--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What I had not realized then, but now…" description: "\"“What I had not realized then, but now know only too well, is that sparks carry within them the wish to be relieved of the burden of brightness. And th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/mark-strand-9847_dark_what-i-had-not-realized-then-but-now-kno_1521597.png" --- # What I had not realized then, but now know only too well… ![“What I had not realized then, but now know only too well, is that sparks carry within them the wish to be relieved of the burden of brightness. And that is why I no longer write, and why the dark is is my freedom and my happiness.” quote by Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/mark-strand-9847_dark_what-i-had-not-realized-then-but-now-kno_1521597.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/mark-strand-9847_dark_what-i-had-not-realized-then-but-now-kno_1521597.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc3/mark-strand-9847_dark_what-i-had-not-realized-then-but-now-kno_1521597.png) > ““What I had not realized then, but now know only too well, is that sparks carry within them the wish to be relieved of the burden of brightness. And that is why I no longer write, and why the dark is is my freedom and my happiness.”” [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker feels that brilliance is a burden and seeks darkness for relief and joy. **In simple terms:** Bright ideas feel heavy; darkness feels freeing. Key Takeaway Embrace the quiet that nurtures you. Themes creativity burden freedom Mood contemplative melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - creative work - mental health - personal reflection Key Concepts existentialism artistic struggle Questions to Reflect On - What burdens do you carry? - How can darkness be productive? A Different Perspective The darkness may also limit growth and visibility. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) ## Related quotes > [“Do you have a truth of your own, Anton ? Tell me, do you? Are you certain of it? Then believe it, not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-lukyanenko/do-you-have-a-truth-of-your-own-anton-tell-me-do-you-are-you-certain/) [Sergei Lukyanenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-lukyanenko/) > [The freedom of saying anything to him, telling all, relieved a burden I hadn't even realized I'd been carrying. In my relentless push to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/the-freedom-of-saying-anything-to-him-telling-all-relieved-a-burden-i/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [I only write when I'm in a dark place. I hit 'record' and get it out, writing and playing my guitar at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-van-etten/i-only-write-when-i-m-in-a-dark-place-i-hit-record-and-get-it-out/) [Sharon Van Etten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-van-etten/) > [I do like to write about dark subjects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-o-sullivan/i-do-like-to-write-about-dark-subjects/) [Gilbert O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-o-sullivan/) > [When I write after dark", observed Cyril Connolly, "the shades of evening scatter their purple through my prose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-fadiman/when-i-write-after-dark-observed-cyril-connolly-the-shades-of-evening/) [Anne Fadiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-fadiman/) > [I write about the dark and the happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-williams-iii/i-write-about-the-dark-and-the-happy/) [Hank Williams III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-williams-iii/) > [I realised that if I wished to write about the dark and not allow for hope, people would recognise it as false - because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-flanagan/i-realised-that-if-i-wished-to-write-about-the-dark-and-not-allow-for/) [Richard Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-flanagan/) > [I tend to write about dark things that happen in a very domestic setting 'cause that, to me, is much scarier than the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/i-tend-to-write-about-dark-things-that-happen-in-a-very-domestic/) [Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/) > [I think I was always meant to write dark stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-lu/i-think-i-was-always-meant-to-write-dark-stories/) [Marie Lu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-lu/) > [When I write after dark the shades of evening scatter their purple through my prose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/when-i-write-after-dark-the-shades-of-evening-scatter-their-purple/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [My darlings, if I can't write dark, epic music, I can't live!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-lee/my-darlings-if-i-can-t-write-dark-epic-music-i-can-t-live/) [Amy Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-lee/) > [“I use Fiction to face Reality And write dark Stories in hope to brighten my Path.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-mani/i-use-fiction-to-face-reality-and-write-dark-stories-in-hope-to/) [A. Mani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-mani/) > [I don't think I necessarily write about dark things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-lucia/i-don-t-think-i-necessarily-write-about-dark-things/) [St. Lucia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-lucia/) > [I get up to write while it's still dark, 5 or 5:30. I start by editing and rewriting everything I did the day before,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-connelly/i-get-up-to-write-while-it-s-still-dark-5-or-5-30-i-start-by-editing/) [Michael Connelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-connelly/) > [I was really surprised at the success of 'House of Sand and Fog,' because it is so awfully dark. Believe it or not, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-really-surprised-at-the-success-of-house-of-sand-and-fog/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Mark Strand > [We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/we-re-only-here-for-a-short-while-and-i-think-it-s-such-a-lucky/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [If every head of state and every government official spent an hour a day reading poetry we'd live in a much more humane and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/if-every-head-of-state-and-every-government-official-spent-an-hour-a/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [To open the dictionary of the Beyond and discover what one suspected, that the only word in it is nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/to-open-the-dictionary-of-the-beyond-and-discover-what-one-suspected/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-think-the-best-american-poetry-is-the-poetry-that-utilizes-the/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“The ultimate self-effacement is not the pretense of the minimal, but the jocular considerations of the maximal in the manner of Wallace Stevens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/the-ultimate-self-effacement-is-not-the-pretense-of-the-minimal-but/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I have been eating poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-have-been-eating-poetry/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [“Keeping Things Whole" In a field I am the absence of field. 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When I walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/in-a-field-i-am-the-absence-of-field-that-is-always-the-case-wherever/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Even this late it happens the coming of love, the coming of light. You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/even-this-late-it-happens-the-coming-of-love-the-coming-of-light-you/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Those hours given over to basking in the glow of an imagined future, of being carried away in streams of promise by a love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/those-hours-given-over-to-basking-in-the-glow-of-an-imagined-future/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [I feel that anything is possible in a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-feel-that-anything-is-possible-in-a-poem/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) [Explore all 70 Mark Strand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) ## 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. 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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": "“What I had not realized then, but now know only too well, is that sparks carry within them the wish to be relieved of the burden of brightness. 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