---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you are discouraged, do not look…"
description: "\"“When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining a light into your dark place.”\" — Janet Au..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg"
---

#  When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head…

![“When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining a light into your dark place.” quote by Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg)

> ““When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining a light into your dark place.””

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

## About This Quote

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

When discouraged, lift your head to see divine guidance in darkness.

**In simple terms:** Look up for divine light.

Key Takeaway

Maintain hope in hardship.

Themes

faith resilience spirituality

Mood

hopeful uplifting

Type

spiritual motivational

When to use this quote

- personal crises
- spiritual retreats
- daily meditation

Key Concepts

theology positive psychology

Questions to Reflect On

- How does faith help you?
- What non‑spiritual sources give you light?

A Different Perspective

May not resonate with non‑theistic listeners.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Encouragement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encouragement/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Shining light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining-light/)

## Related quotes

> [“Life comes from light: if we are under God’s shining light, life will be generated and the divine life will grow in us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/life-comes-from-light-if-we-are-under-god-s-shining-light-life-will/)

[Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/)

> [“The face of God shining upon you is like the warmth of the sun on a beautiful day at the beach. One accustomed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-brestin/the-face-of-god-shining-upon-you-is-like-the-warmth-of-the-sun-on-a/)

Dee Brestin

> [If you look to others you will be distracted; if you look to yourselves you will be discouraged; but if you look to Christ…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-w-wiersbe/if-you-look-to-others-you-will-be-distracted-if-you-look-to/)

[Warren W. Wiersbe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-w-wiersbe/)

> [He who loves, never grows old. God it a shining example.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/he-who-loves-never-grows-old-god-it-a-shining-example/)

[Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/)

> [“In the previous few minutes, I had seen the most beautiful thing that eyes can see: the glory of God shining in the radiance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-d-mclaren/in-the-previous-few-minutes-i-had-seen-the-most-beautiful-thing-that/)

[Brian D. McLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-d-mclaren/)

> [Let me remember I am one with God. Our shining footprints point the way to truth, for God is our Companion as we walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/let-me-remember-i-am-one-with-god-our-shining-footprints-point-the/)

[Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/)

> [We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is shining through it all the time. God manifests Himself everywhere, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/we-are-living-in-a-world-that-is-absolutely-transparent-and-god-is/)

[Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/)

> [This is the state of all creatures, whether men or angels; as they make not themselves, so they enjoy nothing from themselves; if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-law/this-is-the-state-of-all-creatures-whether-men-or-angels-as-they-make/)

[William Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-law/)

> [When everyone's looking dull and blue.. let them see the shining light in you!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meow-opre/when-everyone-s-looking-dull-and-blue-let-them-see-the-shining-light/)

[Meow Opre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meow-opre/)

> [If you don't have a good case, and you don't have a good message, then shining a light on it is not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amal-clooney/if-you-don-t-have-a-good-case-and-you-don-t-have-a-good-message-then/)

[Amal Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amal-clooney/)

> [Only a candle that is lit and shining can give light to other candles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/only-a-candle-that-is-lit-and-shining-can-give-light-to-other-candles/)

[Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/)

> [“Every scar we carry is like a star, shining with the light of our strength and resilience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/every-scar-we-carry-is-like-a-star-shining-with-the-light-of-our/)

[Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/)

> [Go make yourself a plan And be a shining light. Then make yourself a second plan, For neither will come right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertolt-brecht/go-make-yourself-a-plan-and-be-a-shining-light-then-make-yourself-a/)

[Bertolt Brecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertolt-brecht/)

> [Very often, we are confronted by people who want us to pray their way or colleagues who want us to think their way. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-klemp/very-often-we-are-confronted-by-people-who-want-us-to-pray-their-way/)

[Harold Klemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-klemp/)

> [My work as a whole is about excavating and shining a light on pieces of history that not only need to be seen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhiannon-giddens/my-work-as-a-whole-is-about-excavating-and-shining-a-light-on-pieces/)

[Rhiannon Giddens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhiannon-giddens/)

