---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What good is truth, at midnight, in the…"
description: "\"What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney?\" — Diane Setterfield"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png"
---

#  What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the…

![“What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney?” quote by Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png)

> “What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney?”

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Truth at night feels futile when darkness and chaos dominate, questioning its value in dire circumstances.

**In simple terms:** Truth seems useless in darkness and chaos.

Key Takeaway

Seek truth even in hardship.

Themes

truth darkness existence meaning

Mood

melancholic contemplative

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- nighttime reflection
- crisis
- moral dilemmas

Key Concepts

existentialism literature philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- Why do we doubt truth in crisis?
- How can truth guide us in darkness?

A Different Perspective

Truth may be ignored when fear dominates.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Midnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/midnight/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/)

## Related quotes

> [Like a fierce wind roaring high up in the bare branches of trees, a wave of passion came over me, aimless but surging .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-milner/like-a-fierce-wind-roaring-high-up-in-the-bare-branches-of-trees-a/)

[Marion Milner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-milner/)

> [My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with truth herself. What succor, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/my-gripe-is-not-with-lovers-of-the-truth-but-with-truth-herself-what/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [Christmas Pie Lo! now is come our joyfull'st feast! Let every man be jolly; Each room with ivy leaves is dressed, And every post…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-wither/christmas-pie-lo-now-is-come-our-joyfull-st-feast-let-every-man-be/)

[George Wither](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-wither/)

> [We all ought to understand we're on our own. Believing in Santa Claus doesn't do kids any harm for a few years but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-rooney/we-all-ought-to-understand-we-re-on-our-own-believing-in-santa-claus/)

[Andy Rooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-rooney/)

> [There's no way the new chimney will fall down, Lu. Not with you in charge. It wouldn't dare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/there-s-no-way-the-new-chimney-will-fall-down-lu-not-with-you-in/)

[Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/)

> [A cold blast hit him and he laughed at the sting as he stepped outside, surveyed the night sky, and drank deeply. Such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/a-cold-blast-hit-him-and-he-laughed-at-the-sting-as-he-stepped/)

[J.R. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-ward/)

> [One sparrow is worth a thousand gulls, When it sings. The gull sits on chimney-tops. He mocks the guinea, challenges The crow, inciting various…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-stevens/one-sparrow-is-worth-a-thousand-gulls-when-it-sings-the-gull-sits-on/)

[Wallace Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-stevens/)

> [P.S. If it's not a secret, will you tell me how you got my dollhouse inside our living room last Christmas? I know its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-fluke/p-s-if-it-s-not-a-secret-will-you-tell-me-how-you-got-my-dollhouse/)

[Joanne Fluke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-fluke/)

> [By the year 1670, wooden chimneys and log houses of the Plymouth and Bay colonies were replaced by more sightly houses of two stories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-morse-earle/by-the-year-1670-wooden-chimneys-and-log-houses-of-the-plymouth-and/)

[Alice Morse Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-morse-earle/)

> [Been having a fight with your blankets, Septimus?" A familiar voice echoed down the chimney. "Looks like you lost," the voice continued with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-sage/been-having-a-fight-with-your-blankets-septimus-a-familiar-voice/)

[Angie Sage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-sage/)

> [Walking the streets on winter nights kept him warm, despite the cold nocturnal passions of uprising winds. His footsteps led between trade-marked houses, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-sillitoe/walking-the-streets-on-winter-nights-kept-him-warm-despite-the-cold/)

[Alan Sillitoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-sillitoe/)

> [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Its tall chimneys throw up black smoke, impregnating everything with soot, and the miners' faces as they traveled the streets were also imbued with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-tall-chimneys-throw-up-black-smoke-impregnating-everything-with/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Most religion-mongers have bated their paradises with a bit of toasted cheese. They have tempted the body with large promises of possessions in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/most-religion-mongers-have-bated-their-paradises-with-a-bit-of/)

[James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/)

> [I'd like to start with the chimney jokes - I've got a stack of them. The first one is on the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-vine/i-d-like-to-start-with-the-chimney-jokes-i-ve-got-a-stack-of-them-the/)

[Tim Vine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-vine/)

## More by Diane Setterfield

> [“They are more real than the books on the shelves, books that are sketched with the barest hint of a line here and there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/they-are-more-real-than-the-books-on-the-shelves-books-that-are/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“Margaret Lea.” “The biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/margaret-lea-the-biographer/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“He was the first of my ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-was-the-first-of-my-ghosts/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“It was like living entirely inside a book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/it-was-like-living-entirely-inside-a-book/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“Then something rang a bell in his mind. What”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/then-something-rang-a-bell-in-his-mind-what/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [What better way to get to know someone than through her choice and treatment of books?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-better-way-to-get-to-know-someone-than-through-her-choice-and/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“I have always been a reader; I have read at every stage of my life, and there has never been a time when reading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-have-always-been-a-reader-i-have-read-at-every-stage-of-my-life-and/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“Yesterday or the day before, while I had been going about my business, quietly and in private, some unknown person—some stranger—had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/yesterday-or-the-day-before-while-i-had-been-going-about-my-business/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“the Missus stood like a ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/the-missus-stood-like-a-ghost/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“But perhaps the answer is to stop writing altogether, for when I do write, even now as I write this very sentence, this very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/but-perhaps-the-answer-is-to-stop-writing-altogether-for-when-i-do/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [Our clients' faces, with the customary outward paleness and inner glow of the book lover.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/our-clients-faces-with-the-customary-outward-paleness-and-inner-glow/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [“He felt something move in his chest, as though an organ had been removed and something unfamiliar left in its place. A sentiment he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/he-felt-something-move-in-his-chest-as-though-an-organ-had-been/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [Still in my coat and hat, I sank onto the stair to read the letter. (I never read without making sure I am in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/still-in-my-coat-and-hat-i-sank-onto-the-stair-to-read-the-letter-i/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Books are for me, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/i-still-believe-in-stories-i-still-forget-myself-when-i-am-in-the/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

> [Of course I loved books more than people. Of course I valued "Jane Eyre" over the anonymous stranger...Of course all of Shakespeare was worth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/of-course-i-loved-books-more-than-people-of-course-i-valued-jane-eyre/)

[Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

[Explore all 292 Diane Setterfield quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/)

## More Bears quotes

> [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/)

[Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/)

> [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/)

[Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/)

> [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/)

[George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/)

> [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/)

[Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/)

> [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/)

[Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/)

> [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/)

[Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/)

[James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/)

> [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/)

[Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/)

> [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/)

[St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/)

[Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney?",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Diane Setterfield"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-dark-when-the-wind-is-roaring/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bears"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-dark-when-the-wind-is-roaring/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e6c/diane-setterfield-1008_bears_what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-da_694709.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney?” — Diane Setterfield",
                "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": "Diane Setterfield",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "What good is truth, at midnight,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-dark-when-the-wind-is-roaring/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/what-good-is-truth-at-midnight-in-the-dark-when-the-wind-is-roaring/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
