---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble…"
description: "\"we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race crawling on a planet between immensities we haven't even begun to understand, that really we ha..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png"
---

#  we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race…

![“we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race crawling on a planet between immensities we haven't even begun to understand, that really we have no grounds for either congratulation or despair.” quote by Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png)

> “we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race crawling on a planet between immensities we haven't even begun to understand, that really we have no grounds for either congratulation or despair.”

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Humanity is tiny and ignorant, confronting vast unknowns, making celebration or despair unwarranted.

**In simple terms:** Human small is small amid the unknown.

Key Takeaway

Embrace humility and curiosity.

Themes

philosophy existential humility

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- education
- scientific inquiry
- personal growth
- spiritual reflection

Key Concepts

cosmology knowledge limits human condition

Questions to Reflect On

- What can we learn from recognizing our limits?
- How does humility shape action?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on insignificance can lead to nihilism.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Immensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immensity/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/)

## Related quotes

> [What we know here is very little, but what we are ignorant of is immense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-know-here-is-very-little-but-what-we-are-ignorant-of-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Without travel I would have wound up a little ignorant white Southern female, which was not my idea of a good life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-hutton/without-travel-i-would-have-wound-up-a-little-ignorant-white-southern/)

[Lauren Hutton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-hutton/)

> [Drag Race' was when I was kind of confused about how I wanted to live the rest of my life and I was just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-carrera/drag-race-was-when-i-was-kind-of-confused-about-how-i-wanted-to-live/)

[Carmen Carrera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-carrera/)

> [Sometimes I can be a little ignorant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/sometimes-i-can-be-a-little-ignorant/)

[Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/)

> [The ascent to the divine Life is the human journey, the Work of works, the acceptable Sacrifice. This alone is man's real business in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/the-ascent-to-the-divine-life-is-the-human-journey-the-work-of-works/)

[Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/)

> [It is no longer possible for lyric poetry to express the immensity of our experience. Life has grown too cumbersome, too complicated. We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boris-pasternak/it-is-no-longer-possible-for-lyric-poetry-to-express-the-immensity-of/)

[Boris Pasternak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boris-pasternak/)

> [Mount Shasta - a vision of immensity such as pertains to the vast universe rather than to our own planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dwight-dana/mount-shasta-a-vision-of-immensity-such-as-pertains-to-the-vast/)

[James Dwight Dana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dwight-dana/)

> [It is only through the confining act of writing that the immensity of the nonwritten becomes legible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/it-is-only-through-the-confining-act-of-writing-that-the-immensity-of/)

[Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/)

> [I'm happiest when most away I can bear my soul from its home of clay On a windy night when the moon is bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bronte/i-m-happiest-when-most-away-i-can-bear-my-soul-from-its-home-of-clay/)

[Emily Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-bronte/)

> [Geological age plays the same part in our views of the duration of the universe as the Earth's orbital radius does in our views…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joly/geological-age-plays-the-same-part-in-our-views-of-the-duration-of/)

[John Joly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joly/)

> [What shall I do, singer and first-born, in a world where the deepest black is grey, and inspiration is kept in a thermos? with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-tsvetaeva/what-shall-i-do-singer-and-first-born-in-a-world-where-the-deepest/)

[Marina Tsvetaeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-tsvetaeva/)

> [What was more needed by this old man who divided the leisure hours of his life, where he had so little leisure, between gardening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/what-was-more-needed-by-this-old-man-who-divided-the-leisure-hours-of/)

[Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/)

> [At a time when it's possible for thirty people to stand on the top of Everest in one day, Antarctica still remains a remote,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-attenborough/at-a-time-when-it-s-possible-for-thirty-people-to-stand-on-the-top-of/)

[David Attenborough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-attenborough/)

> [“Have you ever plunged into the immensity of space and time by reading the geological treatises of Cuvier? Borne away on the wings of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/have-you-ever-plunged-into-the-immensity-of-space-and-time-by-reading/)

[Honoré de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/)

> [When I think of God's Kingdom, I am compelled to be silent because of its immensity, because God's Kingdom is none other than God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/when-i-think-of-god-s-kingdom-i-am-compelled-to-be-silent-because-of/)

[Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/)

