--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Until we have seen someone's darkness, we…" description: "\"Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's darkness, we don't really know what love is...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png" --- # Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really… ![“Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's darkness, we don't really know what love is.” quote by Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png) > “Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's darkness, we don't really know what love is.” [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing and forgiving another's flaws reveals true identity and love; ignorance limits understanding. **In simple terms:** Knowing darkness shows who they are; forgiveness shows love. Key Takeaway Embrace and forgive others' flaws. Themes forgiveness identity love Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - relationships - spiritual practice Key Concepts philosophy human nature Questions to Reflect On - What does confronting someone's darkness teach you about yourself? - Can love exist without forgiveness? A Different Perspective Forgiveness can be difficult and may not be reciprocated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Until we have seen someone’s darkness we don’t really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone’s darkness we don’t really know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we-don-t-really-know-who-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“But did he know that I'd already forgiven him for having rejected me?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maryam-schonbeck/but-did-he-know-that-i-d-already-forgiven-him-for-having-rejected-me/) Maryam Schonbeck > [“I don't know what happened between the two of you. I don't know if it can be forgiven. The hardest thing always is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-michaelis/i-don-t-know-what-happened-between-the-two-of-you-i-don-t-know-if-it/) [Antonia Michaelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-michaelis/) > [We do not really know how to forgive until we know what it is to be forgiven. Therefore we should be glad that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/we-do-not-really-know-how-to-forgive-until-we-know-what-it-is-to-be/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/blemishes-are-hid-by-night-and-every-fault-forgiven-darkness-makes/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How does one know if she has forgiven? You tend to feel sorrow over the circumstance instead of rage, you tend to feel sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/how-does-one-know-if-she-has-forgiven-you-tend-to-feel-sorrow-over/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [“They don't know those places in me. Only he does. Only he has seen the darkness inside of me and turns into love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brown/they-don-t-know-those-places-in-me-only-he-does-only-he-has-seen-the/) [Tara Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brown/) > [I've got the best deal on Earth. Where else can I sin and know that I'm forgiven for it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armand-assante/i-ve-got-the-best-deal-on-earth-where-else-can-i-sin-and-know-that-i/) [Armand Assante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armand-assante/) > [“furrowed, and she leaned forward as though she’d seen him in the darkness. Jerking back behind the plant, he decided it wouldn’t be good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocklee/furrowed-and-she-leaned-forward-as-though-she-d-seen-him-in-the/) Michelle Shocklee > [Sometimes people need to know they could be forgiven to have the strength to change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-leigh-bralick/sometimes-people-need-to-know-they-could-be-forgiven-to-have-the/) [J. Leigh Bralick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-leigh-bralick/) > [“They don’t really know him, not the dark and scary parts, but then again they don’t know those places in me. Only he does.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-brown/they-don-t-really-know-him-not-the-dark-and-scary-parts-but-then/) [Tara Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-brown/) > [For those who think they know me. You are forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-those-who-think-they-know-me-you-are-forgiven/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What I give form to in daylight is only one per cent of what I have seen in darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-i-give-form-to-in-daylight-is-only-one-per-cent-of-what-i-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Sometimes people come into your life and change everything. You become someone you would never have been without them. They crack you open, split…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romily-bernard/sometimes-people-come-into-your-life-and-change-everything-you-become/) [Romily Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romily-bernard/) > [“As Sandy and his wife warmed to the tale, one tripping up another in their eagerness to tell everything, it gradually developed as distinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-oliphant/as-sandy-and-his-wife-warmed-to-the-tale-one-tripping-up-another-in/) [Margaret Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-oliphant/) ## More by Marianne Williamson > [The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-goal-of-spiritual-practice-is-full-recovery-and-the-only-thing/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Great people are not people who have never fallen down. Greatness has to do with how you get back up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/great-people-are-not-people-who-have-never-fallen-down-greatness-has/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I feel that if your soul was branded by the sixties, you never lost the brand. It's like going into a nightclub and having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-feel-that-if-your-soul-was-branded-by-the-sixties-you-never-lost/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Until we have met the monsters in ourselves, we keep trying to slay them in the outer world. And we find that we cannot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/until-we-have-met-the-monsters-in-ourselves-we-keep-trying-to-slay/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [No matter how sad we might be, the universe is still planning our happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/no-matter-how-sad-we-might-be-the-universe-is-still-planning-our/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Love is who we are, and when we deviate from that love we're deviating from our ultimate, essential, eternal reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/love-is-who-we-are-and-when-we-deviate-from-that-love-we-re-deviating/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [For many, many people, getting married is one of the most important things they will ever do in the pursuit of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/for-many-many-people-getting-married-is-one-of-the-most-important/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [As all of us are only too aware, the loud and frantic voices of the outer world easily drown out the small, still loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/as-all-of-us-are-only-too-aware-the-loud-and-frantic-voices-of-the/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [It is not too late. You are not too old. You are right on time-And you are better than you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/it-is-not-too-late-you-are-not-too-old-you-are-right-on-time-and-you/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I tell my mother I went to God in spite of my religious education. I feel that my religious education was inadequate, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-tell-my-mother-i-went-to-god-in-spite-of-my-religious-education-i/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [You don't have to be a spiritual seeker, you can be a businessman dealing with the revolution in computers. You could be a congressman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/you-don-t-have-to-be-a-spiritual-seeker-you-can-be-a-businessman/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Dear God, I surrender this thought to you, for I would see the miracle that lies behind it. Amen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/dear-god-i-surrender-this-thought-to-you-for-i-would-see-the-miracle/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [Sex is not the ultimate high, but the ultimate high hangs out around sex. The ultimate high is the dance with another person, played…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/sex-is-not-the-ultimate-high-but-the-ultimate-high-hangs-out-around/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) [Explore all 1,347 Marianne Williamson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [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/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [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 [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's darkness, we don't really know what love is.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marianne Williamson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we-don-t-really-know-who-they-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we-don-t-really-know-who-they-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a5/marianne-williamson-90_darkness_until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we_2682699.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Until we have seen someone's darkness, we don't really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone's…” — Marianne Williamson", "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": "Marianne Williamson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Until we have seen someone's darkness,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we-don-t-really-know-who-they-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/until-we-have-seen-someone-s-darkness-we-don-t-really-know-who-they-2/#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 } } ] } ```