--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Because at night there is a comfort in…" description: "\"“Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In slipping through, shadow to shadow. Can’t say why. Maybe because we were hunters, all of us. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png" --- # Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In… ![“Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In slipping through, shadow to shadow. Can’t say why. Maybe because we were hunters, all of us. The way a cat moves in the shadows. Or a wolf. The instinctive safety in that.” quote by Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png) > ““Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In slipping through, shadow to shadow. Can’t say why. Maybe because we were hunters, all of us. The way a cat moves in the shadows. Or a wolf. The instinctive safety in that.”” [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Moving through darkness offers a primal sense of safety, echoing our hunter instincts and the stealth of predators. **In simple terms:** Darkness feels safe because of ancient hunting instincts. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty as a source of comfort. Themes instinct comfort uncertainty Mood reflective calm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - nighttime walks - creative brainstorming - risk assessment Key Concepts psychology evolutionary behavior Questions to Reflect On - Why do we seek safety in the unknown? - How can we balance caution and curiosity? A Different Perspective Overreliance on darkness can mask real dangers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) ## Related quotes > [At the end of a down day on Wall Street, we all need to be able to sleep peacefully at night. That comfort won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hill-harper/at-the-end-of-a-down-day-on-wall-street-we-all-need-to-be-able-to/) [Hill Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hill-harper/) > [Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise and rudely great... He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/placed-on-this-isthmus-of-a-middle-state-a-being-darkly-wise-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [“Strange how paranoia can link up with reality now and then.” ― Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-k-dick/strange-how-paranoia-can-link-up-with-reality-now-and-then-philip-k/) [Philip K. Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-k-dick/) > [“How she wanted to put away adult things and go back to seeing through a looking-glass, darkly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/how-she-wanted-to-put-away-adult-things-and-go-back-to-seeing-through/) [Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/) > [“Everything on earth -- both the good things and the bad things -- is not given to a man according to his just deserts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-turgenev/everything-on-earth-both-the-good-things-and-the-bad-things-is-not/) [Ivan Turgenev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-turgenev/) > [Someone observed darkly that it is always two A.M. when one is in the 'dark night of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/someone-observed-darkly-that-it-is-always-two-a-m-when-one-is-in-the/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“O radiant Dark! O darkly fostered ray! Thou hast a joy too deep for shallow Day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/o-radiant-dark-o-darkly-fostered-ray-thou-hast-a-joy-too-deep-for/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [There's a metaphor for the American public in here," Gansey murmered darkly, "but it escapes me at the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/there-s-a-metaphor-for-the-american-public-in-here-gansey-murmered/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [“How darkly and how deadly dost thou speak! Your eyes do menace me. Why look you pale? Who sent you hither? Wherefore do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakespeare-william/how-darkly-and-how-deadly-dost-thou-speak-your-eyes-do-menace-me-why/) [Shakespeare, William](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakespeare-william/) > [“Darkly, deeply, beautifully blue - the sky”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/darkly-deeply-beautifully-blue-the-sky/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Do you like being rich?” “Yes. Show me someone who doesn’t,” he says darkly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-james/do-you-like-being-rich-yes-show-me-someone-who-doesn-t-he-says-darkly/) [E.L. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-james/) > [The glass of your life is darkened, and darkly through it you see distorted and ghastly fragments of duty and destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-arnold/the-glass-of-your-life-is-darkened-and-darkly-through-it-you-see/) [George Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-arnold/) > [The pretensions of final truth are always partlyan effort to obscure a darkly felt consciousness of the limits of human knowledge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/the-pretensions-of-final-truth-are-always-partlyan-effort-to-obscure/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [There is a wonderful expression: seeing through a glass darkly. Everything, even life, is inevitably removed from you. You can't reach, or touch, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-sirk/there-is-a-wonderful-expression-seeing-through-a-glass-darkly/) [Douglas Sirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-sirk/) > [Im just gonna hide. Another face in your perfect world. Quiet as a mouse.Secretive as a sin. Darkly beautifully. Beautifully strange ?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jade/im-just-gonna-hide-another-face-in-your-perfect-world-quiet-as-a/) [Jade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jade/) ## More by Peter Heller > [“It occurred to me that the death of his grazing land hurt him more, incomparably more than the death of the human race. