--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I waver—in the dark—between the…" description: "\"“I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it entirely accurate?) that I’m unhappy only by moments, by jerks and surges, sporadically, even i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png" --- # I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it… ![“I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it entirely accurate?) that I’m unhappy only by moments, by jerks and surges, sporadically, even if such spasms are close together—and the conviction that deep down, in actual fact, I am continually, all the time, unhappy since maman’s death.” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png) > ““I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it entirely accurate?) that I’m unhappy only by moments, by jerks and surges, sporadically, even if such spasms are close together—and the conviction that deep down, in actual fact, I am continually, all the time, unhappy since maman’s death.”” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author feels intermittent happiness but believes a deep, continuous unhappiness persists after a personal loss. **In simple terms:** I’m often unhappy, especially after loss. Key Takeaway Acknowledge grief’s lasting impact. Themes grief identity psychology Mood somber introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - therapy - creative work - relationships - self‑reflection Key Concepts existentialism subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How does grief shape your daily experience? - Can moments of joy coexist with deep sorrow? A Different Perspective Happiness can be fleeting; lasting sorrow may dominate perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accurate Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accurate-unhappy-4447802/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Time Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-unhappy-2153513/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) [Unhappy Maman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-maman-4447801/) [Unhappy Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy-moments-4365890/) ## Related quotes > [We had our unhappy moments but they got channelled into the kind of sadness that was necessary for singing a song about going nowhere.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-weymouth/we-had-our-unhappy-moments-but-they-got-channelled-into-the-kind-of/) [Tina Weymouth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-weymouth/) > [I don't have the luxury of time to be unhappy. I have too much to do. I have too much do accomplish. Who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/i-don-t-have-the-luxury-of-time-to-be-unhappy-i-have-too-much-to-do-i/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [You don't have enough time to be both unhappy & mediocre. It's not just pointless; it's painful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/you-don-t-have-enough-time-to-be-both-unhappy-mediocre-it-s-not-just/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [ Oh, that was a good time, when I was unhappy. \[Fr., Oh c'etait le bon temps, j'etais bien malheureuse.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-arnould/oh-that-was-a-good-time-when-i-was-unhappy-fr-oh-c-etait-le-bon-temps/) [Sophie Arnould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-arnould/) > [Timing is everything in wrestling and when I was with the WWE it just wasn't the right time. I was unhappy and I decided…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-kim/timing-is-everything-in-wrestling-and-when-i-was-with-the-wwe-it-just/) [Gail Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-kim/) > [A lot of the time, I was unhappy as a kid, so I spent it, I guess, in a gray place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/king-krule/a-lot-of-the-time-i-was-unhappy-as-a-kid-so-i-spent-it-i-guess-in-a/) [King Krule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/king-krule/) > [We cant change so why waste time being unhappy about things that will always be exactly what they are meant to be...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-cant-change-so-why-waste-time-being-unhappy-about-things-that-will/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Keep yourself busy with something or the other because a busy person never has the time to be unhappy.!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tufail-mehraj/keep-yourself-busy-with-something-or-the-other-because-a-busy-person/) [Tufail Mehraj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tufail-mehraj/) > [“Life's too short" is repeated often enough to be a cliche, but this time it's true. You don't have enough time to be both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/life-s-too-short-is-repeated-often-enough-to-be-a-cliche-but-this/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [Keep busy at something: a busy person never has time to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/keep-busy-at-something-a-busy-person-never-has-time-to-be-unhappy/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) > [Oh, that was a good time, when I was unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-arnould/oh-that-was-a-good-time-when-i-was-unhappy/) [Sophie Arnould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-arnould/) > [The Greeks said grandly in their tragic phrase, 'Let no one be called happy till his death;' to which I would add, 'Let no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/the-greeks-said-grandly-in-their-tragic-phrase-let-no-one-be-called/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [Life as we know it is fundamentally unsatisfying. I think most folks feel this to be true. They know that a life of aimless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-yates/life-as-we-know-it-is-fundamentally-unsatisfying-i-think-most-folks/) [Michael Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-yates/) > [The first record I made, when I listen to it, I understand. I understand perfectly well why certain musicians were unhappy with me. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-taylor/the-first-record-i-made-when-i-listen-to-it-i-understand-i-understand/) [Cecil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cecil-taylor/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [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/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/) > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was beautiful. He thought he had never seen anything so beautiful in all his life; that, having seen it, he could die content,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mira-grant/it-was-beautiful-he-thought-he-had-never-seen-anything-so-beautiful/) [Mira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mira-grant/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) > [With multiplayer, permanent death, and an ever-changing world to explore and conquer, 'A Valley Without Wind' might be the place you're looking for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-manuel/with-multiplayer-permanent-death-and-an-ever-changing-world-to/) [Rob Manuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-manuel/) > [“What did you see?” she asked gently. His brow furrowed, as if he could not understand the question. Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-w-powers/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. I love life to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuelle-riva/i-love-life-i-love-life-to-death/) [Emmanuelle Riva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuelle-riva/) > [I think when you’re dying you start looking for important things in the corners. You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it entirely accurate?) that I’m unhappy only by moments, by jerks and surges, sporadically, even if such spasms are close together—and the conviction that deep down, in actual fact, I am continually, all the time, unhappy since maman’s death.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roland Barthes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observation-but-is-it-entirely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observation-but-is-it-entirely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f07/roland-barthes-1062_death_i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observat_2950941.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I waver—in the dark—between the observation (but is it entirely accurate?) that I’m unhappy only by moments…” — Roland Barthes", "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": "Roland Barthes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I waver—in the dark—between the observation...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observation-but-is-it-entirely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-waver-in-the-dark-between-the-observation-but-is-it-entirely/#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 } } ] } ```