## More by Winifred Holtby

> [it is the brevity of life which makes it tolerable; its experiences have value because they have an end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/it-is-the-brevity-of-life-which-makes-it-tolerable-its-experiences/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [You are quite, quite wrong if you think that ... I find your happiness painful. What matters is that happiness - the golden day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/you-are-quite-quite-wrong-if-you-think-that-i-find-your-happiness/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Love needs the stiffening of respect, the give and take of equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/love-needs-the-stiffening-of-respect-the-give-and-take-of-equality/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Sorrow and frustration have their power. The world is moved by people with great discontents. Happiness is a drug. It can make men blind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/sorrow-and-frustration-have-their-power-the-world-is-moved-by-people/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [There's never been a lack of men willing to die bravely. The trouble is to find a few able to live sensibly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/there-s-never-been-a-lack-of-men-willing-to-die-bravely-the-trouble/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [I advise nobody to drown sorrow in cocoa. It is bad for the figure and it does not alleviate the sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/i-advise-nobody-to-drown-sorrow-in-cocoa-it-is-bad-for-the-figure-and/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [What a strange distance there is between ill people and well ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/what-a-strange-distance-there-is-between-ill-people-and-well-ones/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [The crown of life is neither happiness nor annihilation; it is understanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/the-crown-of-life-is-neither-happiness-nor-annihilation-it-is/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [public work brings a vicarious but assured sense of immortality. We may be poor, weak, timid, in debt to our landlady, bullied by our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/public-work-brings-a-vicarious-but-assured-sense-of-immortality-we/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [Everybody's tragedy is somebody's nuisance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/everybody-s-tragedy-is-somebody-s-nuisance/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [I can't think why I was cursed with this inordinate desire to write, if the high gods weren't going to give me some more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/i-can-t-think-why-i-was-cursed-with-this-inordinate-desire-to-write/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [If you are rich, you have lovely cars, and jars full of flowers, and books in rows, and a wireless, and the best sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/if-you-are-rich-you-have-lovely-cars-and-jars-full-of-flowers-and/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [What with the reviews of critics, the sarcasms of one's friends, the reproaches of one's own taste, there's precious little peace after publishing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/what-with-the-reviews-of-critics-the-sarcasms-of-one-s-friends-the/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [If we haven't a grouch against Fortune, we seem unable to avoid one against ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/if-we-haven-t-a-grouch-against-fortune-we-seem-unable-to-avoid-one/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

> [The world, with all its beauty and adventure, its richness and variety, is darkened by cruelty. Death, if it ends the loveliness, the adventure,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/the-world-with-all-its-beauty-and-adventure-its-richness-and-variety/)

[Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

[Explore all 64 Winifred Holtby quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/)

## More Congratulations quotes

> [Congratulations to Facebook on going public with all my private information...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/congratulations-to-facebook-on-going-public-with-all-my-private/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [ I don't think anybody can be a success who doesn't like what they do. \[But it's\] no job if it has no challenge; there's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/i-don-t-think-anybody-can-be-a-success-who-doesn-t-like-what-they-do/)

[Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/)

> [Often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/often-a-certain-abdication-of-prudence-and-foresight-is-an-element-of/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [That means more to me, truthfully, than commercial success. To be a loved human being is much more important to me then any of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-o-brien/that-means-more-to-me-truthfully-than-commercial-success-to-be-a/)

[Richard O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-o-brien/)

> [Congratulations to each and every one of you for the concert last night in New York and vice versa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-ormandy/congratulations-to-each-and-every-one-of-you-for-the-concert-last/)

[Eugene Ormandy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-ormandy/)

> [Congratulations to Thierry Henry on a truly wonderful career. One of the great footballers of our time and a top bloke. Bonne chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-lineker/congratulations-to-thierry-henry-on-a-truly-wonderful-career-one-of/)

[Gary Lineker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-lineker/)

> [Heath took our first congratulations love birds photo!(: Together for eternity &lt;3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/heath-took-our-first-congratulations-love-birds-photo-together-for/)

[Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/)

> [“Congratulations. You took me down. And now, you have made everything that is sad, relevant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pleasefindthis/congratulations-you-took-me-down-and-now-you-have-made-everything/)

pleasefindthis

> [From day-break to day end may you two find solace in each others arms! Many congratulations on your big day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/from-day-break-to-day-end-may-you-two-find-solace-in-each-others-arms/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Compliments of congratulation are always kindly taken, and cost nothing but pen, ink and paper. I consider them as draughts upon good breeding, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/compliments-of-congratulation-are-always-kindly-taken-and-cost/)

[Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/)

> [“You're back where you swore yourself you wouldn't be The familiar shackles you can't tell from your own skin Your head's under water when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanhita-baruah/you-re-back-where-you-swore-yourself-you-wouldn-t-be-the-familiar/)

[Sanhita Baruah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanhita-baruah/)

> [Never rank, rate, or compare coaches, children, concerts, or championships or congratulations. Just enjoy them all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-walton/never-rank-rate-or-compare-coaches-children-concerts-or-championships/)

[Bill Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-walton/)

> [Congratulations! Wishing you lots of wonderful moments of togetherness now &amp; always, may God bless you. Happy Engagement Day!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/congratulations-wishing-you-lots-of-wonderful-moments-of-togetherness/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Congratulations on doing what we pay you to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/congratulations-on-doing-what-we-pay-you-to-do/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Congratulations to Prince Charles for banning foie gras from all his functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/congratulations-to-prince-charles-for-banning-foie-gras-from-all-his/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

Browse all 527 Congratulations quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race crawling on a planet between immensities we haven't even begun to understand, that really we have no grounds for either congratulation or despair.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Winifred Holtby"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-an-infant-race-crawling-on-a/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Congratulations"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-an-infant-race-crawling-on-a/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4b/winifred-holtby-10595_congratulations_we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-a_827753.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“we are so little, so ignorant, so feeble an infant race crawling on a planet between immensities we haven't…” — Winifred Holtby",
                "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": "Winifred Holtby",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "we are so little, so ignorant,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-an-infant-race-crawling-on-a/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/we-are-so-little-so-ignorant-so-feeble-an-infant-race-crawling-on-a/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
