--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash…" description: "\"Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash of lightning in the night which, from the beginning of time, gives a dense and black intensity to the night it ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg" --- # Perhaps \[transgression\] is like a flash of lightning in… ![“Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash of lightning in the night which, from the beginning of time, gives a dense and black intensity to the night it denies, which lights up the night from the inside, from top to bottom, yet owes to the dark the stark clarity of its manifestation, its harrowing…” quote by Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg) > “Perhaps \[transgression\] is like a flash of lightning in the night which, from the beginning of time, gives a dense and black intensity to the night it denies, which lights up the night from the inside, from top to bottom, yet owes to the dark the stark clarity of its manifestation, its harrowing and poised singularity.” [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes transgression as a fleeting, illuminating force that creates stark contrast against darkness, revealing hidden truths and intensifying perception. **In simple terms:** Transgression briefly lights up darkness, revealing hidden truths. Key Takeaway Embrace moments of disruption to gain deeper insight. Themes philosophy psychology art transgression perception Mood reflective analytical poetic Type philosophical literary psychological When to use this quote - creative writing - critical analysis - personal reflection - cultural critique Key Concepts existentialism phenomenology symbolic contrast Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from brief moments of disruption? - How does darkness shape our understanding of light? A Different Perspective Such intense focus on darkness may overlook the stability of everyday experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clarity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clarity/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Intensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intensity/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Lightning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lightning/) [Manifestation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manifestation/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Singularity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singularity/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Transgression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transgression/) ## Related quotes > [It's one thing for a person to live his life as a vacuous shell without fully comprehending the extent of his transgressions, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarek-saab/it-s-one-thing-for-a-person-to-live-his-life-as-a-vacuous-shell/) [Tarek Saab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarek-saab/) > [ The way of the Lord is the way of happiness. ‘Wickedness never was happiness’ \[Alma 41:10\]. Transgression never was happiness. Sin never was happiness.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/the-way-of-the-lord-is-the-way-of-happiness-wickedness-never-was/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [Jah come to break downpression, rule equality, wipe away transgression, set the captives free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/jah-come-to-break-downpression-rule-equality-wipe-away-transgression/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Yes, one can repent of moral transgression. The miracle of forgiveness is real, and true repentance is accepted of the Lord.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/yes-one-can-repent-of-moral-transgression-the-miracle-of-forgiveness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [I exist, I am, I am here, I am becoming, I make my own life and no one else makes it for me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-exist-i-am-i-am-here-i-am-becoming-i-make-my-own-life-and-no-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ The American experiment, the United States in the past eight years \[2008-2016\] was not considered worthy of leading, because we had committed too many… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-american-experiment-the-united-states-in-the-past-eight-years/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Let us look upon a crucified Christ, the remedy of all our miseries. His cross hath procured a crown, his passion hath expiated our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-charnock/let-us-look-upon-a-crucified-christ-the-remedy-of-all-our-miseries/) [Stephen Charnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-charnock/) > [We are not to look upon our sins as insignificant trifles. On the other hand, we are not to regard them as so terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/we-are-not-to-look-upon-our-sins-as-insignificant-trifles-on-the/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [“If no one has boundaries…how can there be any transgression?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle-lpc-love-is-not-enough/if-no-one-has-boundaries-how-can-there-be-any-transgression/) [David W. Earle LPC- Love is Not Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle-lpc-love-is-not-enough/) > [Was it not most meet that a woman should first see the risen Saviour? She was first in the transgression; let her be first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/was-it-not-most-meet-that-a-woman-should-first-see-the-risen-saviour/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [ The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah (repentance) and protection \[from transgression\]. It becomes rusty as a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/the-heart-becomes-sick-as-the-body-becomes-sick-and-its-remedy-is-al/) [Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-qayyim-al-jawziyya/) > [When people begin to praise us, let us hurry to remember the multitude of ours transgressions, and we will see that we are truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-climacus/when-people-begin-to-praise-us-let-us-hurry-to-remember-the-multitude/) [John Climacus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-climacus/) > [Persons who have cleansed themselves of any transgression and who have shown their ability to deal with homosexual inclinations and put them