--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The postgrad at least knew enough to know…" description: "\"“The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would never know enough, lying under the stars which hung from the inky sky like bunches of inconcei..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png" --- # The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would… ![“The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would never know enough, lying under the stars which hung from the inky sky like bunches of inconceivably heavy, lustrous grapes, dusted with the yeast of eternity.” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png) > ““The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would never know enough, lying under the stars which hung from the inky sky like bunches of inconceivably heavy, lustrous grapes, dusted with the yeast of eternity.”” [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## 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 reflects on endless learning, feeling humbled by the vast, unknowable universe. **In simple terms:** He feels small compared to the endless unknown. Key Takeaway Embrace humility in learning. Themes knowledge humility existentialism Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - personal growth - creative writing - nighttime contemplation Key Concepts philosophy cosmology literature Questions to Reflect On - What does “lying under the stars” symbolize for you? - How does acknowledging limits inspire curiosity? A Different Perspective The metaphor may obscure practical insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dusted Yeast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dusted-yeast-2694518/) [Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) [Grapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes/) [Grapes Dusted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes-dusted-2694516/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Lying Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying-stars-2694520/) [Postgrad Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postgrad-knew-2694514/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Yeast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeast/) [Yeast Eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yeast-eternity-2694522/) ## Related quotes > [“One night when we were lying under the stars together she pointed to this beaming bright star beside the moon and said wherever she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecah-mcmanus/one-night-when-we-were-lying-under-the-stars-together-she-pointed-to/) [Rebecah McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecah-mcmanus/) > [The sense of an entailed disadvantage - the deformed foot doubtfully hidden by the shoe, makes a restlessly active spiritual yeast, and easily turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-sense-of-an-entailed-disadvantage-the-deformed-foot-doubtfully/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There are stages in bread-making quite similar to the stages of writing. You begin with something shapeless, which sticks to your fingers, a kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-yourcenar/there-are-stages-in-bread-making-quite-similar-to-the-stages-of/) [Marguerite Yourcenar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-yourcenar/) > [What was wrong with me? I had a decent life. I was healthy. I wasn't starving or maimed by a land mine or orphaned.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/what-was-wrong-with-me-i-had-a-decent-life-i-was-healthy-i-wasn-t/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/kilgore-trout-once-wrote-a-short-story-which-was-a-dialogue-between/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/you-can-do-anything-if-you-have-enthusiasm-enthusiasm-is-the-yeast/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [Of course, there is some truth in advertising. There's yeast in bread, but you can't make bread with yeast alone. Truth in advertising is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/of-course-there-is-some-truth-in-advertising-there-s-yeast-in-bread/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Is it not better to intimate our astonishment as we pass through this world if it be only for a moment ere we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/is-it-not-better-to-intimate-our-astonishment-as-we-pass-through-this/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“I believe in absolutely nothing except yeast and the inevitability of politicians.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kerry-greenwood/i-believe-in-absolutely-nothing-except-yeast-and-the-inevitability-of/) [Kerry Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kerry-greenwood/) > [You can do anything if you have enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/you-can-do-anything-if-you-have-enthusiasm/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird - equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/my-work-is-the-world-here-the-sunflowers-there-the-hummingbird-equal/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Yeast is to flour as action is to ambition. Rising to success requires adding and alternating starters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-lilly/yeast-is-to-flour-as-action-is-to-ambition-rising-to-success-requires/) [Ryan Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-lilly/) > [You can't just leave out one part; the bread won't rise if the yeast isn't there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-near/you-can-t-just-leave-out-one-part-the-bread-won-t-rise-if-the-yeast/) [Holly Near](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-near/) > [Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent's Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-pearce/welcome-to-bologna-on-capital-gold-for-england-versus-san-marino-with/) [Jonathan Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-pearce/) > [Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/enthusiasm-is-the-yeast-that-makes-your-hopes-shine-to-the-stars/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) ## More by Will Self > [As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) [Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More Eternity quotes > [“I believe in forever, and that’s what you and I are. We define eternity. This may sound cheesy, but you make me go there.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-mchugh/i-believe-in-forever-and-that-s-what-you-and-i-are-we-define-eternity/) [Gail McHugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-mchugh/) > [“Please not yet. Those are the three eternal words. Please not yet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-macdonald/please-not-yet-those-are-the-three-eternal-words-please-not-yet/) [John D. MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-macdonald/) > [Peace is the first thing the angels sang. Peace is the mark of the children of God. Peace is the nurse of love. Peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-i/peace-is-the-first-thing-the-angels-sang-peace-is-the-mark-of-the/) [Pope Leo I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-i/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. And there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-kuyper/there-are-two-kinds-of-beauty-there-is-a-beauty-which-god-gives-at/) [Abraham Kuyper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-kuyper/) > [If I have a system it is limited to a recognition of what Kierkegaard called 'the infinite qualitative distinction' between time and eternity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-barth/if-i-have-a-system-it-is-limited-to-a-recognition-of-what-kierkegaard/) [Karl Barth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-barth/) > [Only alone can you go into eternity. Only alone can you feel the transcendental light. It is not a shared experience because if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/only-alone-can-you-go-into-eternity-only-alone-can-you-feel-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The religion of art, like the religion of politics, was born from the ruins of Christianity. Art inherited from the old religion the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/the-religion-of-art-like-the-religion-of-politics-was-born-from-the/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [I think we all have a core that's ecstatic, that knows and that looks up in wonder. We all know that there are marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleman-barks/i-think-we-all-have-a-core-that-s-ecstatic-that-knows-and-that-looks/) [Coleman Barks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleman-barks/) > [One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/one-of-our-great-allies-at-present-is-the-church-itself-do-not/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Heaven? Floating about with everyone you ever knew for eternity? Me family does me 'ed in after one day at xmas, I'd rather be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pilkington/heaven-floating-about-with-everyone-you-ever-knew-for-eternity-me/) [Karl Pilkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pilkington/) > [What does the future, that half of time, matter to the man who is infatuated with eternity?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/what-does-the-future-that-half-of-time-matter-to-the-man-who-is/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [You and I are both life. There's just the experience of every moment. We like to call them moments. There isn't really such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-and-i-are-both-life-there-s-just-the-experience-of-every-moment/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You've decided to love me for eternity, I'm still deciding who I want to be today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ani-difranco/you-ve-decided-to-love-me-for-eternity-i-m-still-deciding-who-i-want/) [Ani DiFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ani-difranco/) > [You may have some friends that come and go, but having a friend like God will last forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyssa-tillmon/you-may-have-some-friends-that-come-and-go-but-having-a-friend-like/) [Alyssa Tillmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyssa-tillmon/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Browse all 3,482 Eternity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would never know enough, lying under the stars which hung from the inky sky like bunches of inconceivably heavy, lustrous grapes, dusted with the yeast of eternity.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Will Self" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-know-that-he-would-never-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Eternity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-know-that-he-would-never-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/370/will-self-2296_eternity_the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-kno_2695796.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The postgrad at least knew enough to know that he would never know enough, lying under the stars which hung…” — Will Self", "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": "Will Self", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The postgrad at least knew enough...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-know-that-he-would-never-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/the-postgrad-at-least-knew-enough-to-know-that-he-would-never-know/#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 } } ] } ```