--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sublime is contained in a grain of…" description: "\"The sublime is contained in a grain of dust.\" — Walter Savage Landor" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png" --- # The sublime is contained in a grain of dust. ![“The sublime is contained in a grain of dust.” quote by Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png) > “The sublime is contained in a grain of dust.” [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even tiny, unnoticed things can hold profound beauty and meaning. **In simple terms:** Small things can be profound. Key Takeaway Notice and appreciate minute details. Themes aesthetics philosophy mindfulness Mood contemplative philosophical Type inspirational reflective When to use this quote - nature walks - art criticism - meditation practice Key Concepts the sublime micro‑beauty perception Questions to Reflect On - What tiny detail has inspired you? - How does focusing on smallness change your view? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on minutiae may distract from larger context. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grain/) [Nature of Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-beauty/) [Sublime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sublime/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Inside the treasury of the dharma eye a single grain of dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dogen/inside-the-treasury-of-the-dharma-eye-a-single-grain-of-dust/) [Dogen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dogen/) > [“What grain of dust can be easier carried by your life’s emptiness wind than the knowledge?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/what-grain-of-dust-can-be-easier-carried-by-your-life-s-emptiness/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [Distrust even Mathematics; albeit so sublime and highly perfected, we have here a machine of such delicacy it can only work in vacuo, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/distrust-even-mathematics-albeit-so-sublime-and-highly-perfected-we/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [Beauty should be shared for it enhances our joys. To explore its mystery is to venture towards the sublime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-cornell/beauty-should-be-shared-for-it-enhances-our-joys-to-explore-its/) [Joseph Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-cornell/) > [Love is the suspension of reality in favor of the sublime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-fry/love-is-the-suspension-of-reality-in-favor-of-the-sublime/) [Jeffrey Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-fry/) > [When authors and critics talk of the sublime, they see not how nearly it borders on the ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/when-authors-and-critics-talk-of-the-sublime-they-see-not-how-nearly/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Only by chancing the ridiculous, can I hope for the sublime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-defeo/only-by-chancing-the-ridiculous-can-i-hope-for-the-sublime/) Jay DeFeo > [The sublime is only a step removed from the ridiculous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/the-sublime-is-only-a-step-removed-from-the-ridiculous/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/whatever-is-fitted-in-any-sort-to-excite-the-ideas-of-pain-and-danger/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [You start out with the sublime and you end up in an alley jerking away for dear life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/you-start-out-with-the-sublime-and-you-end-up-in-an-alley-jerking/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [To bring the sublime into the mundane is the greatest challenge there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-bring-the-sublime-into-the-mundane-is-the-greatest-challenge-there/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sublime places gently move us to acknowledge limitations that we might otherwise encounter with anxiety or anger in the ordinary flow of events. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/sublime-places-gently-move-us-to-acknowledge-limitations-that-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Some of the things you say are sublime and monstrous at once.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/some-of-the-things-you-say-are-sublime-and-monstrous-at-once/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [It is not without trepidation that I have appropriated the codes of the Sublime and the Picturesque in my work. After all, serious photographers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-pfahl/it-is-not-without-trepidation-that-i-have-appropriated-the-codes-of/) [John Pfahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-pfahl/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) ## More by Walter Savage Landor > [Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/nations-like-individuals-interest-us-in-their-growth/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Ah what avails the sceptred race, Ah what the form divine! What every virtue, every grace! Rose Aylmer, all were thine. Rose Aylmer, whom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/ah-what-avails-the-sceptred-race-ah-what-the-form-divine-what-every/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [A solitude is the audience-chamber of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/a-solitude-is-the-audience-chamber-of-god/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [No ashes are lighter than those of incense, and few things burn out sooner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/no-ashes-are-lighter-than-those-of-incense-and-few-things-burn-out/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [As there are some flowers which you should smell but slightly to extract all that is pleasant in them ... so there are some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/as-there-are-some-flowers-which-you-should-smell-but-slightly-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [We talk on principle, but we act on interest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/we-talk-on-principle-but-we-act-on-interest/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [States, like men, have their growth, their manhood, their decrepitude, their decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/states-like-men-have-their-growth-their-manhood-their-decrepitude/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-only-effect-of-public-punishment-is-to-show-the-rabble-how/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Every great writer is a writer of history, let him treat on almost what subject he may.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/every-great-writer-is-a-writer-of-history-let-him-treat-on-almost/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [I strove with none; for none was worth my strife.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/i-strove-with-none-for-none-was-worth-my-strife/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The habit of pleasing by flattery makes a language soft; the fear of offending by truth makes it circuitous and conventional.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-habit-of-pleasing-by-flattery-makes-a-language-soft-the-fear-of/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [There is no eloquence which does not agitate the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/there-is-no-eloquence-which-does-not-agitate-the-soul/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [We care not how many see us in choler, when we rave and bluster, and make as much noise and bustle as we can;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/we-care-not-how-many-see-us-in-choler-when-we-rave-and-bluster-and/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [Whatever is worthy to be loved for anything is worthy of preservation. A wise and dispassionate legislator, if any such should ever arise among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/whatever-is-worthy-to-be-loved-for-anything-is-worthy-of-preservation/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [The present, like a note in music, is nothing but as it appertains to what is past and what is to come.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-present-like-a-note-in-music-is-nothing-but-as-it-appertains-to/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) [Explore all 245 Walter Savage Landor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) ## More Dust quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/) Cameron Rogers > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/) [Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/gatsby-turned-out-all-right-at-the-end-it-is-what-preyed-on-gatsby/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/) [Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) Browse all 1,783 Dust quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The sublime is contained in a grain of dust.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Walter Savage Landor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-dust/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dust" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-dust/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/46b/walter-savage-landor-1404_dust_the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-d_2184284.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The sublime is contained in a grain of dust.” — Walter Savage Landor", "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": "Walter Savage Landor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The sublime is contained in a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-dust/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/the-sublime-is-contained-in-a-grain-of-dust/#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 } } ] } ```