---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Slowly he lifted his hands in the…"
description: "\"“Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he reached out with his hands, and if his hand..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg"
---

#  Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them…

![“Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he reached out with his hands, and if his hands were electric wires, and if his heart were a battery giving life and fire to those hands, and if he reached out with his hands and touched other…” quote by Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg)

> ““Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he reached out with his hands, and if his hands were electric wires, and if his heart were a battery giving life and fire to those hands, and if he reached out with his hands and touched other people, reached out through these stone walls and felt other hands connected with other hearts -- if he did that, would there be a reply, a shock?””

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A metaphorical yearning for connection, seeing hands as conduits of life and seeking reciprocal response.

**In simple terms:** Seeking connection through vulnerable outreach.

Key Takeaway

Reach out with empathy, expect mutual resonance.

Themes

connection vulnerability reciprocity hope humanity

Mood

reflective hopeful

Type

inspirational philosophical

When to use this quote

- personal relationships
- community building
- mental health support
- artistic expression

Key Concepts

metaphor electricity heart as battery interpersonal energy

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you extend empathy when physical contact is impossible?
- What does “electric” symbolize in human interaction?

A Different Perspective

Physical touch may not always be possible; emotional connection can be limited by distance.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Hands Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-darkness-1885391/) [Hands Reached](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-reached-871587/) [Hands Touched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands-touched-2725375/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life And Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-fire-224381/) [Lifted Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifted-hands-2324741/) [Reached Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reached-hands-3954425/)

## Related quotes

> [Do you have any idea how much I love you?” he asked. ”Enough to accept my apologies?” I suggested in a small voice. ”Heck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/do-you-have-any-idea-how-much-i-love-you-he-asked-enough-to-accept-my/)

[Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/)

> [“Hair in darkness doesn’t feel the way it does in light. In light, you can touch a person’s hair and not feel it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dara-horn/hair-in-darkness-doesn-t-feel-the-way-it-does-in-light-in-light-you/)

[Dara Horn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dara-horn/)

> [I have tried to write stories that go into the underworld of myth and bring out life and fire — where the old world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-have-tried-to-write-stories-that-go-into-the-underworld-of-myth-and/)

[Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/)

> [“I hate the thing is called enjoyment: Besides it is a dull employment, It cuts off all that's life and fire From that which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wilmot-2d-earl-of-rochester/i-hate-the-thing-is-called-enjoyment-besides-it-is-a-dull-employment/)

[John Wilmot 2d Earl of Rochester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wilmot-2d-earl-of-rochester/)

> [“Maybe with Sara's accident he had finally begun to see that life continued after a fall and that the hands that reached to pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-white/maybe-with-sara-s-accident-he-had-finally-begun-to-see-that-life/)

[Karen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-white/)

> [The time has come when advertising has in some hands reached the status of a science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-c-hopkins/the-time-has-come-when-advertising-has-in-some-hands-reached-the/)

[Claude C. Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-c-hopkins/)

> [The time has come when advertising in some hands has reached the status of a science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-c-hopkins/the-time-has-come-when-advertising-in-some-hands-has-reached-the/)

[Claude C. Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-c-hopkins/)

> [“Before she could stop her hands, they reached for him, as though they existed for no other reason than to touch him. Her fingers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-ahdieh/before-she-could-stop-her-hands-they-reached-for-him-as-though-they/)

[Renee Ahdieh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-ahdieh/)

> [His hands reached for me, gripping my hipbones and pulling me forward. he stared down at me, his voice low. "There are some things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammara-webber/his-hands-reached-for-me-gripping-my-hipbones-and-pulling-me-forward/)

[Tammara Webber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammara-webber/)

> [“My hands have not touched pleasure since your hands, -- No, -- nor my lips freed laughter since 'farewell', And with the day, distance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-hart-crane/my-hands-have-not-touched-pleasure-since-your-hands-no-nor-my-lips/)

[Harold Hart Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-hart-crane/)

> [The eighteen years he has lived seem but a moment, a breathing space in the long march of humanity. Already he hears death calling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/the-eighteen-years-he-has-lived-seem-but-a-moment-a-breathing-space/)

[Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/)

> [“I never thought I had a soul, but in that moment when our eyes met and our hands touched in greeting, my soul screamed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/celeste-carrara/i-never-thought-i-had-a-soul-but-in-that-moment-when-our-eyes-met-and/)

[Celeste Carrara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/celeste-carrara/)

