--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He wondered why on earth he had asked…" description: "\"“He wondered why on earth he had asked these people, and what one really expected to get from bunching human beings up together. \"Cows,\" he reflected, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/virginia-woolf-49_nature_he-wondered-why-on-earth-he-had-asked-th_524883.jpg" --- # He wondered why on earth he had asked these people, and… ![“He wondered why on earth he had asked these people, and what one really expected to get from bunching human beings up together. "Cows," he reflected, "draw together in a field; ships in a calm; and we're just the same when we've nothing else to do. But why do we do it?—is it to prevent ourselves…” quote by Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/virginia-woolf-49_nature_he-wondered-why-on-earth-he-had-asked-th_524883.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/virginia-woolf-49_nature_he-wondered-why-on-earth-he-had-asked-th_524883.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a85/virginia-woolf-49_nature_he-wondered-why-on-earth-he-had-asked-th_524883.jpg) > ““He wondered why on earth he had asked these people, and what one really expected to get from bunching human beings up together. "Cows," he reflected, "draw together in a field; ships in a calm; and we're just the same when we've nothing else to do. But why do we do it?—is it to prevent ourselves from seeing to the bottom of things" (he stopped by a stream and began stirring it with his walking-stick and clouding the water with mud), "making cities and mountains and whole universes out of nothing, or do we really love each other, or do we, on the other hand, live in a state of perpetual uncertainty, knowing nothing, leaping from moment to moment as from world to world?—which is, on the whole, the view I incline to.”” [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage reflects on humanity’s tendency to gather and create meaning, questioning whether it stems from love, fear of emptiness, or perpetual uncertainty. **In simple terms:** People gather and create meaning, but why? Key Takeaway Consider why we seek connection and meaning. Themes existence meaning uncertainty human nature Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - relationships - creative projects - philosophical contemplation Key Concepts existentialism social cohesion psychology Questions to Reflect On - What drives you to seek connection? - Does uncertainty motivate creation? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [One has often wondered whether upon the whole earth there is anything so unintelligent, so unapt to perceive how the world is really going,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/one-has-often-wondered-whether-upon-the-whole-earth-there-is-anything/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [“Would it not be better to learn the truth once and for all instead of living in a state of perpetual uncertainty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/would-it-not-be-better-to-learn-the-truth-once-and-for-all-instead-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [How little can we foresee the consequences either of wise or unwise action, of virtue or of malice. 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Courtney Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-courtney-sullivan/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) ## More by Virginia Woolf > [Fatigue is the safest sleeping draught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/fatigue-is-the-safest-sleeping-draught/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The train slows and lengthens, as we approach London, the centre, and my heart draws out too, in fear, in exaltation. 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I think I could happily live here & read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“what a luxury to be alone once more,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-luxury-to-be-alone-once-more/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“...a woman writing thinks back through her mothers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/a-woman-writing-thinks-back-through-her-mothers/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“For one's children so often gave one's own perceptions a little thrust forwards.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/for-one-s-children-so-often-gave-one-s-own-perceptions-a-little/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“She would not say of anyone in the world now that they were this or were that. 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