in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/persons-who-have-cleansed-themselves-of-any-transgression-and-who/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [All lovers unconsciously establish their own rules of the game, which from the outset admit of no transgression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/all-lovers-unconsciously-establish-their-own-rules-of-the-game-which/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [There are times when even the most potent governor must wink at transgression, in order to preserve the laws inviolate for the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/there-are-times-when-even-the-most-potent-governor-must-wink-at/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More by Michel Foucault > [One should try to locate power at the extreme of its exercise, where it is always less legal in character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/one-should-try-to-locate-power-at-the-extreme-of-its-exercise-where/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [The book is not simply the object that one holds in one's hands, and it cannot remain within the little parallelpiped that contains it:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-book-is-not-simply-the-object-that-one-holds-in-one-s-hands-and/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“But a punishment like forced labour or even imprisonment – mere loss of liberty – has never functioned without a certain additional element of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/but-a-punishment-like-forced-labour-or-even-imprisonment-mere-loss-of/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Death left its old tragic heaven and became the lyrical core of man: his invisible truth, his visible secret.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/death-left-its-old-tragic-heaven-and-became-the-lyrical-core-of-man/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [I'm no prophet. My job is making windows where there were once walls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/i-m-no-prophet-my-job-is-making-windows-where-there-were-once-walls/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Let us ask... how things work at the level of on-going subjugation, at the level of those continuous and uninterrupted processes which subject our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/let-us-ask-how-things-work-at-the-level-of-on-going-subjugation-at/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [What makes power hold good, what makes it accepted, is simply the fact that it doesn't only weigh on us as a force that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/what-makes-power-hold-good-what-makes-it-accepted-is-simply-the-fact/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“It was a matter of showing by what conjunctions a whole set of practices-- from the moment they became coordinated with a regime of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/it-was-a-matter-of-showing-by-what-conjunctions-a-whole-set-of/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“The preferred medications were those that forestalled corruption. We know 'as a result of more than three thousand years of experience that Myrrh and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-preferred-medications-were-those-that-forestalled-corruption-we/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“The man described for us, whom we are invited to free, is already in himself the effect of a subjection much more profound than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-man-described-for-us-whom-we-are-invited-to-free-is-already-in/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [“Confined on the ship, from which there is no escape, the madman is delivered to the river with its thousand arms, the sea with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/confined-on-the-ship-from-which-there-is-no-escape-the-madman-is/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Believe what is productive is not sedentary but nomadic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/believe-what-is-productive-is-not-sedentary-but-nomadic/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Are the prisons overpopulated, or is the population over-imprisoned ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/are-the-prisons-overpopulated-or-is-the-population-over-imprisoned/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [An American professor complained that a crypto-Marxist like me was invited in the USA, and I was denounced by the press in Eastern European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/an-american-professor-complained-that-a-crypto-marxist-like-me-was/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [Withdraw allegiance from the old categories of the Negative (law, limit, castration, lack, lacuna), which the Western thought has so long held sacred as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/withdraw-allegiance-from-the-old-categories-of-the-negative-law-limit/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) [Explore all 272 Michel Foucault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [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/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) Frank B. Wilderson III > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash of lightning in the night which, from the beginning of time, gives a dense and black intensity to the night it denies, which lights up the night from the inside, from top to bottom, yet owes to the dark the stark clarity of its manifestation, its harrowing and poised singularity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel Foucault" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of-lightning-in-the-night-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Black" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of-lightning-in-the-night-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c4/michel-foucault-1134_black_perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of_366983.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash of lightning in the night which, from the beginning of time, gives a…” — Michel Foucault", "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": "Michel Foucault", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Perhaps [transgression] is like a flash...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of-lightning-in-the-night-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/perhaps-transgression-is-like-a-flash-of-lightning-in-the-night-which/#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 } } ] } ```