Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle Quote

When the heavens were a little blue arch, stuck with stars, me thought the universe was too straight and close: I was almost stifled for want of air: but now it is enlarged in height and breadth, and a thousand vortices taken in. I begin to breathe with more freedom, and I think the universe to be incomparably more magnificent than it was before.


Translated by John Glanville, A Plurality of Worlds, The Fifth Evening (p. 129), Printed for R.W. 1702


When the heavens were a little blue arch, stuck with stars, me thought the universe was too straight and close: I was almost stifled for want of air: ...

When the heavens were a little blue arch, stuck with stars, me thought the universe was too straight and close: I was almost stifled for want of air: ...

When the heavens were a little blue arch, stuck with stars, me thought the universe was too straight and close: I was almost stifled for want of air: ...

When the heavens were a little blue arch, stuck with stars, me thought the universe was too straight and close: I was almost stifled for want of air: ...