--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the vast cosmical changes, the…" description: "\"In the vast cosmical changes, the universal life comes and goes in unknown quantities, ... sowing an animalcule here, crumbling a star there, oscillati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/265/victor-hugo-32_activity_in-the-vast-cosmical-changes-the-univers_1335340.jpg" --- # In the vast cosmical changes, the universal life comes and… ![“In the vast cosmical changes, the universal life comes and goes in unknown quantities, ... sowing an animalcule here, crumbling a star there, oscillating and ... entangling, from the highest to the lowest, all activities in the obscurity of a dizzying mechanism, hanging the flight of an insect…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/265/victor-hugo-32_activity_in-the-vast-cosmical-changes-the-univers_1335340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/265/victor-hugo-32_activity_in-the-vast-cosmical-changes-the-univers_1335340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/265/victor-hugo-32_activity_in-the-vast-cosmical-changes-the-univers_1335340.jpg) > “In the vast cosmical changes, the universal life comes and goes in unknown quantities, ... sowing an animalcule here, crumbling a star there, oscillating and ... entangling, from the highest to the lowest, all activities in the obscurity of a dizzying mechanism, hanging the flight of an insect upon the movement of the earth... Enormous gearing, whose first motor is the gnat, and whose last wheel is the zodiac.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s events are interwoven, from tiny creatures to massive stars, showing a vast, intricate mechanism where even the smallest being influences the whole. **In simple terms:** Everything is connected in a grand, complex system. Key Takeaway Recognize the impact of small actions on larger outcomes. Themes interconnectedness cosmos scale cause and effect Mood awe reflective inspired Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - environmental activism - scientific research - personal decision making - urban planning - education curricula Key Concepts systems theory philosophy of nature determinism entropy Questions to Reflect On - What small actions can you take to influence larger change? - How do you find meaning in the vastness of existence? A Different Perspective Complex systems can be unpredictable, making control difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Activity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Comes and goes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-and-goes/) [Cosmical Changes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmical-changes-4494676/) [Crumbling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crumbling/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Enormous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enormous/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flight/) [Gnats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gnats/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Lowest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lowest/) [Mechanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanism/) [Motor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motor/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Obscurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscurity/) [Quantity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quantity/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sowing/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Universal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal/) [Universal life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal-life/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) [Vast Cosmical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vast-cosmical-4494677/) [Wheel Zodiac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheel-zodiac-4494678/) [Wheels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wheels/) [Zodiac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zodiac/) ## Related quotes > [“The task is to give birth to the old in a new time. The soul of humanity is like the great wheel of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-lafferty/the-task-is-to-give-birth-to-the-old-in-a-new-time-the-soul-of/) [Linda Lafferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-lafferty/) > [“Algebra applies to the clouds, the radiance of the star benefits the rose--no thinker would dare to say that the perfume of the hawthorn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/algebra-applies-to-the-clouds-the-radiance-of-the-star-benefits-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-have-enemies-why-it-is-the-story-of-every-man-who-has-done-a-2/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/fame-must-have-enemies-as-light-must-have-gnats/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“England has her Stratford, Scotland has her Alloway, and America, too, has her Dresden. For there, on August 11, 1833, was born the greatest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-e-kittredge/england-has-her-stratford-scotland-has-her-alloway-and-america-too/) [Herman E. Kittredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-e-kittredge/) > [“14. Poetical Intuition and Zen. Since Universal Life or Spirit permeates the universe, the poetical intuition of man never fails to find it, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/14-poetical-intuition-and-zen-since-universal-life-or-spirit/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [“We may not know exactly what is happening: we do not know exactly even about a speck of dust. But when we feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-may-not-know-exactly-what-is-happening-we-do-not-know-exactly-even/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [When I speak about the "tyranny of choice," I mean an ideology that originates in the era of post-industrial capitalism. It began with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renata-salecl/when-i-speak-about-the-tyranny-of-choice-i-mean-an-ideology-that/) [Renata Salecl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renata-salecl/) > [“The family is not of man's making; it is a gift of God and full of life. Upbringing in the family bears a quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-family-is-not-of-man-s-making-it-is-a-gift-of-god-and-full-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mysticism—Magic and Yoga—is the means, therefore, to a new universal life, richer, greater and more full of resource than ever before, as free as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israel-regardie/mysticism-magic-and-yoga-is-the-means-therefore-to-a-new-universal/) [Israel Regardie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israel-regardie/) > [“What is this life which pervades the grandest as well as the minutest works of Nature, and which may fitly be said 'greater than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/what-is-this-life-which-pervades-the-grandest-as-well-as-the-minutest/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [“the doctrine of Transience supplies us with an inexhaustible source of hope and comfort, leads us into the living universe, and introduces us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaiten-nukariya/the-doctrine-of-transience-supplies-us-with-an-inexhaustible-source/) [Kaiten Nukariya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaiten-nukariya/) > [Eating, drinking, dying - three primary manifestations of the universal and impersonal life. Animals live that impersonal and universal life without knowing its nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/eating-drinking-dying-three-primary-manifestations-of-the-universal/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [By the power invested in me by the state of New York and the Universal Life Church, I now pronounce you husband and husband.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/by-the-power-invested-in-me-by-the-state-of-new-york-and-the/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [History, that is to say, the unconscious, universal life of humanity, in the aggregate, every moment profits by the life of kings for itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-that-is-to-say-the-unconscious-universal-life-of-humanity-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Activity quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It must be assumed and established as a principle, that the right of private property must be regarded as sacred. Wherefore, the law ought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/it-must-be-assumed-and-established-as-a-principle-that-the-right-of/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [And also I think the rise of other, you could say, destinations for international jihadis mean that Pakistan isn't necessarily the place where people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/and-also-i-think-the-rise-of-other-you-could-say-destinations-for/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Fighting's fun, man. It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/the-only-activity-a-cynic-will-find-contagious-is-yawning-that-is/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [For the longest time, neuroscientists were forced to be passive observers of brain activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gero-miesenbock/for-the-longest-time-neuroscientists-were-forced-to-be-passive/) [Gero Miesenbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gero-miesenbock/) > [Enjoyment is not a goal, it is a feeling that accompanies important ongoing activity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/enjoyment-is-not-a-goal-it-is-a-feeling-that-accompanies-important/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-read/once-an-activity-has-been-socialized-it-is-impossible-to-point-out-by/) [Leonard Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-read/) > [“Fun is not an activity, it is a state of mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/fun-is-not-an-activity-it-is-a-state-of-mind/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have to consider everything I eat; I consider every activity I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-kimball/i-have-to-consider-everything-i-eat-i-consider-every-activity-i-do/) [Charlie Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-kimball/) > [Almost all good businesses engage in 'pain today, gain tomorrow' activities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/almost-all-good-businesses-engage-in-pain-today-gain-tomorrow/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) [Browse all 3,263 Activity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/activity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In the vast cosmical changes, the universal life comes and goes in unknown quantities, ... sowing an animalcule here, crumbling a star there, oscillating and ... entangling, from the highest to the lowest, all activities in the obscurity of a dizzying mechanism, hanging the flight of an insect upon the movement of the earth... 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