--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People populate the darkness; with…" description: "\"People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales.\" — Neil Gaiman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg" --- # People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with… ![“People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales.” quote by Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg) > “People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales.” [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The unknown is filled with imagined entities that shape our perception. **In simple terms:** Our minds fill emptiness with stories. Key Takeaway Recognize imagination’s role in fear. Themes imagination fear unknown Mood curious reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - nighttime anxiety - creative writing - science fiction Key Concepts psychology mythmaking Questions to Reflect On - How do you confront the unknown? - What stories help you feel safe? A Different Perspective Stories can also mislead or trap us. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Ghost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghost/) [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/) ## Related quotes > [When I became convinced that the universe is natural, that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-i-became-convinced-that-the-universe-is-natural-that-all-the-2/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“When I became convinced that the Universe is natural – that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-ingersoll/when-i-became-convinced-that-the-universe-is-natural-that-all-the/) [Robert G. Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-ingersoll/) > [“Those places where sadness and misery abound are favoured settings for stories of ghosts and apparitions. Calcutta has countless such stories hidden in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/those-places-where-sadness-and-misery-abound-are-favoured-settings/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [He had read books, newspapers and magazines. He knew that if you ran away you sometimes met bad people who did bad things to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/he-had-read-books-newspapers-and-magazines-he-knew-that-if-you-ran/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Words can have no single fixed meaning. Like wayward electrons, they can spin away from their initial orbit and enter a wider magnetic field.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lehman/words-can-have-no-single-fixed-meaning-like-wayward-electrons-they/) [David Lehman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lehman/) > [I always imagined myself somehow as an electron around some atom, and you're just, like, bouncing around and spinning. There was a never-ending supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-freston/i-always-imagined-myself-somehow-as-an-electron-around-some-atom-and/) [Tom Freston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-freston/) > [Not sense data or atoms or electrons or packets of energy, but purposes, interests, and meanings, constitute the underlying facts of human experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/not-sense-data-or-atoms-or-electrons-or-packets-of-energy-but/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [Whether we electrons, light quanta, benzol molecules, or stones, we shall always come up against these two characteristics, the corpuscular and the undular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/whether-we-electrons-light-quanta-benzol-molecules-or-stones-we-shall/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristian-birkeland/it-seems-to-be-a-natural-consequence-of-our-points-of-view-to-assume/) Kristian Birkeland > [Mathematics is not only real, but it is the only reality. That is that entire universe is made of matter, obviously. And matter is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-gardner/mathematics-is-not-only-real-but-it-is-the-only-reality-that-is-that/) [Martin Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-gardner/) > [ My wife and I have long discussions about \[George\] Carlin, and we refuse to accept that he died an atheist. It's just, confounding. When… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/my-wife-and-i-have-long-discussions-about-george-carlin-and-we-refuse/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“When you ask what are electrons and protons I ought to answer that this question is not a profitable one to ask and does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-a-m-dirac/when-you-ask-what-are-electrons-and-protons-i-ought-to-answer-that/) [Paul A.M. Dirac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-a-m-dirac/) > [Can a physicist visualize an electron? The electron is materially inconceivable and yet, it is so perfectly known through its effects that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/can-a-physicist-visualize-an-electron-the-electron-is-materially/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [Yes, Jenna, I love you with all my heart. And with my atoms and molecules and electrons and whatever further breakdown you require.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-shinn/yes-jenna-i-love-you-with-all-my-heart-and-with-my-atoms-and/) [Sharon Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-shinn/) > [“Electrons and photons are still worse. In graduate school I roomed for a time with a particle physicist. He ended one attempt to explain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-vogel/electrons-and-photons-are-still-worse-in-graduate-school-i-roomed-for/) [Steven Vogel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-vogel/) ## More by Neil Gaiman > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Like all sentient beings, Fat Charlie had a weirdness quotient. For some days the needle had been over in the red, occasionally banging jerkily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/like-all-sentient-beings-fat-charlie-had-a-weirdness-quotient-for/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Shadow crawled across the floor to the yellow foam-rubber pad and climbed onto it, pulling the thin blanket over himself, and closed his eyes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/shadow-crawled-across-the-floor-to-the-yellow-foam-rubber-pad-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [ “\[T\]hey could not help being amused every time another little human believed itself the center of its world, as each of us does.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/t-hey-could-not-help-being-amused-every-time-another-little-human/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [So many things to see, people to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/so-many-things-to-see-people-to-do/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.’ – Ben Franklin,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/three-may-keep-a-secret-if-two-of-them-are-dead-ben-franklin/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You need more than a beginning if you're going to start a book. If all you have is a beginning, then once you've written…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-need-more-than-a-beginning-if-you-re-going-to-start-a-book-if-all/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You can tell the date of an old science fiction novel by every word on the page. Nothing dates harder and faster and more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-can-tell-the-date-of-an-old-science-fiction-novel-by-every-word/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“The quickest way is sometimes the longest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/the-quickest-way-is-sometimes-the-longest/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“They were spells, spelled with words to make worlds, waiting for me, in the pages of books.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/they-were-spells-spelled-with-words-to-make-worlds-waiting-for-me-in/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/finish-what-you-re-writing-whatever-you-have-to-do-to-finish-it/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [What do stars do? They shine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-do-stars-do-they-shine/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“What," asked Mr Croup, "do you want?" "What," asked the Marquis de Carabas, a little more rhetorically, "does anyone want?" "Dead things," suggested Mr…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/what-asked-mr-croup-do-you-want-what-asked-the-marquis-de-carabas-a/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [You get on with your own life. Lettie gave it to you. You just have to grow up and try and be worth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/you-get-on-with-your-own-life-lettie-gave-it-to-you-you-just-have-to/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“Eyes will not see you. Minds will not hold you. Where you are is nothing and nobody”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/eyes-will-not-see-you-minds-will-not-hold-you-where-you-are-is/) [neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) [Explore all 2,526 Neil Gaiman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) ## 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": "People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Neil Gaiman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts-with-gods-with-electrons/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts-with-gods-with-electrons/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bd/neil-gaiman-29_darkness_people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts_564178.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People populate the darkness; with ghosts, with gods, with electrons, with tales.” — Neil Gaiman", "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": "Neil Gaiman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "People populate the darkness; with ghosts,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts-with-gods-with-electrons/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-populate-the-darkness-with-ghosts-with-gods-with-electrons/#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 } } ] } ```