Darkness Quote by Robert Leckie
““It was a darkness without time. It was an impenetrable darkness. To the right and left of me rose those terrible formless things of my imagination, which I could not see because there was no light. I could not see, but I dared not close my eyes lest the darkness crawl beneath my eyelids and suffocate me. I could only hear. My ears became my being and I could hear the specks of life that crawled beneath my clothing, the rotting of the great tree which rose from its three-cornered trunk above me. I could hear the darkness gathering against me and the silences that lay between the moving things.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The War: An Intimate History, 1965
A person is trapped in an all‑consuming, sensory‑depriving darkness that heightens other senses and evokes primal fear.
In simple terms: Darkness overwhelms sight, sharpening hearing and dread.
Key Takeaway
Trust other senses when sight fails.
Themes
fear
isolation
perception
survival
Mood
tense
haunting
reflective
Type
literary
descriptive
psychological
When to use this quote
- nighttime combat
- space travel
- deep sea diving
- meditation in darkness
Key Concepts
sensory deprivation
psychological terror
existential dread
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you respond when a sense is lost?
- What can you learn from heightened awareness?
A Different Perspective
The description may dramatize fear beyond typical experience.
