--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Heaven is not like flying or swimming…" description: "\"Heaven is not like flying or swimming, but has something to do with blackness and a strong glare.\" — Elizabeth Bishop" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/elizabeth-bishop-9054_blackness_heaven-is-not-like-flying-or-swimming-bu_1189414.png" --- # Heaven is not like flying or swimming, but has something… ![“Heaven is not like flying or swimming, but has something to do with blackness and a strong glare.” quote by Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/elizabeth-bishop-9054_blackness_heaven-is-not-like-flying-or-swimming-bu_1189414.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/elizabeth-bishop-9054_blackness_heaven-is-not-like-flying-or-swimming-bu_1189414.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ebf/elizabeth-bishop-9054_blackness_heaven-is-not-like-flying-or-swimming-bu_1189414.png) > “Heaven is not like flying or swimming, but has something to do with blackness and a strong glare.” [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Heaven is imagined as a stark, intense darkness rather than airy freedom, suggesting awe and mystery. **In simple terms:** Heaven seen as intense darkness. Key Takeaway Embrace the mystery of the unknown. Themes spirituality metaphor darkness beauty wonder Mood contemplative melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - meditation - artistic inspiration - nighttime reflection Key Concepts existential awe contrasting imagery poetic vision Questions to Reflect On - How does darkness influence your sense of the divine? - What emotions arise from this imagery? A Different Perspective Darkness can evoke fear as well as awe. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blackness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness/) [Flying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flying/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) ## Related quotes > [Mother Teresa I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I know that when we die and it comes time for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mother-teresa-i-am-not-sure-exactly-what-heaven-will-be-like-but-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I wonder if heaven's like that – if you get to choose the best moments of your life and just relive them over and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-dale/i-wonder-if-heaven-s-like-that-if-you-get-to-choose-the-best-moments/) Katie Dale > [Heaven is like an egg, and the earth is like the yolk of the egg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/heaven-is-like-an-egg-and-the-earth-is-like-the-yolk-of-the-egg/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [The kingdom of heaven is like electricity. You don't see it. It is within you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-like-electricity-you-don-t-see-it-it-is/) [Maharishi Mahesh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maharishi-mahesh-yogi/) > [The closest in this life you can get to what Heaven will be like is in prayer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-closest-in-this-life-you-can-get-to-what-heaven-will-be-like-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I kind of grew up, not in, but sort of believing in a fairy tale world. I went from place to place all my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-logan/i-kind-of-grew-up-not-in-but-sort-of-believing-in-a-fairy-tale-world/) Pam Logan > [I thank God for giving me the relationship and faith to believe in him the way I do. Life is awesome, I can't imagine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-thank-god-for-giving-me-the-relationship-and-faith-to-believe-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“All about us the earth steamed; mists rose up toward heaven like clouds of incense; a shattered rainbow still hovered in the air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/all-about-us-the-earth-steamed-mists-rose-up-toward-heaven-like/) [Leopold von Sacher-Masoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-von-sacher-masoch/) > [A lot of people think Heaven is sitting around on a cloud playing a harp all day, doing nothing except being holy - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-berg/a-lot-of-people-think-heaven-is-sitting-around-on-a-cloud-playing-a/) [David Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-berg/) > [Heaven is like a stair case difficult to climb, but hell is like an elivator easy to go! Is a matter of choice...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-brown/heaven-is-like-a-stair-case-difficult-to-climb-but-hell-is-like-an/) [D Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-brown/) > [“Do you think heaven's like that? Could be worse, said Serge. You know all those pushy people who keep telling us we're not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-dorsey/do-you-think-heaven-s-like-that-could-be-worse-said-serge-you-know/) [Tim Dorsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-dorsey/) > [I am not sure exactly what heaven will be like, but I do know that when we die and it comes time for God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/i-am-not-sure-exactly-what-heaven-will-be-like-but-i-do-know-that/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [I have brightness in my soul, which strains toward Heaven. I am like a bird!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-lind/i-have-brightness-in-my-soul-which-strains-toward-heaven-i-am-like-a/) Jenny Lind > [“I put my hand on the altar rail. 'What if ... what if Heaven is real, but only in moments? Like a glass of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-put-my-hand-on-the-altar-rail-what-if-what-if-heaven-is-real-but/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Maybe there’s a heaven, like they say, a place where everything we’ve ever done is noted and recorded, weighed on big karma scales. Maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/maybe-there-s-a-heaven-like-they-say-a-place-where-everything-we-ve/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) ## More by Elizabeth Bishop > [“Exchanging Hats Unfunny uncles who insist in trying on a lady's hat, --oh, even if the joke falls flat, we share your slight transvestite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/exchanging-hats-unfunny-uncles-who-insist-in-trying-on-a-lady-s-hat/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“At the Fishhouses Although it is a cold evening, down by one of the fishhouses an old man sits netting, his net, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/at-the-fishhouses-although-it-is-a-cold-evening-down-by-one-of-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [I am sorry for people who can't write letters. But I suspect also that you and I ... love to write them because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-am-sorry-for-people-who-can-t-write-letters-but-i-suspect-also-that/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Time to plant tears, says the almanac. The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove and the child draws another inscrutable house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/time-to-plant-tears-says-the-almanac-the-grandmother-sings-to-the/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“All the untidy activity continues, awful but cheerful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-the-untidy-activity-continues-awful-but-cheerful/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“But they made me realize more than I ever had the rarity of true originality, and also the sort of alienation it might involve.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/but-they-made-me-realize-more-than-i-ever-had-the-rarity-of-true/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“Should we have stayed home and thought of here?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/should-we-have-stayed-home-and-thought-of-here/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“The art of losing isn't hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-art-of-losing-isn-t-hard-to-master-so-many-things-seem-filled/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [The armored cars of dreams, contrived to let us do so many a dangerous thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/the-armored-cars-of-dreams-contrived-to-let-us-do-so-many-a-dangerous/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Hoping to live days of greater happiness, I forget that days of less happiness are passing by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/hoping-to-live-days-of-greater-happiness-i-forget-that-days-of-less/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Someone loves us all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/someone-loves-us-all/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Open the book. (The gilt rubs off the edges of the pages and pollinates the fingertips.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/open-the-book-the-gilt-rubs-off-the-edges-of-the-pages-and-pollinates/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [Democracy in the contemporary world demands, among other things, an educated and informed people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/democracy-in-the-contemporary-world-demands-among-other-things-an/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [All my life I have lived and behaved very much like the sandpiper - just running down the edges of different countries and continents,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/all-my-life-i-have-lived-and-behaved-very-much-like-the-sandpiper/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) > [“I leave a lovely opalescent ribbon: I know this.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bishop/i-leave-a-lovely-opalescent-ribbon-i-know-this/) [Elizabeth Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) [Explore all 75 Elizabeth Bishop quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bishop/) ## More Blackness quotes > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. 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It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I kept staring into the blackness of the woods, drawn into the darkness as I always had been. I suddenly realized how alone I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-kept-staring-into-the-blackness-of-the-woods-drawn-into-the/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/if-you-have-money-and-you-have-fame-but-you-don-t-have-any-confidence/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [Life is fleeting. 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