--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: there is no ascent to the heights without…" description: "\"there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.\" — Karen Armstrong" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg" --- # there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent… ![“there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.” quote by Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg) > “there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.” [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Growth often requires confronting darkness before reaching higher understanding. **In simple terms:** Descent precedes ascent. Key Takeaway Accept hardship as part of growth. Themes spirituality growth duality Mood reflective serene Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crises - spiritual journeys - creative blocks Key Concepts death and rebirth darkness light Questions to Reflect On - What darkness have you faced? - How did it lead to new insight? A Different Perspective Darkness can be overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Descent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/descent/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [New life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-life/) ## Related quotes > [“… a night twenty years ago and forever and but a prelude to the century, but a shadow of the far deeper descent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-whittemore/a-night-twenty-years-ago-and-forever-and-but-a-prelude-to-the-century/) [Edward Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-whittemore/) > [“On the other side of this darkness, a new day will slowly dawn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corban-addison/on-the-other-side-of-this-darkness-a-new-day-will-slowly-dawn/) [Corban Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corban-addison/) > [Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-macy/out-of-this-darkness-a-new-world-can-arise-not-to-be-constructed-by/) [Joanna Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-macy/) > [As new discoveries are causing all-penetrating physical lights so to abound as that, as has been said, we shall soon not know where in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/as-new-discoveries-are-causing-all-penetrating-physical-lights-so-to/) [Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/) > [There was this darkness about being from New Jersey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-antonoff/there-was-this-darkness-about-being-from-new-jersey/) [Jack Antonoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-antonoff/) > [Every worthy act is difficult. Ascent is always difficult. Descent is easy and often slippery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/every-worthy-act-is-difficult-ascent-is-always-difficult-descent-is/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There is a descent from God through the world to animals, and an ascent from animals through the world to God. He is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giordano-bruno/there-is-a-descent-from-god-through-the-world-to-animals-and-an/) [Giordano Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giordano-bruno/) > [It now seems plain to me that that theory ought to be vacated in favor of a new and truer one...the Descent of Man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-now-seems-plain-to-me-that-that-theory-ought-to-be-vacated-in/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [We cannot find God without God. We cannot reach God without God. We cannot satisfy God without God - which is another way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/we-cannot-find-god-without-god-we-cannot-reach-god-without-god-we/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [Hope changes everything. It changes winter into summer, darkness into dawn, descent into ascent, barrenness into creativity, agony into joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/hope-changes-everything-it-changes-winter-into-summer-darkness-into/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [The descent beckons as the ascent beckoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carlos-williams/the-descent-beckons-as-the-ascent-beckoned/) [William Carlos Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carlos-williams/) > [The descent into matter must be complete before the ascent to spirit can commence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dion-fortune/the-descent-into-matter-must-be-complete-before-the-ascent-to-spirit/) [Dion Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dion-fortune/) > [“The beginning of Christendom, is, strictly, at a point out of time. A metphysical trigonometry finds it among the spiritual Secrets, at the meeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-beginning-of-christendom-is-strictly-at-a-point-out-of-time-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have been scientifically studying the traits and dispositions of the "lower animals" (so-called,) and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-been-scientifically-studying-the-traits-and-dispositions-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [No one should deny the danger of the descent, but it can be risked. No one need risk it, but it is certain that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-one-should-deny-the-danger-of-the-descent-but-it-can-be-risked-no/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) ## More by Karen Armstrong > [If it is written and read with serious attention, a novel, like a myth or any great work of art, can become an initiation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-it-is-written-and-read-with-serious-attention-a-novel-like-a-myth/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [A gentleman is not born but crafted. He had to work on himself in the same way as a sculptor shaped a rough stone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/a-gentleman-is-not-born-but-crafted-he-had-to-work-on-himself-in-the/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I was a lousy nun. I couldn't do it. I couldn't find God. It wasn't suitable for me. It is suitable for very few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-was-a-lousy-nun-i-couldn-t-do-it-i-couldn-t-find-god-it-wasn-t/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [I have become convinced, through my studies, that the only way to achieve a safe, just and viable world is to live by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-have-become-convinced-through-my-studies-that-the-only-way-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [In the past some of the most influential Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologians, such as Maimonides, Aquinas and Ibn Sina, made it clear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/in-the-past-some-of-the-most-influential-jewish-christian-and-muslim/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The great task of our time is to build a global society, where people can live together in peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/the-great-task-of-our-time-is-to-build-a-global-society-where-people/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [We want to create, never mind the leaders or the bishops or chief rabbis or imams, or Popes. We want to create a grassroots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/we-want-to-create-never-mind-the-leaders-or-the-bishops-or-chief/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [If we don't manage to implement the Golden Rule globally, so that we treat all peoples, wherever