> [“Their hands never touched, not even in an accidental brushing, and that was a good thing, for real intimacy has a dawn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-leganski/their-hands-never-touched-not-even-in-an-accidental-brushing-and-that/)

[Rita Leganski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-leganski/)

> [“Their hands touched for an instant, but neither spoke. Silences were becoming more frequent and more delicious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/their-hands-touched-for-an-instant-but-neither-spoke-silences-were/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [“Touch me." He instructed as he lifted her hands and placed them on his chest, "See, I am just Alfonzo. I'm human, not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-w-frank/touch-me-he-instructed-as-he-lifted-her-hands-and-placed-them-on-his/)

[S.W. Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-w-frank/)

## More by Richard Wright

> [“My days and nights were one long, quiet, continuously contained dream of teror, tension, and anxiety. I wondered how long I could bear it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/my-days-and-nights-were-one-long-quiet-continuously-contained-dream/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [It made me love talk that sought answers to questions that could help nobody, that could only keep alive in me that enthralling sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-made-me-love-talk-that-sought-answers-to-questions-that-could-help/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“Having been thrust out of the world because of my race, I had accepted my destiny by not being curious about what shaped it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/having-been-thrust-out-of-the-world-because-of-my-race-i-had-accepted/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [He had lived and acted on the assumption that he was alone, and now he saw that he had not been. What he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/he-had-lived-and-acted-on-the-assumption-that-he-was-alone-and-now-he/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [Reading was like a drug, a dope. The novels created moods in which I lived for days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/reading-was-like-a-drug-a-dope-the-novels-created-moods-in-which-i/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [It would have been impossible for me to have told anyone what I derived from these novels, for it was nothing less than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/it-would-have-been-impossible-for-me-to-have-told-anyone-what-i/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“If you've a notion of what man's heart is, wouldn't you say that maybe the whole effort of man on earth to build a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/if-you-ve-a-notion-of-what-man-s-heart-is-wouldn-t-you-say-that-maybe/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“From far beyond the horizons that bound this bleak plantation there had come to me through my living the knowledge that my father was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/from-far-beyond-the-horizons-that-bound-this-bleak-plantation-there/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“Color hate defined the place of black life as below that of white life; and the black man, responding to the same dreams as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/color-hate-defined-the-place-of-black-life-as-below-that-of-white/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“These fantasies were no longer a reflection of my reaction to the white people, they were a part of my living, of my emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/these-fantasies-were-no-longer-a-reflection-of-my-reaction-to-the/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“Their constant outward-looking, their mania for radios, cars, and a thousand other trinkets made them dream and fix their eyes upon the trash of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/their-constant-outward-looking-their-mania-for-radios-cars-and-a/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“absolute power is corrupting”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/absolute-power-is-corrupting/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“In me was shaping a yearning for a kind of consciousness, a mode of being that the way of life about me had said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/in-me-was-shaping-a-yearning-for-a-kind-of-consciousness-a-mode-of/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [The impulse to dream was slowly beaten out of me by experience. Now it surged up again and I hungered for books, new ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/the-impulse-to-dream-was-slowly-beaten-out-of-me-by-experience-now-it/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

> [“..when I tried to talk to him I realized that, though ties of blood made us kin, though I could see a shadow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/when-i-tried-to-talk-to-him-i-realized-that-though-ties-of-blood-made/)

[Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

[Explore all 116 Richard Wright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/)

## More Life quotes

> [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/)

[Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/)

> [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/)

[Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/)

> [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/)

[Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/)

> [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/)

[Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/)

> [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/)

[Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/)

> [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/)

[Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/)

> [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/)

[Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/)

> [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/)

[Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/)

> [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/)

[Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/)

> [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

[Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he reached out with his hands, and if his hands were electric wires, and if his heart were a battery giving life and fire to those hands, and if he reached out with his hands and touched other people, reached out through these stone walls and felt other hands connected with other hearts -- if he did that, would there be a reply, a shock?”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Richard Wright"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkness-and-held-them-in-mid-air/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Life"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkness-and-held-them-in-mid-air/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e7/richard-wright-4088_life_slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkne_640575.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Slowly he lifted his hands in the darkness and held them in mid-air, the fingers spread weakly open. If he…” — Richard Wright",
                "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": "Richard Wright",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Slowly he lifted his hands in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkness-and-held-them-in-mid-air/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/slowly-he-lifted-his-hands-in-the-darkness-and-held-them-in-mid-air/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
