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A classical Chinese line for “We are small in the universe”

These matches come from a curated corpus of real Chinese poetry and philosophy. The source line is fixed; the English wording is provided to make its meaning accessible.

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The closest lines we found

6 source-verified results
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寄蜉蝣于天地，渺沧海之一粟。

Jì fú yóu yú tiān dì, miǎo cāng hǎi zhī yī sù.

Close English reading

We lodge like mayflies between heaven and earth, tiny as a single grain in the vast sea.

Plain meaningHuman life is brief and small within the immensity of the universe.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Former Rhapsody on the Red Cliffs
Guwen Guanzhi: Former Rhapsody on the Red Cliffs
Why it fitsThe mayfly and grain of millet place an individual life against cosmic scale.
Original context and translation note
寄蜉蝣于天地，渺沧海之一粟。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下。

Niàn tiān dì zhī yōu yōu, dú chuàng rán ér tì xià.

Close English reading

Thinking of the endlessness of heaven and earth, alone in sorrow I shed tears.

Plain meaningThe scale of time and the world can make one person's loneliness feel overwhelming.

Source
Chen Zi'ang· Tang dynasty · Song on Climbing Youzhou Terrace
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe poem looks backward and forward through time and finds no answering figure, turning historical isolation into personal grief.
Original context and translation note
前不见古人，后不见来者。念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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天街小雨润如酥，草色遥看近却无。

Tiān jiē xiǎo yǔ rùn rú sū, cǎo sè yáo kàn jìn què wú.

Close English reading

A fine rain softens the capital streets like cream; from afar the grass is green, yet up close it seems absent.

Plain meaningSpring is beginning so quietly that change is easier to see from a distance.

Source
Han Yu· Tang dynasty · Early Spring, Presented to Zhang of the Water Ministry
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe almost invisible grass makes early change feel delicate, real, and easy to overlook.
Original context and translation note
天街小雨润如酥，草色遥看近却无。最是一年春好处，绝胜烟柳满皇都。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。

Rén yǒu bēi huān lí hé, yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē, cǐ shì gǔ nán quán.

Close English reading

People have sorrow and joy, meeting and separation; the moon has brightness and shadow, fullness and loss. Such things have never been complete.

Plain meaningLife cannot remain perfect or whole all the time.

Source
Su Shi· Northern Song dynasty · Prelude to Water Melody: When Will the Moon Be Clear and Bright?
Dongpo Yuefu
Why it fitsHuman change and lunar change are placed side by side, making incompleteness a shared condition rather than a private failure.
Original context and translation note
不应有恨，何事长向别时圆？人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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沉舟侧畔千帆过，病树前头万木春。

Chén zhōu cè pàn qiān fān guò, bìng shù qián tóu wàn mù chūn.

Close English reading

Beside the sunken boat, a thousand sails pass; before the diseased tree, ten thousand trees enter spring.

Plain meaningNew life and opportunity continue beyond loss and decline.

Source
Liu Yuxi· Tang dynasty · Reply to Bai Juyi at Our First Banquet in Yangzhou
Complete Tang Poems
Why it fitsThe damaged boat and tree remain visible, but they no longer occupy the whole landscape.
Original context and translation note
沉舟侧畔千帆过，病树前头万木春。

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

Yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì zāi!

Close English reading

How could sparrows and swallows know the ambition of a great swan?

Plain meaningPeople with small horizons may not understand a larger dream.

Source
Sima Qian· Western Han dynasty · The House of Chen She
Records of the Grand Historian
Why it fitsThe contrast between small birds and the great swan gives defiant language to misunderstood ambition.
Original context and translation note
燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉！

English wording on Gu Ren Said is an original reading aid, not a claim that there is only one valid literary translation.

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Translation note: The English readings are original explanatory translations for this product. They are designed for clarity and source verification, not presented as definitive literary translations.

Explore nearby meanings

Related themes

Time & impermanenceClassical Chinese reflections on brief human life, change, decline, renewal, and our small place in a much larger world.Ambition & successClassical lines about large ambitions, earned success, wider horizons, talent, opportunity, and the exhilaration of achievement.CourageClassical Chinese sayings about integrity under wealth, hardship, pressure, praise, and criticism.

Original Chinese line, pinyin, a readable English explanation, and a traceable source—without inventing an ancient quotation.

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A Classical Chinese Line for “We are small in the universe” | Gu Ren Said