--- title: "9 Darkness at noon Quotes by 5 authors" description: "Browse 9 Darkness at noon quotes by 5 authors. Discover the best Darkness at noon sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png" --- > [ \[Arthur Koestler\] wrote some other very interesting books, but that book - I mean, if I were teaching, I don't care what… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-interesting-books-but-that-book/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png) > [“For in a struggle one must have both legs firmly planted on the earth. The Party had taught one how to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-legs-firmly-planted-on-the-earth/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-leg_1000078.jpg) > [“...The arbitrary power of the Government is unlimited, and unexampled in history; freedom of the Press, of opinion and of movement are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-arbitrary-power-of-the-government-is-unlimited-and-unexampled-in/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/487/arthur-koestler-1903_communism_the-arbitrary-power-of-the-government-is_1629908.jpg) > [One always imagines that the days that change one’s life must be marked with something extraordinary in nature—storms and lightning, darkness at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-change-one-s-life-must-be/) [Margaret George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-george/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/margaret-george-11964_darkness_one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-c_633234.jpg) > [There are books like Darkness at Noon, which from the prose standpoint I don't think is a perfect book. It has flaws.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bezmozgis/there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-which-from-the-prose-standpoint/) [David Bezmozgis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bezmozgis/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/david-bezmozgis-20993_book_there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-wh_2057520.jpg) > [The book that really, really shaped my politics and has forever is Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon," which is a novel based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/the-book-that-really-really-shaped-my-politics-and-has-forever-is/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdf/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_the-book-that-really-really-shaped-my-po_106639.png) > [ I was less angry at \[Carl\] Armstrong, though I was angry at the people who came to his trial: Dan Ellsberg, who… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-though-i-was-angry-at-the-people/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/nat-hentoff-1615_angry_i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-thoug_2131420.jpg) > [“Though Rousseau writes about the General Will in terms of liberty, it is essentially an authoritarian instrument, an early adumbration of Lenin’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general-will-in-terms-of-liberty-it/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/paul-johnson-4585_darkness-at-noon_though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general_2776689.jpg) > [“What had he said to them? "I bow my knees before the country, before the masses, before the whole people…" And what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees-before-the-country-before-the/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees_2950834.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-at-noon/#itemlist", "name": "Darkness at noon Quotes", "numberOfItems": 9, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[Arthur Koestler] wrote some other very interesting books, but that book - I mean, if I were teaching, I don't care what the course is, I would say you really have to read \"Darkness at Noon\".", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nat Hentoff" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-interesting-books-but-that-book/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[Arthur Koestler] wrote some other very interesting books, but that book - I mean, if I were teaching, I…” — Nat Hentoff", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For in a struggle one must have both legs firmly planted on the earth. The Party had taught one how to do it. The infinite was a politically suspect quantity, the 'I' a suspect quality. The Party did not recognize its existence. The definition of an individual was: a multitude of one million divided by one million.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Koestler" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-legs-firmly-planted-on-the-earth/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-leg_1000078.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-leg_1000078.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0b/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_for-in-a-struggle-one-must-have-both-leg_1000078.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For in a struggle one must have both legs firmly planted on the earth. 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In truth they are indistinguishable from any other, which is one reason we feel mocked, as if the world is telling us we are inconsequential.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret George" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-george/one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-change-one-s-life-must-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/margaret-george-11964_darkness_one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-c_633234.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/margaret-george-11964_darkness_one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-c_633234.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b20/margaret-george-11964_darkness_one-always-imagines-that-the-days-that-c_633234.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One always imagines that the days that change one’s life must be marked with something extraordinary in…” — Margaret George", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are books like Darkness at Noon, which from the prose standpoint I don't think is a perfect book. It has flaws. But for its time, it was very politically courageous.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Bezmozgis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bezmozgis/there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-which-from-the-prose-standpoint/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/david-bezmozgis-20993_book_there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-wh_2057520.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/david-bezmozgis-20993_book_there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-wh_2057520.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/david-bezmozgis-20993_book_there-are-books-like-darkness-at-noon-wh_2057520.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are books like Darkness at Noon, which from the prose standpoint I don't think is a perfect book. 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And they were saying - well, they were saying, really, what Arthur Koestler had people saying on \"Darkness at Noon.\" The means were unfortunate and, sadly, someone died, but the end is what is important and this was a great symbolic - something or other - sign against the war in Vietnam.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nat Hentoff" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-though-i-was-angry-at-the-people/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/nat-hentoff-1615_angry_i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-thoug_2131420.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/nat-hentoff-1615_angry_i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-thoug_2131420.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/162/nat-hentoff-1615_angry_i-was-less-angry-at-carl-armstrong-thoug_2131420.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was less angry at [Carl] Armstrong, though I was angry at the people who came to his trial: Dan Ellsberg…” — Nat Hentoff", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Though Rousseau writes about the General Will in terms of liberty, it is essentially an authoritarian instrument, an early adumbration of Lenin’s ‘democratic centralism’. Laws made under the General Will must, by definition, have moral authority. ‘The people making laws for itself cannot be unjust.’ ‘The General Will is always righteous.’ Moreover, provided the State is ‘well-intentioned’ (i.e., its long-term objectives are desirable) interpretation of the General Will can safely be left to the leaders since ‘they know well that the General Will always favours the decision most conducive to the public interest.’ Hence any individual who finds himself in opposition to the General Will is in error: ‘When the opinion that is contrary to my own prevails, this simply proves that I was mistaken and that what I thought to be the General Will, was not so.’ Indeed, ‘if my particular opinion had carried the day I should have achieved the opposite of what was my will and I should not therefore have been free.’ We are here almost in the chilly region of Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon or George Orwell’s ‘Newspeak’. Rousseau”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Johnson" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general-will-in-terms-of-liberty-it/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/paul-johnson-4585_darkness-at-noon_though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general_2776689.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/paul-johnson-4585_darkness-at-noon_though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general_2776689.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ab3/paul-johnson-4585_darkness-at-noon_though-rousseau-writes-about-the-general_2776689.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Though Rousseau writes about the General Will in terms of liberty, it is essentially an authoritarian…” — Paul Johnson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What had he said to them? \"I bow my knees before the country, before the masses, before the whole people…\" And what then? What happened to these masses, to this people? For forty years it had been driven through the desert, with threats and promises, with imaginary terrors and imaginary rewards. But where was the Promised Land? Did there really exist any such goal for this wandering mankind? That was a question to which he would have liked an answer before it was too late. Moses had not been allowed to enter the land of promise either, But he had been allowed to see it, from the top of the mountain, spread at his feet. Thus, it was easy to die, with the visible certainty of one's goal before one's eyes. He, Nicolas Salmanovitch Rubashov, had not been taken to the top of a mountain; and wherever his eye looked, he saw nothing but desert and the darkness of night.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Arthur Koestler" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees-before-the-country-before-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees_2950834.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees_2950834.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6f/arthur-koestler-1903_darkness-at-noon_what-had-he-said-to-them-i-bow-my-knees_2950834.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What had he said to them? \"I bow my knees before the country, before the masses, before the whole people…\"…” — Arthur Koestler", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-at-noon/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-at-noon/", "name": "Darkness at noon Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-at-noon/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b8f/nat-hentoff-1615_arthur_arthur-koestler-wrote-some-other-very-in_1368211.png" }, "description": "Browse 9 Darkness at noon quotes by 5 authors. 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