--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Wise men have regarded the earth as a…" description: "\"“Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce, even an illusionist's trick; but all, if they are truly wise, and not merely intellectual rapi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg" --- # Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce… ![“Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce, even an illusionist's trick; but all, if they are truly wise, and not merely intellectual rapists, recognize that it is certainly some kind of stage in which we all play roles, most of us being very poorly coached and totally unrehearsed…” quote by Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg) > ““Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce, even an illusionist's trick; but all, if they are truly wise, and not merely intellectual rapists, recognize that it is certainly some kind of stage in which we all play roles, most of us being very poorly coached and totally unrehearsed before the curtain rises. Is it too much if I ask, tentatively, that we agree to look upon it as a circus, a touring carnival wandering about the sun for a record season of four billion years and producing new monsters and miracles, hoaxes and bloody mishaps, wonders and blunders, but never quite entertaining the customers well enough to prevent them from leaving, one by one, and returning to their homes for a long and bored winter's sleep under the dust?”” [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a chaotic stage where we act without preparation, making it a circus of absurdity and wonder. **In simple terms:** Life is a chaotic, unprepared performance. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and humor. Themes absurdity life performance Mood playful thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - theater - daily routines - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism postmodernism Questions to Reflect On - Do you see life as a performance? - How can you find meaning in chaos? A Different Perspective The analogy may oversimplify complex experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Regarded Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regarded-earth-1792774/) [Tragedy Farce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-farce-433838/) [Truly Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truly-wise-786648/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-men/) [Wise Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise-merely-3715435/) ## Related quotes > [“Truly wise men called on each element alike to minister to their joy, and while the touch of sun-bathed air, the fragrance of garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/truly-wise-men-called-on-each-element-alike-to-minister-to-their-joy/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [“It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days. At most terrestrial men fancied there might be other men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-3/it-is-curious-to-recall-some-of-the-mental-habits-of-those-departed/) [H G Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-3/) > [The attitude of the Church was not as dogmatic as is often assumed. Interpretations of Bible passages had been revised in the light of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/the-attitude-of-the-church-was-not-as-dogmatic-as-is-often-assumed/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells-2/no-one-would-have-believed-in-the-last-years-of-the-nineteenth/) [H.G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells-2/) > [“After a tragedy, a farce. Philosophy enters into her power, and the earth returns under one's feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-shestov/after-a-tragedy-a-farce-philosophy-enters-into-her-power-and-the/) [Lev Shestov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-shestov/) > [Calvin: They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines. Hobbes: Maybe that’s why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-they-say-the-world-is-a-stage-but-obviously-the-play-is/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [History repeats itself, the first as tragedy, then as farce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/history-repeats-itself-the-first-as-tragedy-then-as-farce/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [They say the world is a stage. But obviously the play is unrehearsed and everybody is ad-libbing his lines." "Maybe that’s why it’s hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/they-say-the-world-is-a-stage-but-obviously-the-play-is-unrehearsed/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [He is truly wise who gains wisdom from another's mishap.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/publilius-syrus/he-is-truly-wise-who-gains-wisdom-from-another-s-mishap/) [Publilius Syrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/publilius-syrus/) > [A truly wise man does not play leapfrog with a unicorn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/a-truly-wise-man-does-not-play-leapfrog-with-a-unicorn/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The truly wise man is he who always believes the Bible against the opinions of any man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-torrey/the-truly-wise-man-is-he-who-always-believes-the-bible-against-the/) [R. A. Torrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-torrey/) > [Throughout life, one does not miss any chance to hold onto the things that are really precious, if one is truly wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-greenwood/throughout-life-one-does-not-miss-any-chance-to-hold-onto-the-things/) [Ed Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-greenwood/) > [There is no mortal truly wise and restless at once; wisdom is the repose of minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-kaspar-lavater/there-is-no-mortal-truly-wise-and-restless-at-once-wisdom-is-the/) [Johann Kaspar Lavater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-kaspar-lavater/) > [If you are truly wise, you love life very deeply. You love the things in your life, transient though they may be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-are-truly-wise-you-love-life-very-deeply-you-love-the-things/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The more he became truly wise, the more he distrusted everything he knew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-more-he-became-truly-wise-the-more-he-distrusted-everything-he/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More by Robert Anton Wilson > [Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/every-fact-of-science-was-once-damned-every-invention-was-considered/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The only way to stave off boredom, in a complex domesticated primate like humankind, is to increase one's intelligence. This is not