## More by Janet Autherine

> [“Why a rose has thorns - thorns protect the rose season after season from intrusion from those who only appreciate its outer beauty and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/why-a-rose-has-thorns-thorns-protect-the-rose-season-after-season/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Power through. If you lose your way, follow the footsteps in the sand. If you stumble, angels are ready to hold your hand. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/power-through-if-you-lose-your-way-follow-the-footsteps-in-the-sand/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Greatness is finding your natural talent, fueling it with passion, planting it in well-nourished soil, and toiling in the garden until it breaks through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/greatness-is-finding-your-natural-talent-fueling-it-with-passion/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“The world will judge you by your appearance and your possessions but God will always judge you by the contents of your heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/the-world-will-judge-you-by-your-appearance-and-your-possessions-but/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“We spring from one great tree of life; when the root of the tree is watered with love, we all thrive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/we-spring-from-one-great-tree-of-life-when-the-root-of-the-tree-is/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“I am a black woman. Don't look beyond me. Don't see through me. Look me in the eye. Hold my gaze. Listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/i-am-a-black-woman-don-t-look-beyond-me-don-t-see-through-me-look-me/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Give your mind permission to travel where the body cannot go and be open to all the wisdom that the universe has to offer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/give-your-mind-permission-to-travel-where-the-body-cannot-go-and-be/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Roar to your own beat!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/roar-to-your-own-beat/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“You are not alone in this world; you are the vine from a tree that connects all mankind. Long before you were born, God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/you-are-not-alone-in-this-world-you-are-the-vine-from-a-tree-that/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Black women, we deserve deep and abiding love. We deserve love without having to struggle, without having to prove ourselves worthy, without having to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/black-women-we-deserve-deep-and-abiding-love-we-deserve-love-without/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“Sprinkled in with the beauty and joy of life will be storms. These storms will require you to anchor yourself to your faith until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/sprinkled-in-with-the-beauty-and-joy-of-life-will-be-storms-these/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

> [“If we all counted our blessings and then shared them with our neighbors, near and far, all our lives would be richer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/if-we-all-counted-our-blessings-and-then-shared-them-with-our/)

[Janet Autherine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

[Explore all 13 Janet Autherine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/)

## More Dark place quotes

> [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/)

> [Social media has become a dark place, and the sites need to clean up their act if they want people to keep using them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-reid/social-media-has-become-a-dark-place-and-the-sites-need-to-clean-up/)

[Susanna Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-reid/)

> [“Hope brings light into dark places.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/hope-brings-light-into-dark-places/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [“I see now that when Norma flowered in our garden I became a weed, allowed to exist only where I would not be seen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/i-see-now-that-when-norma-flowered-in-our-garden-i-became-a-weed/)

[Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/)

> [“In the middle of the cemetery is a grassy plane, strangely vacant. There are no granite tombs or crumbling concrete, just a sun-washed treeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-caldwell-crosby/in-the-middle-of-the-cemetery-is-a-grassy-plane-strangely-vacant/)

Molly Caldwell Crosby

> [“Sometimes people walk away from love because it is so beautiful that it terrifies them. Sometimes they leave because the connection shines a bright…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-brown/sometimes-people-walk-away-from-love-because-it-is-so-beautiful-that/)

[Jeff Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-brown/)

> [Being a correspondent at the Vietnam war for me was about exposing myself to danger but it wasn't completely self-serving. I felt that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-caputo/being-a-correspondent-at-the-vietnam-war-for-me-was-about-exposing/)

[Philip Caputo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-caputo/)

> [“If you're going into a dark place... you should take a bright light, and shine it on everything. If you don't want to see,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/if-you-re-going-into-a-dark-place-you-should-take-a-bright-light-and/)

[Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/)

> [“Sometimes your destiny takes you to dark places where you'd rather not be, but destiny, as they say, is destiny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/sometimes-your-destiny-takes-you-to-dark-places-where-you-d-rather/)

[Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/)

> [When you're writing in first person, like I do, you can't give a fluffy version of someone's thoughts because even the most prudish woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-o-porter/when-you-re-writing-in-first-person-like-i-do-you-can-t-give-a-fluffy/)

[Dawn O'Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-o-porter/)

> ['This will pass and it always does.' I consistently have to keep telling myself that because being an entrepreneur means that you go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/majora-carter/this-will-pass-and-it-always-does-i-consistently-have-to-keep-telling/)

[Majora Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/majora-carter/)

> [“Don’t be afraid of your dark places,” Mom told her. “If you can shine a light on them, you’ll find treasure there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/don-t-be-afraid-of-your-dark-places-mom-told-her-if-you-can-shine-a/)

[Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/)

> [“Yes, for every child, rich or poor, there's a time of running through a dark place; and there's no word for a child's fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/yes-for-every-child-rich-or-poor-there-s-a-time-of-running-through-a/)

[James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/)

> [The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-world-is-indeed-full-of-peril-and-in-it-there-are-many-dark/)

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

> [All I would say is that when I've been very down or having kind of a tough time in my life, certain films or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-friend/all-i-would-say-is-that-when-i-ve-been-very-down-or-having-kind-of-a/)

[Rupert Friend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-friend/)

Browse all 410 Dark place quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining a light into your dark place.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Janet Autherine"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-down-hold-your-head-up-high-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Dark place"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-down-hold-your-head-up-high-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/janet-autherine-35834_dark-place_when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-dow_2629413.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining…” — Janet Autherine",
                "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": "Janet Autherine",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-autherine/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“When you are discouraged, do not...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-down-hold-your-head-up-high-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-autherine/when-you-are-discouraged-do-not-look-down-hold-your-head-up-high-and/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
