Just because Pluto or comets aren't as big as Jupiter doesn't

“Just because Pluto or comets aren’t as big as Jupiter doesn’t mean they are not scientifically important — indeed, just the reverse is often true. Sometimes, great things come in small packages.” Thus spoke Alan Stern, the daring explorer of the cosmos and leader of NASA’s New Horizons mission, who guided humanity’s gaze to the edge of the solar system. In this saying lies a truth both scientific and spiritual — that greatness is not measured by size, and that the smallest of things may hold the deepest mysteries. Stern, who spent decades striving to unveil the secrets of Pluto, spoke these words not only about planets and comets, but about the very nature of discovery, of value, and of humility before creation.

When Alan Stern led the New Horizons spacecraft on its 9-year journey across billions of miles to reach Pluto, many doubted the worth of such a mission. Pluto had been demoted from planet to dwarf planet, dismissed by some as insignificant beside the giants like Jupiter or Saturn. Yet Stern, with the vision of the ancients and the courage of a pioneer, believed otherwise. He knew that in the cosmos, as in life, the small often conceals the sublime. For within Pluto’s frozen heart lay the story of the early solar system — a cosmic relic untouched since creation’s dawn. To study it was to touch the past itself. Thus, through patience and perseverance, Stern proved his own words: that great things do indeed come in small packages.

This truth, though spoken in the language of science, reaches beyond the stars and into the human soul. The world has ever been deceived by magnitude — by the grand, the loud, the mighty. Men have worshiped kings for their power, and dismissed the humble for their quietness. Yet history teaches, again and again, that the smallest flame can outshine the greatest darkness. The seed, though smaller than a pebble, holds forests within it. The atom, invisible to the eye, carries the power of creation and destruction. And the child born in a manger, frail and forgotten, would one day move the hearts of billions.

The ancients knew this truth well. When the philosopher Diogenes walked the streets of Athens with a lamp in daylight, searching for an honest man, he reminded the proud city that wisdom is not found in power or form, but in essence. When Archimedes discovered the principle of buoyancy while bathing, the great insight of physics emerged not from grandeur, but from a single, small realization. And when the apple fell before Isaac Newton, it was not the vastness of the heavens that revealed gravity, but a small fruit falling to earth. So too in Stern’s Pluto, the smallest world revealed vast cosmic truths — that the frontier of wonder is not in size, but in depth.

Stern’s quote also speaks to the spirit of perseverance. For what is small is often overlooked, dismissed, and doubted — yet it endures. The same could be said of Stern’s mission: conceived in skepticism, delayed by decades, and dismissed by bureaucrats, it still succeeded. When New Horizons finally flew past Pluto in 2015, humanity beheld mountains of ice, skies tinted blue, and plains of frozen nitrogen — a world of haunting beauty, unseen until that moment. The small world that many had deemed unworthy became a symbol of the power of curiosity, and of how the overlooked can transform the known universe.

In a deeper sense, Stern’s wisdom invites us to honor the small within ourselves — the quiet acts of kindness, the hidden labors of the soul, the thoughts that may seem insignificant but shape the world in unseen ways. For just as the smallest celestial body can influence the heavens through its gravity, so too can a single act of integrity shift the destiny of many. The universe, both vast and intricate, teaches us that value is not measured by volume, but by essence.

Therefore, O seeker of truth, remember this lesson: do not despise the small beginnings of your dreams. Whether you are building a life, a craft, or a purpose, what is small today may one day move mountains. Attend carefully to the details, for within them lies greatness. Be like Alan Stern, who looked not to the giant planets, but to the forgotten edge of the solar system — and there found majesty. In every atom, every word, every act of courage, there is a spark of infinite worth.

So let this be your guiding thought: great things come in small packages. The universe itself began as a point no larger than a grain of dust, and from that seed of fire came all stars, all worlds, all life. So too may your smallest efforts, guided by patience and faith, unfold into something vast and luminous. Honor the little, seek the hidden, cherish the humble — for in them lies the greatness of creation, and in you, the boundless potential of the stars.