appealing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/the-only-way-to-stave-off-boredom-in-a-complex-domesticated-primate/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Disobedience was man's Original Virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/disobedience-was-man-s-original-virtue/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [In every state of the Union, Fundamentalists still fight to ban all the science they dislike and prosecute all who teach it. To them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/in-every-state-of-the-union-fundamentalists-still-fight-to-ban-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [It is a great privilege to be conscious in this universe. Those who understand, shine like stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/it-is-a-great-privilege-to-be-conscious-in-this-universe-those-who/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [I will do anything, including highway robbery and murder, to avoid leaving my children in poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-will-do-anything-including-highway-robbery-and-murder-to-avoid/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-see-anarchism-as-the-theoretical-ideal-to-which-we-are-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“Masturbation is not the happiest form of sexuality, but the most advisable for him who wants to be alone and think. I detect the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/masturbation-is-not-the-happiest-form-of-sexuality-but-the-most/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [I like pacifists and people who have a heavy emotional identification with deathism and war would probably call me a pacifist, but I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-like-pacifists-and-people-who-have-a-heavy-emotional-identification/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Cynics regarded everybody as equally corrupt... Idealists regarded everybody as equally corrupt, except themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/cynics-regarded-everybody-as-equally-corrupt-idealists-regarded/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The most important truths always appear first as blasphemies or obscenities. That's why every great innovator is persecuted. And the sacraments look obscene, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/the-most-important-truths-always-appear-first-as-blasphemies-or/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“When you're dealing with these forces or powers in a philosophic and scientific way, contemplating them from an armchair, that rationalistic approach is useful.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/when-you-re-dealing-with-these-forces-or-powers-in-a-philosophic-and/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [“And Spaceship Earth, that glorious and bloody circus, continued its four-billion-year-long spiral orbit about the Sun; the engineering, I must admit, was so exquisite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/and-spaceship-earth-that-glorious-and-bloody-circus-continued-its/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Existence is larger than any model that is not itself the exact size of existence (which has no size).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/existence-is-larger-than-any-model-that-is-not-itself-the-exact-size/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [The totally convinced and the totally stupid have too much in common for the resemblance to be accidental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/the-totally-convinced-and-the-totally-stupid-have-too-much-in-common/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) [Explore all 274 Robert Anton Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) ## More Nature quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Men mistook measurement for understanding. And they always had to put themselves at the center of everything. That was their greatest conceit. The earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/men-mistook-measurement-for-understanding-and-they-always-had-to-put/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“She was, he knew- and had known very early, he supposed- one of those rare and always lovely humans whose moral nature was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/she-was-he-knew-and-had-known-very-early-he-supposed-one-of-those/) [John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/) > [“When the water covers the earth the sun will vanish the darkess and the cold will come.When the last dragon and the last Elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvana-de-mari/when-the-water-covers-the-earth-the-sun-will-vanish-the-darkess-and/) [Silvana de Mari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvana-de-mari/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“It is not the force of the wind, but the depth of the roots.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/it-is-not-the-force-of-the-wind-but-the-depth-of-the-roots/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [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/) [Browse all 47,383 Nature quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce, even an illusionist's trick; but all, if they are truly wise, and not merely intellectual rapists, recognize that it is certainly some kind of stage in which we all play roles, most of us being very poorly coached and totally unrehearsed before the curtain rises. Is it too much if I ask, tentatively, that we agree to look upon it as a circus, a touring carnival wandering about the sun for a record season of four billion years and producing new monsters and miracles, hoaxes and bloody mishaps, wonders and blunders, but never quite entertaining the customers well enough to prevent them from leaving, one by one, and returning to their homes for a long and bored winter's sleep under the dust?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Anton Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tragedy-a-farce-even-an/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nature" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tragedy-a-farce-even-an/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cbe/robert-anton-wilson-1198_nature_wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tr_1217452.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Wise men have regarded the earth as a tragedy, a farce, even an illusionist's trick; but all, if they are…” — Robert Anton Wilson", "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": "Robert Anton Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Wise men have regarded the earth...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tragedy-a-farce-even-an/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/wise-men-have-regarded-the-earth-as-a-tragedy-a-farce-even-an/#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 } } ] } ```