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/it-occurred-to-me-that-the-death-of-his-grazing-land-hurt-him-more/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Kook means the clueless beginner who paddles his surf board out to the other surfers in the lineup and starts chattering away like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/kook-means-the-clueless-beginner-who-paddles-his-surf-board-out-to/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“We have traveled. Now you will be the path I will walk I will walk Over you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/we-have-traveled-now-you-will-be-the-path-i-will-walk-i-will-walk/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“Well, I think that’s sort of like Eve biting the apple. You were talking about Genesis. I think it’s like that, the crow is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/well-i-think-that-s-sort-of-like-eve-biting-the-apple-you-were/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [I like the drinking-out-of-the-fire-hose approach - you're getting way more than you can handle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-like-the-drinking-out-of-the-fire-hose-approach-you-re-getting-way/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“Because that's what it turned into: in front of a fine painting a viewer stopped looking and started watching, watching is more specific, watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-that-s-what-it-turned-into-in-front-of-a-fine-painting-a/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“The pleasure almost split me like a baking stuffed tomato. Like my heart swelled and my skin got thinner and thinner in the heat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/the-pleasure-almost-split-me-like-a-baking-stuffed-tomato-like-my/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Wanted to write fiction since I was 11, since I first read 'In Our Time' by Hemingway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/wanted-to-write-fiction-since-i-was-11-since-i-first-read-in-our-time/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“She collapsed. I stepped forward and caught her. I thought of two trees nearly unrooted and leaning against each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/she-collapsed-i-stepped-forward-and-caught-her-i-thought-of-two-trees/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [All my journalism, all my books are first person, and it's all memoir. Even when I'm writing about the oil spill in the Gulf,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/all-my-journalism-all-my-books-are-first-person-and-it-s-all-memoir/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“we can proceed in our lives just as easily from love to love as from loss to loss. A good thing to remember in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/we-can-proceed-in-our-lives-just-as-easily-from-love-to-love-as-from/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“It's early spring, some late or early hour with Orion toppling backward onto the serrated edge of the mountains and not crying out but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/it-s-early-spring-some-late-or-early-hour-with-orion-toppling/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“I once had a book on the stars but now I don't. My memory serves but not stellar, ha. So I made up constellations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-once-had-a-book-on-the-stars-but-now-i-don-t-my-memory-serves-but/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [Species are going extinct because of habitat loss and warming. I feel deeply responsible and think about it every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/species-are-going-extinct-because-of-habitat-loss-and-warming-i-feel/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) > [“I think there should be tribunals for social cruelty as there are for physical assault. Calculated cuts in the first degree. Snobicide or its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/i-think-there-should-be-tribunals-for-social-cruelty-as-there-are-for/) [Peter Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) [Explore all 130 Peter Heller quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/) ## More Night quotes > [I don't drink much anymore, but when I traveled with Frank Sinatra, God rest his soul, I used to drink like I could do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-rickles/i-don-t-drink-much-anymore-but-when-i-traveled-with-frank-sinatra-god/) [Don Rickles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-rickles/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [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/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [At the end of night, before you close your eyes, be content with what you've done and be proud of who you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-almond/at-the-end-of-night-before-you-close-your-eyes-be-content-with-what/) [Steve Almond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-almond/) > [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [One of the deepest and strangest of all human moods is the mood which will suddenly strike us perhaps in a garden at night,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-deepest-and-strangest-of-all-human-moods-is-the-mood-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't like working all hours of the night and having an unreliable working pattern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-giacchino/i-don-t-like-working-all-hours-of-the-night-and-having-an-unreliable/) [Michael Giacchino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-giacchino/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“After nine nights must come ten and every desperate meeting only leaves you desperate for another. There is never enough to eat, never enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/after-nine-nights-must-come-ten-and-every-desperate-meeting-only/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/i-didn-t-get-how-big-it-was-until-i-went-home-turned-on-the/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“We drive west the rest of the night, away from where the sun will come up, trying to outrace it, trying not to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-drive-west-the-rest-of-the-night-away-from-where-the-sun-will-come/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) [Browse all 17,282 Night quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In slipping through, shadow to shadow. Can’t say why. Maybe because we were hunters, all of us. The way a cat moves in the shadows. Or a wolf. The instinctive safety in that.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter Heller" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-moving-darkly-in-slipping/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Night" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-moving-darkly-in-slipping/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e7/peter-heller-3324_night_because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-m_1206086.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Because at night there is a comfort in moving darkly. In slipping through, shadow to shadow. Can’t say why…” — Peter Heller", "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": "Peter Heller", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-heller/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Because at night there is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-moving-darkly-in-slipping/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-heller/because-at-night-there-is-a-comfort-in-moving-darkly-in-slipping/#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 } } ] } ```