--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Things can be seen better in the…" description: "\"Things can be seen better in the darkness,\" he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. \"But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg" --- # Things can be seen better in the darkness," he said, as if… ![“Things can be seen better in the darkness," he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. "But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes to return to the world aboveground where the light is” quote by Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg) > “Things can be seen better in the darkness," he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. "But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes to return to the world aboveground where the light is” [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Darkness can reveal hidden truths, but prolonged immersion makes returning to normal life harder. **In simple terms:** Too much darkness blinds us to reality. Key Takeaway Balance insight with everyday life. Themes perception truth balance Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - creative work - mental health - spiritual practice Key Concepts psychology existentialism light vs dark Questions to Reflect On - How long can you stay in introspection before losing touch? - What practices keep you grounded? A Different Perspective Over‑indulgence in introspection can isolate you from the world. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Who's to say that my light is better than your darkness? Who's to say death is better than your darkness? Who am I to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/who-s-to-say-that-my-light-is-better-than-your-darkness-who-s-to-say/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Sometimes before it gets better, the darkness gets bigger. The person that you'd take a bullet for is behind the trigger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stump/sometimes-before-it-gets-better-the-darkness-gets-bigger-the-person/) [Patrick Stump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-stump/) > [“Light in your mind is better than darkness in your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/light-in-your-mind-is-better-than-darkness-in-your-soul/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Maybe it's okay to feel better in the darkness, where not even you can see you're there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-alberto/maybe-it-s-okay-to-feel-better-in-the-darkness-where-not-even-you-can/) [Melissa Alberto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-alberto/) > [“Who's to say my light is better than your darkness?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/who-s-to-say-my-light-is-better-than-your-darkness/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [“But see you, we should travel by night. Dark times for dark business, as they says. No sun to bother Valeriana or you, Kaylana's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-forward/but-see-you-we-should-travel-by-night-dark-times-for-dark-business-as/) [Eve Forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-forward/) > [“Wisdom is better than folly, the way the light is better than the darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-s-drangsholt/wisdom-is-better-than-folly-the-way-the-light-is-better-than-the/) [J.S. Drangsholt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-s-drangsholt/) > [“You want these back, don't you? You want me out of here so you can come back and take over where you left off.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/you-want-these-back-don-t-you-you-want-me-out-of-here-so-you-can-come/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [“Be grateful that you can't comprehend the heart of darkness", he said quietly. "Therein is the quick path to madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-grateful-that-you-can-t-comprehend-the-heart-of-darkness-he-said/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She said also that while the rain fell by the will of God evil chose its own hour and that those whom it sought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/she-said-also-that-while-the-rain-fell-by-the-will-of-god-evil-chose/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“A voice in the darkness said, ‘You have come too far.’ Arren answered it, saying, ‘Only too far is far enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/a-voice-in-the-darkness-said-you-have-come-too-far-arren-answered-it/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“They were alike, and yet they were totally opposite in the way they viewed the world. He viewed it as it was. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-megan-varnadore/they-were-alike-and-yet-they-were-totally-opposite-in-the-way-they/) [Jennifer Megan Varnadore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-megan-varnadore/) > [Hey darkness who said you are evil. Your virtue is highlighted by showing my importance to this universe. By LIGHT](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suma/hey-darkness-who-said-you-are-evil-your-virtue-is-highlighted-by/) [Suma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suma/) > [“Don't get your hopes up. I needed someone today. Darkness said you'd do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-schroeder/don-t-get-your-hopes-up-i-needed-someone-today-darkness-said-you-d-do/) [Lisa Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-schroeder/) > [“Let no one persuade you that there is in Him a little darkness, because of something he has said which His creature interprets into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-talbott/let-no-one-persuade-you-that-there-is-in-him-a-little-darkness/) [Thomas Talbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-talbott/) ## More by Haruki Murakami > [I always feel like I'm struggling to become someone else. Like I'm trying to find a new place, grab hold of a new life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/i-always-feel-like-i-m-struggling-to-become-someone-else-like-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like planting a garden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-writing-novels-is-like-planting-a-forest-then-writing-short/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“The sad truth is that what I could recall in five seconds all too soon needed ten, then thirty, thena full minute...