--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Don’t name darkness good, which is the…" description: "\"“Don’t name darkness good, which is the seduction that has happened to many of our people on both left and right. They have not been taught wisdom or d..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/richard-rohr-618_darkness_don-t-name-darkness-good-which-is-the-se_1771384.png" --- # Don’t name darkness good, which is the seduction that has… ![“Don’t name darkness good, which is the seduction that has happened to many of our people on both left and right. They have not been taught wisdom or discernment for the most part. The most common way to release our inner tension is to cease calling darkness darkness and to pretend it is passable…” quote by Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/richard-rohr-618_darkness_don-t-name-darkness-good-which-is-the-se_1771384.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/richard-rohr-618_darkness_don-t-name-darkness-good-which-is-the-se_1771384.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/richard-rohr-618_darkness_don-t-name-darkness-good-which-is-the-se_1771384.png) > ““Don’t name darkness good, which is the seduction that has happened to many of our people on both left and right. They have not been taught wisdom or discernment for the most part. The most common way to release our inner tension is to cease calling darkness darkness and to pretend it is passable light. Another way to release your inner tension is to stand angrily, obsessively against it, but then you become a mirror image of it. Everyone can usually see this but you! Our Christian wisdom is to name the darkness as darkness, and the Light as light, and to learn how to live and work in the Light so that the darkness does not overcome us.”” [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True spiritual practice names darkness as darkness and light as light, avoiding both denial and mirroring darkness, to live in the Light responsibly. **In simple terms:** Name darkness, don’t pretend it’s light. Key Takeaway Aly darkness, live in the Light. Themes spirituality discernment truth light darkness Mood thoughtful inspirational Type theological motivational When to use this quote - personal growth - conflict resolution - community dialogue - inner peace Key Concepts Christian mysticism ethical awareness psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between confronting and mirroring darkness? - What practices help you stay in the Light? A Different Perspective Denial can be a coping mechanism for trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Mirror image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirror-image/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [Wits and swords are as straws against the wisdom of the Darkness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-howard/wits-and-swords-are-as-straws-against-the-wisdom-of-the-darkness/) [Robert E. 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You will live in my heart… I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nostradamus/will-the-future-bring-your-wisdom-to-me-or-will-darkness-rule-the/) [Nostradamus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nostradamus/) > [“When you are achieving in a system that is at odds with who you are—one that too often values style over substance, face time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-young/when-you-are-achieving-in-a-system-that-is-at-odds-with-who-you-are/) [Valerie Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-young/) > [A great artist... must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. 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Only the light can save you from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/light-came-into-the-darkness-but-the-darkness-didn-t-understand-it/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [“John 1:5 "Light shines into the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/john-1-5-light-shines-into-the-darkness-but-the-darkness-has-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I can’t afford to live in reaction to darkness. If I do, darkness has had a role in setting the agenda for my life.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-can-t-afford-to-live-in-reaction-to-darkness-if-i-do-darkness-has/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [“Less now to me is that darkness than my own darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-r-tolkien/less-now-to-me-is-that-darkness-than-my-own-darkness/) [J.R.R. Tolkien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-r-r-tolkien/) > [The more you try to turn away from darkness, the more darkness is right against your back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-eggers/the-more-you-try-to-turn-away-from-darkness-the-more-darkness-is/) [Robert Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-eggers/) ## More by Richard Rohr > [“We have become human doings more than human beings, and the verb “rest,” as Jesus uses it, is largely foreign to us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/we-have-become-human-doings-more-than-human-beings-and-the-verb-rest/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [In my opinion, most organized religion does neither agentic service nor relational nurturance very well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/in-my-opinion-most-organized-religion-does-neither-agentic-service/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/if-we-do-not-transform-our-pain-we-will-most-assuredly-transmit-it/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [In solitude, at last, we’re able to let God define us the way we are always supposed to be defined—by relationship: the I-thou relationship,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/in-solitude-at-last-we-re-able-to-let-god-define-us-the-way-we-are/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Pain and suffering that are not transformed are usually projected onto others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/pain-and-suffering-that-are-not-transformed-are-usually-projected/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [You cannot grow in the integrative dance of action and contemplation without a strong tolerance for ambiguity, an ability to allow, forgive, and contain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/you-cannot-grow-in-the-integrative-dance-of-action-and-contemplation/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“In the end, we do not so much reclaim what we have lost as discover a significantly new self in and through the process.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/in-the-end-we-do-not-so-much-reclaim-what-we-have-lost-as-discover-a/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [All great spirituality is about what we do with our pain. If we do not transform our pain, we will transmit it to those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/all-great-spirituality-is-about-what-we-do-with-our-pain-if-we-do-not/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“I would wonder if you could be a hero or heroine if you did not live in deep time, that is, Past, present, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/i-would-wonder-if-you-could-be-a-hero-or-heroine-if-you-did-not-live/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/nature-is-the-one-song-of-praise-that-never-stops-singing/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“I believe contemplation shows us that nothing inside us is as bad as our hatred and denial of the bad. 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You can make a naïve assertion that you trust in Jesus, but until it is tested a good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/the-real-spiritual-journey-is-work-you-can-make-a-na-ve-assertion/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) > [“The soul needs meaning as much as the body needs food.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rohr/the-soul-needs-meaning-as-much-as-the-body-needs-food/) [Richard Rohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) [Explore all 443 Richard Rohr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rohr/) ## 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? 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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": "“Don’t name darkness good, which is the seduction that has happened to many of our people on both left and right. They have not been taught wisdom or discernment for the most part. The most common way to release our inner tension is to cease calling darkness darkness and to pretend it is passable light. Another way to release your inner tension is to stand angrily, obsessively against it, but then you become a mirror image of it. Everyone can usually see this but you! 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