--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you cannot bear the silence and the…" description: "\"If you cannot bear the silence and the darkness, do not go there; if you dislike black night and yawning chasms, never make them your profession. If yo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/loren-eiseley-3848_bears_if-you-cannot-bear-the-silence-and-the-d_1470008.jpg" --- # If you cannot bear the silence and the darkness, do not go… ![“If you cannot bear the silence and the darkness, do not go there; if you dislike black night and yawning chasms, never make them your profession. If you fear the sound of water hurrying through crevices toward unknown and mysterious destinations, do not consider it. Seek out the sunshine. It is a…” quote by Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/loren-eiseley-3848_bears_if-you-cannot-bear-the-silence-and-the-d_1470008.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/loren-eiseley-3848_bears_if-you-cannot-bear-the-silence-and-the-d_1470008.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/loren-eiseley-3848_bears_if-you-cannot-bear-the-silence-and-the-d_1470008.jpg) > “If you cannot bear the silence and the darkness, do not go there; if you dislike black night and yawning chasms, never make them your profession. If you fear the sound of water hurrying through crevices toward unknown and mysterious destinations, do not consider it. Seek out the sunshine. It is a simple prescription. Avoid the darkness.” [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Avoiding what frightens you limits growth; seek light and positive experiences instead of darkness and fear. **In simple terms:** Stay away from what scares you; choose light. Key Takeaway Embrace light, avoid darkness. Themes courage self‑care growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career choice - personal development - creative work - risk assessment Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What lights you up? - How can confronting darkness foster resilience? A Different Perspective Fear can also be a catalyst for discovery, not just a warning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Avoid Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/avoid-darkness-2349446/) [Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Chasms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chasms/) [Crevice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crevice/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Dislike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-dislike-5331640/) [Darkness to light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-to-light/) [Destination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destination/) [Dislike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dislike/) [Hurrying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurrying/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mysterious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mysterious/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Prescriptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prescriptions/) [Profession](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profession/) [Seek Sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seek-sunshine-5331641/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Silence Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence-darkness-307924/) [Simple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/simple/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Sound of water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound-of-water/) [Sunshine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunshine/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Yawning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yawning/) ## Related quotes > [We're always trying to avoid being in the darkness, not knowing, and also encountering animals. There's something about them not wanting to be seen;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michal-rovner/we-re-always-trying-to-avoid-being-in-the-darkness-not-knowing-and/) [Michal Rovner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michal-rovner/) > [If you strive only to avoid the darkness or to cling to the light, you cannot live in balance. Try striving to be conscious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/if-you-strive-only-to-avoid-the-darkness-or-to-cling-to-the-light-you/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [“There, I said to myself, are the reasons for the silence and darkness that surround the library: it is the preserve of learning but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/there-i-said-to-myself-are-the-reasons-for-the-silence-and-darkness/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [“Then the dog began to moan in old Salamano’s room, and through the sleep-bound house the little plaintive sound rose slowly, like a flower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/then-the-dog-began-to-moan-in-old-salamano-s-room-and-through-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [This is. And thou art. There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-is-and-thou-art-there-is-no-safety-there-is-no-end-the-word-must/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It was an almost supernatural power, I sometimes came to think (though immediately I mocked the idea), making normally talkative people like the Bolognan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/it-was-an-almost-supernatural-power-i-sometimes-came-to-think-though/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [I wonder about silence. Also about darkness. I love the idea that city lights are a "conspiracy" against higher thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-wonder-about-silence-also-about-darkness-i-love-the-idea-that-city/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“Our lives are so brief and unimportant. The cosmos cares nothing for us. For what we've done; Had we wrought evil instead of good.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/assassins-creed/our-lives-are-so-brief-and-unimportant-the-cosmos-cares-nothing-for/) [Assassins creed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/assassins-creed/) > [The word must be heard in silence; there must be darkness to see the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/the-word-must-be-heard-in-silence-there-must-be-darkness-to-see-the/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Whenever I see the alcove of a tastefully built Japanese room, I marvel at our comprehension of the secrets of shadows, our sensitive use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junichiro-tanizaki/whenever-i-see-the-alcove-of-a-tastefully-built-japanese-room-i/) [Junichiro Tanizaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junichiro-tanizaki/) > [“silence was darkness, and that naming shone a light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/silence-was-darkness-and-that-naming-shone-a-light/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“I ask you again / You who watch / How can there ever be any ending but this? First silence / Then darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-power/i-ask-you-again-you-who-watch-how-can-there-ever-be-any-ending-but/) [Ben Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-power/) > [There is beauty in everything, even in silence and darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/there-is-beauty-in-everything-even-in-silence-and-darkness/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“And so silence and ...darkness hold happiness and joy?" he said softly. "Assuredly," she said, "provided one listens to the silence and gazes deeply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-balogh/and-so-silence-and-darkness-hold-happiness-and-joy-he-said-softly/) [Mary Balogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-balogh/) > [Silence and darkness were all I craved. Well, I get a certain amount of both. They being one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/silence-and-darkness-were-all-i-craved-well-i-get-a-certain-amount-of/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) ## More by Loren Eiseley > [“Taking a final pleasure in what the wind can neither proclaim nor destroy, I am a student of nightfall, I claim no other profession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/taking-a-final-pleasure-in-what-the-wind-can-neither-proclaim-nor/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Perhaps a creature of so much ingenuity and deep memory is almost bound to grow alienated from his world, his fellows, and the objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/perhaps-a-creature-of-so-much-ingenuity-and-deep-memory-is-almost/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“The best way to be resurrected is to be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-best-way-to-be-resurrected-is-to-be-forgotten/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [It is frequently the tragedy of the great artist, as it is of the great scientist, that he frightens the ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/it-is-frequently-the-tragedy-of-the-great-artist-as-it-is-of-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/every-time-we-walk-along-a-beach-some-ancient-urge-disturbs-us-so/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The future is neither ahead nor behind, on one side or another. Nor is it dark or light. It is contained within ourselves; its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-future-is-neither-ahead-nor-behind-on-one-side-or-another-nor-is/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Out of the choked Devonian waters emerged sight and sound and the music that rolls invisible through the composer's brain. They are there still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/out-of-the-choked-devonian-waters-emerged-sight-and-sound-and-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [One could not pluck a flower without troubling a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/one-could-not-pluck-a-flower-without-troubling-a-star/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“I once saw, on a flower pot in my own living room, the efforts of a field mouse to build a remembered field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/i-once-saw-on-a-flower-pot-in-my-own-living-room-the-efforts-of-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The secret, if one may paraphrase a savage vocabulary, lies in the egg of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-secret-if-one-may-paraphrase-a-savage-vocabulary-lies-in-the-egg/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Without the gift of flowers and the infinite diversity of their fruits, man and bird, if they had continued to exist at all, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/without-the-gift-of-flowers-and-the-infinite-diversity-of-their/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Black magic, the magic of the primeval chaos, blots out or transmogrifies the true form of things. At the stroke of twelve the princess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/black-magic-the-magic-of-the-primeval-chaos-blots-out-or/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) [Explore all 121 Loren Eiseley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## 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": "If you cannot bear the silence and the darkness, do not go there; if you dislike black night and yawning chasms, never make them your profession. If you fear the sound of water hurrying through crevices toward unknown and mysterious destinations, do not consider it. Seek out the sunshine. 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