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-sad-truth-is-that-what-i-could-recall-in-five-seconds-all-too/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Intelligent teenage girls were often instinctively theatrical, purposely eccentric, mouthing highly suggestive words to confuse people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/intelligent-teenage-girls-were-often-instinctively-theatrical/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Memory is like fiction; or else it's fiction that's like memory. This really came home to me once I started writing fiction, that memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/memory-is-like-fiction-or-else-it-s-fiction-that-s-like-memory-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The most dangerous creature here would have to be me. So maybe I'm just scared of my own shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-most-dangerous-creature-here-would-have-to-be-me-so-maybe-i-m/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“that one of our problems was our inability to recognize and accept our own deformities”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/that-one-of-our-problems-was-our-inability-to-recognize-and-accept/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When I look back at myself at age twenty, what I remember most is being alone and lonely. I had no girlfriend to warm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-i-look-back-at-myself-at-age-twenty-what-i-remember-most-is/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“There's not a branch of publishing or broadcasting that doesn't depend in some way on advertising. It'd be like an aquarium without water. Why,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/there-s-not-a-branch-of-publishing-or-broadcasting-that-doesn-t/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“One by one, I'll face the tasks before me and complete them as best I can. Focusing on each stride forward, but at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/one-by-one-i-ll-face-the-tasks-before-me-and-complete-them-as-best-i/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Eleven o'clock had come and gone. I had to find a way to bring this conversation to a successful conclusion and get out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/eleven-o-clock-had-come-and-gone-i-had-to-find-a-way-to-bring-this/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“Some people get a kick out of reading railway timetables and that's all they do all day. Some people make huge model boats out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-get-a-kick-out-of-reading-railway-timetables-and-that-s/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“When the time comes, everybody’s got to end up where they belong. Only me, I didn’t have a place to call my own. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/when-the-time-comes-everybody-s-got-to-end-up-where-they-belong-only/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [“You let something out of the bag before yourself knew what it was all about”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/you-let-something-out-of-the-bag-before-yourself-knew-what-it-was-all/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) [Explore all 2,928 Haruki Murakami quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) ## More Dark quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“I could see her will leaving and death seeping through her skin to skewer her soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/i-could-see-her-will-leaving-and-death-seeping-through-her-skin-to/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-zimmerman/the-soul-wanders-in-the-dark-until-it-finds-love-and-so-wherever-our/) [Mary Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-zimmerman/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [All comedy comes from a dark place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/all-comedy-comes-from-a-dark-place/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [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/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what do you call/that space between the dark geographies of sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethaway/what-do-you-call-that-space-between-the-dark-geographies-of-sex/) Natasha Trethaway > [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 > [Even in the dark your shadow is like a guide to me! you are my rising sun that brings forth hope just as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkemjika-linus/even-in-the-dark-your-shadow-is-like-a-guide-to-me-you-are-my-rising/) [Nkemjika Linus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkemjika-linus/) [Browse all 10,198 Dark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Things can be seen better in the darkness,\" he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. \"But the longer you spend in the dark, the harder it becomes to return to the world aboveground where the light is", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Haruki Murakami" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darkness-he-said-as-if-he-had-just/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dark" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darkness-he-said-as-if-he-had-just/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17b/haruki-murakami-21_dark_things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darknes_767878.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Things can be seen better in the darkness,\" he said, as if he had just seen into her mind. \"But the longer…” — Haruki Murakami", "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": "Haruki Murakami", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Things can be seen better in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darkness-he-said-as-if-he-had-just/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/things-can-be-seen-better-in-the-darkness-he-said-as-if-he-had-just/#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 } } ] } ```