--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For many feverish years he was burdened…" description: "\"“For many feverish years he was burdened with the sensation, an ancient one to be sure, that the incredible sprawl of human history was no more than a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png" --- # For many feverish years he was burdened with the… ![“For many feverish years he was burdened with the sensation, an ancient one to be sure, that the incredible sprawl of human history was no more than a pathetically partial record of an infinitely vast and shadowed chronicle of universal metamorphoses. How much greater, then, was the feeling that…” quote by Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png) > ““For many feverish years he was burdened with the sensation, an ancient one to be sure, that the incredible sprawl of human history was no more than a pathetically partial record of an infinitely vast and shadowed chronicle of universal metamorphoses. How much greater, then, was the feeling that his own pathetic history formed a practically invisible fragment of what itself was merely an obscure splinter of the infinite. Somehow he needed to excarcerate himself from the claustral dungeon cell of his life. In the end, however, he broke beneath the weight of his aspiration. And as the years passed, the only mystery which seemed worthy of his interest, and his amazement, was that unknown day which would inaugurate his personal eternity, that incredible day on which the sun simply would not rise, and forever would begin.”” [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator feels overwhelmed by humanity’s vast, unknowable history and his own insignificance, yearning to escape his confined existence, yet ultimately crushed by his aspirations and the unknown final day. **In simple terms:** He feels tiny in history and trapped, seeking escape but is overwhelmed. Key Takeaway Recognize limits, seek meaning within present life. Themes existential dread history insignificance aspiration Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - personal crisis - creative burnout - philosophical contemplation Key Concepts cosmicism nihilism self‑alienation Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life meaning despite its smallness? - How do you balance aspiration with reality? A Different Perspective the unknown future may never provide closure;personal ambition can be self‑destructive ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Insignificance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insignificance/) [Limitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limitation/) [Vastness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vastness/) ## Related quotes > [“Be infinitely curious and creative for the world is infinitely vast and beautiful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kota-yamada/be-infinitely-curious-and-creative-for-the-world-is-infinitely-vast/) Kota Yamada > [What's wonderful about Tolkien and Shakespeare is that they show up your own individual microscope. They're so infinitely vast. You can reinterpret them in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/what-s-wonderful-about-tolkien-and-shakespeare-is-that-they-show-up/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [I try to remember our relative insignificance on this planet and that these seemingly important things do not mean quite as much as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-squier/i-try-to-remember-our-relative-insignificance-on-this-planet-and-that/) [Billy Squier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-squier/) > [Philosophic argument, especially that drawn from the vastness of the universe, in comparison with the apparent insignificance of this globe, has sometimes shaken my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/philosophic-argument-especially-that-drawn-from-the-vastness-of-the/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [A toothache, or a violent passion, is not necessarily diminished by our knowledge of its causes, its character, its importance or insignificance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/a-toothache-or-a-violent-passion-is-not-necessarily-diminished-by-our/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [If I've learned anything in twenty-nine years, it's that every human being you see in the course of a day has a problem that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/if-i-ve-learned-anything-in-twenty-nine-years-it-s-that-every-human/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [When human beings are regarded as moral beings, sex, instead of being enthroned upon the summit, administering upon rights and responsibilities, sinks into insignificance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelina-grimke/when-human-beings-are-regarded-as-moral-beings-sex-instead-of-being/) [Angelina Grimke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelina-grimke/) > [The earthquake, however, must be to every one a most impressive event: the earth, considered from our earliest childhood as the type of solidity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-earthquake-however-must-be-to-every-one-a-most-impressive-event/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Sometimes people stumble over this vastness in relation to the apparent insignificance of man. It does seem to make us infinitesimally small. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/sometimes-people-stumble-over-this-vastness-in-relation-to-the/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/fellow-citizens-we-cannot-escape-history-we-of-this-congress-and-this/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“I feel I'm living in parentheses”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wilson/i-feel-i-m-living-in-parentheses/) [Steven Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wilson/) > [Anyone who thinks they're important is usually just a pompous moron who can't deal with his or her own pathetic insignificance and the fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-thomas/anyone-who-thinks-they-re-important-is-usually-just-a-pompous-moron/) [William Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-thomas/) > [“In comparison to what I've suffered from myself, the humiliation and suffering inflicted on me by others vanishes into insignificance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-comparison-to-what-i-ve-suffered-from-myself-the-humiliation-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is a magnificent intensity in life that comes when we are not in control but are only reacting, living, surviving. I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-callahan/there-is-a-magnificent-intensity-in-life-that-comes-when-we-are-not/) [Steven Callahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-callahan/) > [“I