and whoever they may be, as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/if-we-don-t-manage-to-implement-the-golden-rule-globally-so-that-we/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [After I left the convent, for 15 years I was worn out with religion, I wanted nothing whatever to do with it. I felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/after-i-left-the-convent-for-15-years-i-was-worn-out-with-religion-i/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“As we have seen, so many of the things we once took for granted have proved unreliable that we may have to “forget” old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/as-we-have-seen-so-many-of-the-things-we-once-took-for-granted-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Yet a personal God can become a grave liability. He can be a mere idol carved in our own image, a projection of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/yet-a-personal-god-can-become-a-grave-liability-he-can-be-a-mere-idol/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“I discovered that I felt at home and alive in the silence, which compelled me to enter my interior world and around there. Without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/i-discovered-that-i-felt-at-home-and-alive-in-the-silence-which/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Each of the world religions has its own particular genius, its own special insight into the nature and requirements of compassion, and has something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/each-of-the-world-religions-has-its-own-particular-genius-its-own/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“all rightly guided religion that submitted wholly to God, refused to worship man-made deities and preached that justice and equality came from the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/all-rightly-guided-religion-that-submitted-wholly-to-god-refused-to/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [“advocates of evolutionary theory since Thomas H. Huxley (1825–95) have found altruism problematic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/advocates-of-evolutionary-theory-since-thomas-h-huxley-1825-95-have/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) [Explore all 296 Karen Armstrong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) ## More Ascent quotes > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [Without shedding of blood there is no anything. Everything, it seems to me, has to be purchased by selfsacrifice. Our race has marked every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/without-shedding-of-blood-there-is-no-anything-everything-it-seems-to/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [No one should deny the danger of the descent, but it can be risked. No one need risk it, but it is certain that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-one-should-deny-the-danger-of-the-descent-but-it-can-be-risked-no/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The member of a culture ... purposely avoids the relationship of intimacy; he wants the object somehow depicted and fictionalized. ... He is embarrassed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/the-member-of-a-culture-purposely-avoids-the-relationship-of-intimacy/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [The real goal of a spiritual tradition should not be ascent, but openness, vulnerability, and this does not require great experiences but, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-berman/the-real-goal-of-a-spiritual-tradition-should-not-be-ascent-but/) [Morris Berman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-berman/) > [As I express my gratitude, I become more deeply aware of it. And the greater my awareness, the greater my need to express it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-steindl-rast/as-i-express-my-gratitude-i-become-more-deeply-aware-of-it-and-the/) [David Steindl-Rast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-steindl-rast/) > [The growth of all the plants of the garden from seeds and roots keep us mindful, in accordance with of the Parable of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stokes/the-growth-of-all-the-plants-of-the-garden-from-seeds-and-roots-keep/) John Stokes > [There is wonder and a certain wicked pleasure in these giddy ascents and terrible falls, especially as they happen to other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/there-is-wonder-and-a-certain-wicked-pleasure-in-these-giddy-ascents/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [I at once commenced the ascent through a shower of arrows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-crook/i-at-once-commenced-the-ascent-through-a-shower-of-arrows/) [George Crook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-crook/) > [Sometimes, when I get a good picture, it feels like I have taken another nervous step into increasingly rarified air. Each good-news picture, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/sometimes-when-i-get-a-good-picture-it-feels-like-i-have-taken/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of its own power: but the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-ascent-to-greatness-however-steep-and-dangerous-may-entertain-an/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“Any movement toward Christ is ascent, and any direction away from Him is down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-w-tozer/any-movement-toward-christ-is-ascent-and-any-direction-away-from-him/) [A.W. Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-w-tozer/) > [How much time, creative energy, and emotion do we expend resisting change because we assume growth must always be painful? Much personal growth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-ban-breathnach/how-much-time-creative-energy-and-emotion-do-we-expend-resisting/) [Sarah Ban Breathnach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-ban-breathnach/) > [The strategy of semantic ascent is that it carries the discussion into a domain where both parties are better agreed on the objects (viz.,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/the-strategy-of-semantic-ascent-is-that-it-carries-the-discussion/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Despair is good. Despair can be the nadir of one life and the starting point of an ascent into another, better one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/despair-is-good-despair-can-be-the-nadir-of-one-life-and-the-starting/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) Browse all 168 Ascent quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karen Armstrong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-without-prior-descent-into-darkness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ascent" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-without-prior-descent-into-darkness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/karen-armstrong-1053_ascent_there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-withou_2745732.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“there is no ascent to the heights without prior descent into darkness, no new life without some form of death.” — Karen Armstrong", "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": "Karen Armstrong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "there is no ascent to the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-without-prior-descent-into-darkness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/there-is-no-ascent-to-the-heights-without-prior-descent-into-darkness/#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 } } ] } ```