavenly-bodies/) [Mortal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortal/) [Mortality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mortality/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Night sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night-sky/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) ## Related quotes > [I know that I am mortal and the creature of a day; but when I search out the massed wheeling circles of the stars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-and-the-creature-of-a-day-but-when-i-search/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [“You allow that we designate a disease as mortal when Nature is so severely attacked, and her strength so far exhausted, that she cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-william-eliot/you-allow-that-we-designate-a-disease-as-mortal-when-nature-is-so/) [Charles William Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-william-eliot/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [No one awakens in the morning thinking they will die that day. Not a saint or a sinner. Not even a condemned killer. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/no-one-awakens-in-the-morning-thinking-they-will-die-that-day-not-a/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [We all know that the people we love are mortal, we all know we’re mortal, we know it’s going to end; you cannot prepare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-all-know-that-the-people-we-love-are-mortal-we-all-know-we-re/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To be mortal is the most basic human experience, and yet man has never been able to accept it, grasp it, and behave accordingly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/to-be-mortal-is-the-most-basic-human-experience-and-yet-man-has-never/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [The mortal nature is seeking as far as is possible to be everlasting and immortal: and this is only to be attained by generation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/the-mortal-nature-is-seeking-as-far-as-is-possible-to-be-everlasting/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“You do not know your vampire nature. You are like an adult who, looking back on his childhood, realizes that he never appreciated it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/you-do-not-know-your-vampire-nature-you-are-like-an-adult-who-looking/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“For the devil does not allow a single bad habit to disappear and the very weakness of our mortal nature destroys the virtues in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/for-the-devil-does-not-allow-a-single-bad-habit-to-disappear-and-the/) [Teresa of Ávila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [We that are true lovers run into strange capers; but as all is mortal in nature, so is all nature in love mortal in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-that-are-true-lovers-run-into-strange-capers-but-as-all-is-mortal/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The man forget not, though in rags he lies, And know the mortal through a crown's disguise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-akenside/the-man-forget-not-though-in-rags-he-lies-and-know-the-mortal-through/) [Mark Akenside](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-akenside/) > [“More you know the more you become mortal. Knowing is incomplete until it transforms into action. In the end, you need a revision otherwise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-basit-rana-mbr/more-you-know-the-more-you-become-mortal-knowing-is-incomplete-until/) [Muhammad Basit Rana -MBR](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-basit-rana-mbr/) > [Perhaps a hero is someone who doesn’t register his own vulnerability. Is it courage, then, if you’re too daft to know you’re mortal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-benioff/perhaps-a-hero-is-someone-who-doesn-t-register-his-own-vulnerability/) [David Benioff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-benioff/) > [Mortal through I be, yea ephemeral, if but a moment I gaze up at the night's starry domain of heaven, Then no longer on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/mortal-through-i-be-yea-ephemeral-if-but-a-moment-i-gaze-up-at-the/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/mortal-as-i-am-i-know-that-i-am-born-for-a-day-but-when-i-follow-at/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) ## More by Ptolemy > [Everything that is hard to attain is easily assailed by the generality of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/everything-that-is-hard-to-attain-is-easily-assailed-by-the/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [There’s an inherent message in my work relating to recycling and the nature of value, but my artistic inspiration is fired by the qualities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/there-s-an-inherent-message-in-my-work-relating-to-recycling-and-the/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [It is clearly evident that most events of a widespread nature draw their causes from the enveloping heavens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/it-is-clearly-evident-that-most-events-of-a-widespread-nature-draw/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [The length of life takes the leading place among inquiries about events following birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/the-length-of-life-takes-the-leading-place-among-inquiries-about/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [The heaven is spherical in shape, and moves as a sphere; the earth too is sensibly spherical in shape, when taken as a whole;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/the-heaven-is-spherical-in-shape-and-moves-as-a-sphere-the-earth-too/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [Therefore the solid body of the earth is reasonably considered as being the largest relative to those moving against it and as remaining unmoved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/therefore-the-solid-body-of-the-earth-is-reasonably-considered-as/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [As material fortune is associated with the properties of the body, so honor belongs to those of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/as-material-fortune-is-associated-with-the-properties-of-the-body-so/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [If the earth were flat from east to west, the stars would rise as soon for westerners as for orientals, which is false. Also,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/if-the-earth-were-flat-from-east-to-west-the-stars-would-rise-as-soon/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/mortal-as-i-am-i-know-that-i-am-born-for-a-day-but-when-i-follow-at/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [Mortal through I be, yea ephemeral, if but a moment I gaze up at the night's starry domain of heaven, Then no longer on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/mortal-through-i-be-yea-ephemeral-if-but-a-moment-i-gaze-up-at-the/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [I often prefer the shapes within the raw materials to ‘do their thing’, as this makes it movre interesting for me. Sometimes a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-often-prefer-the-shapes-within-the-raw-materials-to-do-their-thing/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [I know that I am mortal and the creature of a day; but when I search out the massed wheeling circles of the stars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-and-the-creature-of-a-day-but-when-i-search/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [“From all this we concluded that the first two divisions of theoretical philosophy should rather be called guesswork than knowledge, theology because of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/from-all-this-we-concluded-that-the-first-two-divisions-of/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) > [There are three classes of friendship and enmity, since men are so disposed to one another either by preference or by need or by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/there-are-three-classes-of-friendship-and-enmity-since-men-are-so/) [Ptolemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) [Explore all 15 Ptolemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/) ## More Eternity quotes > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You may have some friends that come and go, but having a friend like God will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/you-may-have-some-friends-that-come-and-go-but-having-a-friend-like/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Browse all 3,482 Eternity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of the heavenly bodies I no longer touch the earth with my feet: I stand in the presence of Zeus himself and take my fill of ambrosia”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ptolemy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ephemeral-but-when-i-trace-at/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ephemeral-but-when-i-trace-at/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c4/ptolemy-32493_eternity_i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ep_1076005.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I know that I am mortal by nature, and ephemeral; but when I trace at my pleasure the windings to and fro of…” — Ptolemy", "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": "Ptolemy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ptolemy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I know that I am mortal...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ephemeral-but-when-i-trace-at/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ptolemy/i-know-that-i-am-mortal-by-nature-and-ephemeral-but-when-i-trace-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 } } ] } ```