--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He dreamt that night that he rode through…" description: "\"“He dreamt that night that he rode through the woods on a low ridge. Below him he could see deer in a meadow where the sun fell on the grass. The grass..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/cormac-mccarthy-181_mule_he-dreamt-that-night-that-he-rode-throug_2750677.jpg" --- # He dreamt that night that he rode through the woods on a… ![“He dreamt that night that he rode through the woods on a low ridge. Below him he could see deer in a meadow where the sun fell on the grass. The grass was still wet and the deer stood in it to their elbows. He could feel the spine of the mule rolling under him and he gripped the mule's barrel with…” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/cormac-mccarthy-181_mule_he-dreamt-that-night-that-he-rode-throug_2750677.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/cormac-mccarthy-181_mule_he-dreamt-that-night-that-he-rode-throug_2750677.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/79c/cormac-mccarthy-181_mule_he-dreamt-that-night-that-he-rode-throug_2750677.jpg) > ““He dreamt that night that he rode through the woods on a low ridge. Below him he could see deer in a meadow where the sun fell on the grass. The grass was still wet and the deer stood in it to their elbows. He could feel the spine of the mule rolling under him and he gripped the mule's barrel with his legs. Each leaf that brushed his face deepened his sadness and dread. Each leaf he passed, he'd never pass again. They rode over his face like veils, already some yellow, their veins slender like bones where the sun shone through them. He had resolved himself to ride on for he could not turn back and the world that day was as lovely as any day ever was and he was riding to his death.”” [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A relentless journey through a haunting landscape mirrors inner dread, yet the rider persists toward inevitable death. **In simple terms:** A dark journey reflects inner fear and inevitability. Key Takeaway Embrace the path despite fear. Themes mortality journey despair Mood somber introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief processing - adventure writing - mental health coping Key Concepts existentialism acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What does the mule symbolize for you? - How do you confront unavoidable outcomes? A Different Perspective The vivid imagery may overwhelm some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deer Stood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deer-stood-3097590/) [Dreamt Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreamt-night-758835/) [Gripped Mule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gripped-mule-3097591/) [Mule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mule/) [Riding Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/riding-death-3097592/) ## Related quotes > [Each leaf that brushed his face deepened his sadness and dread. Each leaf he passed he'd never pass again. They rode over his face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/each-leaf-that-brushed-his-face-deepened-his-sadness-and-dread-each/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Standing Deer As the house of a person in age sometimes grows cluttered with what is too loved or too heavy to part with,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/standing-deer-as-the-house-of-a-person-in-age-sometimes-grows/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [All I need is You,All I think is You,All I dreamt about whole night is You and All I want to just be with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-i-need-is-you-all-i-think-is-you-all-i-dreamt-about-whole-night/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I dreamt of you last night, vivid and consuming and gone as I woke up faded from memory before I had the chance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-rosmarin/i-dreamt-of-you-last-night-vivid-and-consuming-and-gone-as-i-woke-up/) [Abby Rosmarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-rosmarin/) > [They all dreamt of each other that night, as was natural, considering how thin the partitions were between them, and how strangely they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/they-all-dreamt-of-each-other-that-night-as-was-natural-considering/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/i-dreamt-about-you-last-night-and-i-fell-out-of-bed-twice/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [I dreamt about you last night..i dreamt that the world was ending..then you told me that you loved me and those three words stopped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curly-girl/i-dreamt-about-you-last-night-i-dreamt-that-the-world-was-ending-then/) [Curly Girl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curly-girl/) > [Dreams do come true, believe always. I dreamt every night of becoming a singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-horan/dreams-do-come-true-believe-always-i-dreamt-every-night-of-becoming-a/) [Niall Horan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-horan/) > [“I’ve thought about you every day ... I’ve dreamt about you every night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-c-stephens/i-ve-thought-about-you-every-day-i-ve-dreamt-about-you-every-night/) [S.C. Stephens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-c-stephens/) > [“I dreamt about you last night. Fell out of bed twice”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelagh-delaney/i-dreamt-about-you-last-night-fell-out-of-bed-twice/) [Shelagh Delaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelagh-delaney/) > [One has fear in front of a goat, in back of a mule, and on every side of a fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/one-has-fear-in-front-of-a-goat-in-back-of-a-mule-and-on-every-side/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) > [And we never got the mule, let alone the forty