--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The physical world is meaningless tonight…" description: "\"The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no other.\" — Wallace Stevens" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg" --- # The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no… ![“The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no other.” quote by Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg) > “The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no other.” [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The physical world lacks meaning without a deeper, singular reality. **In simple terms:** World feels empty without deeper meaning. Key Takeaway Seek deeper purpose beyond material. Themes existentialism philosophy meaninglessness Mood melancholic reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - nighttime contemplation - artistic creation - spiritual meditation - philosophical debate Key Concepts nihilism subjectivity reality Questions to Reflect On - What gives your life meaning? - Can meaning be created, not found? A Different Perspective Interpretation varies; some find meaning in experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) [Meaningless Tonight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless-tonight-2257143/) [Physical world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physical-world/) [Realism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/realism/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Tonight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tonight/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-meaningless-714443/) ## Related quotes > [If the world is meaningless, then so are we; if we mean something, we do not mean alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-the-world-is-meaningless-then-so-are-we-if-we-mean-something-we-do/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Things can be really empty in this world, and I don't just mean the music world. It can become a very meaningless place if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/things-can-be-really-empty-in-this-world-and-i-don-t-just-mean-the/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [The world is meaningless and therefore it's funny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimenez-lai/the-world-is-meaningless-and-therefore-it-s-funny/) [Jimenez Lai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimenez-lai/) > [It's hard for me to say you have to accept that the world is meaningless and the landscape is there before and after. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramin-bahrani/it-s-hard-for-me-to-say-you-have-to-accept-that-the-world-is/) [Ramin Bahrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramin-bahrani/) > [All that is sacred and taboo in the world are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/all-that-is-sacred-and-taboo-in-the-world-are-meaningless/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Without the interpretation of the universe by man to the glory of God the whole world would be meaningless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/without-the-interpretation-of-the-universe-by-man-to-the-glory-of-god/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [Our conviction that the world is meaningless is due in part to the fact (discussed in a later paragraph) that the philosophy of meaningless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/our-conviction-that-the-world-is-meaningless-is-due-in-part-to-the/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [After having been lost in the world, suddenly, through the pressure of suffering, the realization comes that the answers may not be found out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/after-having-been-lost-in-the-world-suddenly-through-the-pressure-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [The pleasure of this sinful world Are meaningless and vain;but if we love and follow God True purpose we will gain..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pleasure-of-this-sinful-world-are-meaningless-and-vain-but-if-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To the Suprematist the visual phenomena of the objective world are, in themselves, meaningless; the significant thing is feeling, as such, quite apart from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kazimir-malevich/to-the-suprematist-the-visual-phenomena-of-the-objective-world-are-in/) [Kazimir Malevich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kazimir-malevich/) > [“The world seems so meaningless when I am engulfed in the bliss of love and you tracing the evolution of the restless soul of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-ali/the-world-seems-so-meaningless-when-i-am-engulfed-in-the-bliss-of/) [Annie Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ali/) > [Unless you have found God in your own soul, the whole world will seem meaningless to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/unless-you-have-found-god-in-your-own-soul-the-whole-world-will-seem/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“Helen ran down a flight of stairs at the back of the house and into the garden. In the darkness she stopped and stood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/helen-ran-down-a-flight-of-stairs-at-the-back-of-the-house-and-into/) [Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/) > [Of what is real I say, Is it the old, the roseate parent or The bride come jingling, kissed and cupped, or else The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/of-what-is-real-i-say-is-it-the-old-the-roseate-parent-or-the-bride/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More by Wallace Stevens > [Poet, patting more nonsense foamed From the sea, conceive for thecourts Of these academies, the diviner health Disclosed in common forms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poet-patting-more-nonsense-foamed-from-the-sea-conceive-for-thecourts/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The way through the world is more difficult to find than the way beyond it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-way-through-the-world-is-more-difficult-to-find-than-the-way/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The magnificent cause of being, The imagination, the one reality In this imagined world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-magnificent-cause-of-being-the-imagination-the-one-reality-in/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Music falls on the silence like a sense / A passion that we feel, not understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/music-falls-on-the-silence-like-a-sense-a-passion-that-we-feel-not/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The life of the city never lets you go, nor do you ever want it to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-life-of-the-city-never-lets-you-go-nor-do-you-ever-want-it-to/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [After a lustre of the moon, we say We have not the need of any paradise, We have not the need of any seducing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/after-a-lustre-of-the-moon-we-say-we-have-not-the-need-of-any/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [I am what is around me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/i-am-what-is-around-me/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“We live in an old chaos of the sun, Or old dependency of day and night, Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, Of that wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/we-live-in-an-old-chaos-of-the-sun-or-old-dependency-of-day-and-night/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“Lunar Paraphrase" The moon is the mother of pathos and pity. When, at the wearier end of November, Her old light moves along the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/lunar-paraphrase-the-moon-is-the-mother-of-pathos-and-pity-when-at/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Poetry is the scholar's art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/poetry-is-the-scholar-s-art/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [“The stars are putting on their glittering belts, They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash Like a great shadow's last embellishment”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-stars-are-putting-on-their-glittering-belts-they-throw-around/) [wallace stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [Unfortunately there is nothing more inane than an Easter carol. It is a religious perversion of the activity of Spring in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/unfortunately-there-is-nothing-more-inane-than-an-easter-carol-it-is/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [The word is the making of the world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-word-is-the-making-of-the-world/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [A diary is more or less the work of a man of clay whose hands are clumsy and in whose eyes there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/a-diary-is-more-or-less-the-work-of-a-man-of-clay-whose-hands-are/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) > [It is never the thing but the version of the thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/it-is-never-the-thing-but-the-version-of-the-thing/) [Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) [Explore all 352 Wallace Stevens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/) ## More Meaningless quotes > [“The only thing that belongs to us is our LIFE. Yet, we waste it in the pursuit of meaningless things that will never belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/the-only-thing-that-belongs-to-us-is-our-life-yet-we-waste-it-in-the/) [RVM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rvm/) > [I don't feel I have to write deep and meaningful songs; they can be light and meaningless. It has to do with the place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-diamond/i-don-t-feel-i-have-to-write-deep-and-meaningful-songs-they-can-be/) [Neil Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-diamond/) > [Without food, man at most can live but a few weeks; without it all other components of social justice are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-borlaug/without-food-man-at-most-can-live-but-a-few-weeks-without-it-all/) [Norman Borlaug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-borlaug/) > [The future and the past are equally meaningless because they are nebulous entities, times that do not exist, containing events which have no echo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lebbon/the-future-and-the-past-are-equally-meaningless-because-they-are/) [Tim Lebbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lebbon/) > [“The question 'What was there before creation?' is meaningless. Time is a property of creation, therefore before creation there was no before creation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-duncan/the-question-what-was-there-before-creation-is-meaningless-time-is-a/) [Glen Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-duncan/) > [“...anything I do is trivial and meaningless because I'm not in a relationship and I don't have children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-alderton/anything-i-do-is-trivial-and-meaningless-because-i-m-not-in-a/) [Dolly Alderton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-alderton/) > [Life is meaningless, but worth living, provided you recognize it's meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/life-is-meaningless-but-worth-living-provided-you-recognize-it-s/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Within the grand scale of things, sitting in a classroom day after day is so utterly meaningless and pointless that it actually makes his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tabitha-suzuma/within-the-grand-scale-of-things-sitting-in-a-classroom-day-after-day/) [Tabitha Suzuma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tabitha-suzuma/) > [We are going to die, as is everyone we adore - I hate this! But the question is, how do we live as women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/we-are-going-to-die-as-is-everyone-we-adore-i-hate-this-but-the/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Music. A meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/music-a-meaningless-acceleration-in-the-rhythm-of-celestial-experience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A creative writing workshop will contain students whose ambitions and abilities, whose conceptions of literature itself, are so diverse that what they have in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-cusk/a-creative-writing-workshop-will-contain-students-whose-ambitions-and/) [Rachel Cusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-cusk/) > [We live not only in a world of thoughts, but also in a world of things. Words without experience are meaningless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/we-live-not-only-in-a-world-of-thoughts-but-also-in-a-world-of-things/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [“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/) > [life is meaningless unless you bring meaning to it; ... it is up to us to create our own existence. Unless you do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/life-is-meaningless-unless-you-bring-meaning-to-it-it-is-up-to-us-to/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [If you let your mind run the show, it will devise some horrible story behind something as meaningless as the time of day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/if-you-let-your-mind-run-the-show-it-will-devise-some-horrible-story/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) [Browse all 1,098 Meaningless quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaningless/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no other.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wallace Stevens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonight-and-there-is-no-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Meaningless" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonight-and-there-is-no-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f9/wallace-stevens-846_meaningless_the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonigh_1018819.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The physical world is meaningless tonight And there is no other.” — Wallace Stevens", "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": "Wallace Stevens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The physical world is meaningless tonight...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonight-and-there-is-no-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/the-physical-world-is-meaningless-tonight-and-there-is-no-other/#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 } } ] } ```