--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our souls have been suffering in a kind…" description: "\"“Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness”\" — Robert Olmstead" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg" --- # Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness ![“Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness” quote by Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg) > ““Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness”” [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our souls endure suffering in a deep, pervasive darkness. **In simple terms:** Souls suffer in deep darkness. Key Takeaway Seek light and healing for inner pain. Themes spirituality pain healing Mood somber hopeful Type reflective spiritual When to use this quote - therapy - meditation - support groups - creative expression Key Concepts existentialism mental health philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does “darkness” represent for you? - How can you bring light into your life? A Different Perspective Darkness may be metaphorical, not literal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Souls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls/) [Souls Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/souls-suffering-3554176/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-kind-447224/) ## Related quotes > [“Our suffering has a purpose-it helps us toward the end of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls. Suffering is a crucible.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-2/our-suffering-has-a-purpose-it-helps-us-toward-the-end-of-our-faith/) [R.C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-2/) > [How horribly rapid everything has been, from the days when men were not ashamed to talk of souls and of suffering and of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayi-kwei-armah/how-horribly-rapid-everything-has-been-from-the-days-when-men-were/) [Ayi Kwei Armah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayi-kwei-armah/) > [Buddha says there are two kinds of suffering: the kind that leads to more suffering and the kind that brings an end to suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/buddha-says-there-are-two-kinds-of-suffering-the-kind-that-leads-to/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [Pain and suffering are a kind of currency passed from hand to hand until they reach someone who receives them but does not pass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/pain-and-suffering-are-a-kind-of-currency-passed-from-hand-to-hand/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [What breaks my heart is suffering of any kind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/what-breaks-my-heart-is-suffering-of-any-kind/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [Suffering is a kind of ecstasy in a way. Having pain all the time makes me terribly, terribly grateful for every moment I've got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-tavener/suffering-is-a-kind-of-ecstasy-in-a-way-having-pain-all-the-time/) [John Tavener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-tavener/) > [When we're suffering, we kind of have this notion that we kind of should stop living and we should just focus on his how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-wineland/when-we-re-suffering-we-kind-of-have-this-notion-that-we-kind-of/) [Claire Wineland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-wineland/) > [What breaks my heart is suffering of any kind. Too often, our world is divisive and cruel where it needs to be uniting and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-keys/what-breaks-my-heart-is-suffering-of-any-kind-too-often-our-world-is/) [Alicia Keys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-keys/) > [We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering, we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is we only become more fearful, more hardened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/we-think-that-by-protecting-ourselves-from-suffering-we-are-being/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [I think that it is a part of growing up, learning to control our suffering. I think that when we grow up, and learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/i-think-that-it-is-a-part-of-growing-up-learning-to-control-our/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [We are suffering from a kind of slow-motion barbarization from within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/we-are-suffering-from-a-kind-of-slow-motion-barbarization-from-within/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [Time sped. And the poet through sorrow Became like his suffering kind. Again he toiled over his poems To lighten the grief of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/time-sped-and-the-poet-through-sorrow-became-like-his-suffering-kind/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [It is women who bear the race in bloody agony. Suffering is a kind of horror. Blood is a kind of horror. Women are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-lugosi/it-is-women-who-bear-the-race-in-bloody-agony-suffering-is-a-kind-of/) [Bela Lugosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-lugosi/) > [I try to be even-handed and fair-minded about my view of history. I don't romanticize one side and demonize the other, though I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-d-aguiar/i-try-to-be-even-handed-and-fair-minded-about-my-view-of-history-i/) [Fred D'Aguiar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-d-aguiar/) > [Over the souls of men spread the condor wings of colossal monsters and all manner of evil things prey upon the heart and soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-e-howard/over-the-souls-of-men-spread-the-condor-wings-of-colossal-monsters/) [Robert E. Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-e-howard/) ## More by Robert Olmstead > [“They came and they went; they ached and pained. They laughed privately and cried to themselves as if heeding a way- off silent call.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/they-came-and-they-went-they-ached-and-pained-they-laughed-privately/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“Do you ever think about the rocks?" he said. "How does that go?" "Maybe they are alive and their hearts beat once every thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/do-you-ever-think-about-the-rocks-he-said-how-does-that-go-maybe-they/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“Of late she'd become impatient with the inexplicit needs of boys and men and their acting so rashly on what they could not fathom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/of-late-she-d-become-impatient-with-the-inexplicit-needs-of-boys-and/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“every night I fold myself into her, every night she comes into my life and I feel her hand on my heart and she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/every-night-i-fold-myself-into-her-every-night-she-comes-into-my-life/) [robert olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“In her mind, men were no different than droughty weather or a sudden burst of rainless storm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/in-her-mind-men-were-no-different-than-droughty-weather-or-a-sudden/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“Hast thou given the horse strength? Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?...He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/hast-thou-given-the-horse-strength-hast-thou-clothed-his-neck-with/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) > [“All that night he followed bends of the black road jeweled by starlight until the wan light of the dawn touched the east with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/all-that-night-he-followed-bends-of-the-black-road-jeweled-by/) [Robert Olmstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) [Explore all 8 Robert Olmstead quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Olmstead" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind-of-darkness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind-of-darkness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cdb/robert-olmstead-46511_darkness_our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind_2383826.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Our souls have been suffering in a kind of darkness” — Robert Olmstead", "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": "Robert Olmstead", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-olmstead/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Our souls have been suffering in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind-of-darkness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-olmstead/our-souls-have-been-suffering-in-a-kind-of-darkness/#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 } } ] } ```