acres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evers/and-we-never-got-the-mule-let-alone-the-forty-acres/) [Charles Evers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evers/) > [“I’m more like a...like a mule.” “A mule?” he repeated slowly, brows furrowing. “Yeah, a mule. You know, half horse, half donkey—” “I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-more-like-a-like-a-mule-a-mule-he-repeated-slowly-brows-furrowing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My mother always told me the best way to learn to deal with a man was to learn to ride a mule. She said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/my-mother-always-told-me-the-best-way-to-learn-to-deal-with-a-man-was/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [She was so ugly she could make a mule back away from an oat bin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/she-was-so-ugly-she-could-make-a-mule-back-away-from-an-oat-bin/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) ## More by Cormac McCarthy > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) [Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) ## More Mule quotes > [She was so ugly she could make a mule back away from an oat bin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/she-was-so-ugly-she-could-make-a-mule-back-away-from-an-oat-bin/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [My mother always told me the best way to learn to deal with a man was to learn to ride a mule. She said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/my-mother-always-told-me-the-best-way-to-learn-to-deal-with-a-man-was/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [“I’m more like a...like a mule.” “A mule?” he repeated slowly, brows furrowing. “Yeah, a mule. You know, half horse, half donkey—” “I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-more-like-a-like-a-mule-a-mule-he-repeated-slowly-brows-furrowing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [And we never got the mule, let alone the forty acres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-evers/and-we-never-got-the-mule-let-alone-the-forty-acres/) [Charles Evers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-evers/) > [One has fear in front of a goat, in back of a mule, and on every side of a fool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-howe/one-has-fear-in-front-of-a-goat-in-back-of-a-mule-and-on-every-side/) [E. W. Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-w-howe/) > [They say, when you die, and after burial, you come like an insect or animal. I hear some people com back as a mule;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurel-aitken/they-say-when-you-die-and-after-burial-you-come-like-an-insect-or/) [Laurel Aitken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurel-aitken/) > [The National Park Service shot a mule in the face. He survived but had trouble swallowing and often food came out of his nose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cleveland-amory/the-national-park-service-shot-a-mule-in-the-face-he-survived-but-had/) [Cleveland Amory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cleveland-amory/) > [Where's Amy?" Ian put in. "Will you please get her to call that Evan character? He rings here twenty times a day. He's either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-korman/where-s-amy-ian-put-in-will-you-please-get-her-to-call-that-evan/) [Gordon Korman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-korman/) > [I developed my style by pickin' a lot of cotton, plowin' that ole mule every day. I just got the rhythm, and any rhythm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hunter/i-developed-my-style-by-pickin-a-lot-of-cotton-plowin-that-ole-mule/) [John Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hunter/) > [“People skills are useless with cats, because cats are immune to training, and do whatever they decide in any situation... And most importantly they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/people-skills-are-useless-with-cats-because-cats-are-immune-to/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [“I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-eastwood/i-don-t-think-it-s-nice-you-laughin-you-see-my-mule-don-t-like-people/) [Clint Eastwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-eastwood/) > [“You look like the back end of an overworked farm mule.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-m-eden/you-look-like-the-back-end-of-an-overworked-farm-mule/) [Sarah M. Eden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-m-eden/) > [This 'Whoa, Nellie!' thing is overrated. There were all kinds of stories going around. People said I had a mule in Georgia named Nellie.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-jackson/this-whoa-nellie-thing-is-overrated-there-were-all-kinds-of-stories/) [Keith Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-jackson/) > [There is nothing to be learned from the second kick of a mule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-to-be-learned-from-the-second-kick-of-a-mule/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My favorite animal is the mule. He has more horse sense than a horse. He knows when to stop eating - and he knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/my-favorite-animal-is-the-mule-he-has-more-horse-sense-than-a-horse/) [Harry S. Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman/) [Browse all 59 Mule quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mule/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“He dreamt that night that he rode through the woods on a low ridge. Below him he could see deer in a meadow where the sun fell on the grass. The grass was still wet and the deer stood in it to their elbows. He could feel the spine of the mule rolling under him and he gripped the mule's barrel with his legs. Each leaf that brushed his face deepened his sadness and dread. Each leaf he passed, he'd never pass again. They rode over his face like veils, already some yellow, their veins slender like bones where the sun shone through them. 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