--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as…" description: "\"“But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye can see.”\" — Charles Stross" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png" --- # But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye… ![“But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye can see.” quote by Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png) > ““But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye can see.”” [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When lacking light, everything appears as an endless void. **In simple terms:** Darkness hides everything. Key Takeaway Seek illumination. Themes darkness perception uncertainty Mood somber thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - nighttime travel - exploring unknown - psychological stress Key Concepts novel science fiction atmosphere Questions to Reflect On - What does darkness symbolize for you? - How do you find clarity in confusion? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-darkness/) [Darkness Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-far-3125004/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) ## Related quotes > [“... WHEN ONE LOOKS INTO THE DARKNESS THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING THERE... Far-off, most secret, and inviolate Rose, Enfold me in my hour of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/when-one-looks-into-the-darkness-there-is-always-something-there-far/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [The more you try to turn away from darkness, the more darkness is right against your back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-eggers/the-more-you-try-to-turn-away-from-darkness-the-more-darkness-is/) [Robert Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-eggers/) > [“I can’t afford to live in reaction to darkness. If I do, darkness has had a role in setting the agenda for my life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-can-t-afford-to-live-in-reaction-to-darkness-if-i-do-darkness-has/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [“Less now to me is that darkness than my own darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/less-now-to-me-is-that-darkness-than-my-own-darkness/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [“Darkness. Then the darkness has holes. Stars. There”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brown/darkness-then-the-darkness-has-holes-stars-there/) [Pierce Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brown/) > [And I was in darkness, so darkness I became](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-i-was-in-darkness-so-darkness-i-became/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The light never sees darkness, therefore darkness does not exist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-minguzzi/the-light-never-sees-darkness-therefore-darkness-does-not-exist/) [Dominic Minguzzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-minguzzi/) > [“Everything becomes more and more itself. Here is joy that cannot be shaken. Our light can swallow up your darkness; but your darkness cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/everything-becomes-more-and-more-itself-here-is-joy-that-cannot-be/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [Fear cannot touch me… It can only taunt me, It cannot take me, Just tell me where to go… I can either follow, Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-rice/fear-cannot-touch-me-it-can-only-taunt-me-it-cannot-take-me-just-tell/) [Christopher Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-rice/) > [“It was at that age that I learned there is darkness and there is Darkness, and the difference between the two is day and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-smucker/it-was-at-that-age-that-i-learned-there-is-darkness-and-there-is/) [Shawn Smucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-smucker/) > [“Dreams come from darkness and darkness lives in dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faye-cross/dreams-come-from-darkness-and-darkness-lives-in-dreams/) [Faye Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faye-cross/) > [Richard began to understand darkness: darkness as something solid and real, so much more than a simple absence of light. He felt it touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-began-to-understand-darkness-darkness-as-something-solid-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Light came into the darkness, but the darkness didn't understand it," Susan said. "Look to the light. Only the light can save you from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/light-came-into-the-darkness-but-the-darkness-didn-t-understand-it/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“John 1:5 "Light shines into the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/john-1-5-light-shines-into-the-darkness-but-the-darkness-has-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“All Darkness was one darkness in the end. Of heart or Heavens, one Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/all-darkness-was-one-darkness-in-the-end-of-heart-or-heavens-one/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) ## More by Charles Stross > [We are Bay Aryans from Berkeley: prepare to be reengineered in an attractive range of color schemes for your safety and comfort!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/we-are-bay-aryans-from-berkeley-prepare-to-be-reengineered-in-an/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Shut up. Stand up. Put this on. That’s right . . . if you were the kind of man who found it easy to do that kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/shut-up-stand-up-put-this-on-that-s-right-if-you-were-the-kind-of-man/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Generating ideas isn't some mystical talent that you have to be born with: it's a skill you can develop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/generating-ideas-isn-t-some-mystical-talent-that-you-have-to-be-born/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Any replacement to the current copyright position (life plus 70 years) needs to have an answer lined up for this, and similar, messy edge cases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/any-replacement-to-the-current-copyright-position-life-plus-70-years/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [Time is a corrosive fluid, dissolving motivation, destroying novelty, and leaching the joy from life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/time-is-a-corrosive-fluid-dissolving-motivation-destroying-novelty/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“- Toma un puro, Sherlock. - Lo siento; sólo echo humo cuando me enchufan a la red eléctrica.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/toma-un-puro-sherlock-lo-siento-s-lo-echo-humo-cuando-me-enchufan-a/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I have no policy, for or against: only a personal style. Which is to say, I use them when I think it's appropriate to;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-have-no-policy-for-or-against-only-a-personal-style-which-is-to-say/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“To boldly go where no uploaded metahuman colony has gone before”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/to-boldly-go-where-no-uploaded-metahuman-colony-has-gone-before/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I was raised thinking that moral and ethical standards are universals that apply equally to everyone. And these values aren't easily compatible with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-was-raised-thinking-that-moral-and-ethical-standards-are-universals/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [I don't like Amazon (wearing my author hat, not my customer hat).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/i-don-t-like-amazon-wearing-my-author-hat-not-my-customer-hat/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Some say the Internet is for porn but you know that in truth the Internet is for spam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/some-say-the-internet-is-for-porn-but-you-know-that-in-truth-the/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [If I forget, then it might as well never have happened. Memory is liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/if-i-forget-then-it-might-as-well-never-have-happened-memory-is/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“If he wakes the ancient sleeping horrors I am going to have to brief the private secretary and the Joint Intelligence Oversight Committee so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/if-he-wakes-the-ancient-sleeping-horrors-i-am-going-to-have-to-brief/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“Crawling eldritch horrors don’t get planning permission unless they’re Trump’s hairpiece.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/crawling-eldritch-horrors-don-t-get-planning-permission-unless-they/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) > [“A historian who works for a bank: That’s not the most likely background for someone who capers around the cosmos having adventures, is it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/a-historian-who-works-for-a-bank-that-s-not-the-most-likely/) [Charles Stross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) [Explore all 331 Charles Stross quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye can see.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Stross" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/476/charles-stross-896_darkness_but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as_334739.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as far as the eye can see.” — Charles Stross", "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": "Charles Stross", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-stross/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“But otherwise it’s darkness, darkness, as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-stross/but-otherwise-it-s-darkness-darkness-as-far-as-the-eye-can-see/#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 } } ] } ```