have lost patience with the idea of an insignificant human being standing up above the rest of us--whether he is called Reverend or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-rogan/i-have-lost-patience-with-the-idea-of-an-insignificant-human-being/) [Charlotte Rogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-rogan/) ## More by Thomas Ligotti > [“Subsequently there ensues an epoch of complex, proliferating intrigues and conspiracies among the ranks of double agents, whose agendas become so densely intertwined that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/subsequently-there-ensues-an-epoch-of-complex-proliferating-intrigues/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The point that in the absence of birth nobody exists who can be deprived of happiness is terribly conspicuous. For optimists, this fact plays…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-point-that-in-the-absence-of-birth-nobody-exists-who-can-be/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. Nothing compares, even oblivion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-worst-fear-of-the-race-yes-the-world-suddenly-transformed-into-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“In supernatural horror stories, however, magical thinking is a completely different matter. Those characters contending with what seems to be the work of magic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/in-supernatural-horror-stories-however-magical-thinking-is-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“When you are alone in the wilderness, opinions or beliefs of any kind are dropped as the absurd accoutrements they are. But after being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/when-you-are-alone-in-the-wilderness-opinions-or-beliefs-of-any-kind/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“There seems to be an inborn drive in all human beings not to live in a steady emotional state, which would suggest that such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/there-seems-to-be-an-inborn-drive-in-all-human-beings-not-to-live-in/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [Nature proceeds by blunders; that is its way. It is also ours. So if we have blundered by regarding consciousness as a blunder, why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/nature-proceeds-by-blunders-that-is-its-way-it-is-also-ours-so-if-we/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [We live in a permanent state of bad faith, a mutual representation of ourselves to one another for the sake of remaining sane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/we-live-in-a-permanent-state-of-bad-faith-a-mutual-representation-of/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The darkness of the grotesque is an immortal enigma: in all legends of the dead, in all the tales of creatures of the night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-darkness-of-the-grotesque-is-an-immortal-enigma-in-all-legends-of/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“If truth is what you seek, then the examined life will only take you on a long ride to the limits of solitude and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/if-truth-is-what-you-seek-then-the-examined-life-will-only-take-you/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The dismembered limbs of dolls and puppets are strewn about everywhere. Posters, signs, billboards, and leaflets of various sorts are scattered around like playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-dismembered-limbs-of-dolls-and-puppets-are-strewn-about/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“As I drifted along with my bodiless invisibility, I felt myself more and more becoming an empty, floating shape, seeing without being seen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/as-i-drifted-along-with-my-bodiless-invisibility-i-felt-myself-more/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“The lessons in measurement of cloacal forces. Time as a flow of sewage. The excrement of space, scatology of creation. The voiding of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-lessons-in-measurement-of-cloacal-forces-time-as-a-flow-of-sewage/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [And the worst possible thing we could know — worse than knowing of our descent from a mass of microorganisms — is that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/and-the-worst-possible-thing-we-could-know-worse-than-knowing-of-our/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“Only catatonics and coma patients can persevere in a dignified withdrawal from life’s rattle and hum. Without a “yes” in our hearts, nothing would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/only-catatonics-and-coma-patients-can-persevere-in-a-dignified/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) [Explore all 187 Thomas Ligotti quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [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/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For many feverish years he was burdened with the sensation, an ancient one to be sure, that the incredible sprawl of human history was no more than a pathetically partial record of an infinitely vast and shadowed chronicle of universal metamorphoses. How much greater, then, was the feeling that his own pathetic history formed a practically invisible fragment of what itself was merely an obscure splinter of the infinite. Somehow he needed to excarcerate himself from the claustral dungeon cell of his life. In the end, however, he broke beneath the weight of his aspiration. And as the years passed, the only mystery which seemed worthy of his interest, and his amazement, was that unknown day which would inaugurate his personal eternity, that incredible day on which the sun simply would not rise, and forever would begin.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Ligotti" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened-with-the-sensation-an-ancient/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened-with-the-sensation-an-ancient/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e8b/thomas-ligotti-2073_history_for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened_3219925.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For many feverish years he was burdened with the sensation, an ancient one to be sure, that the incredible…” — Thomas Ligotti", "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": "Thomas Ligotti", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“For many feverish years he was...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened-with-the-sensation-an-ancient/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/for-many-feverish-years-he-was-burdened-with-the-sensation-an-ancient/#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 } } ] } ```