--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was a brilliant flash of white…" description: "\"“There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow Daddy but his clothes.”\" — Stephen King" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg" --- # There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four… ![“There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow Daddy but his clothes.” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg) > ““There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow Daddy but his clothes.”” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A sudden, brilliant flash precedes a swift, total loss, symbolizing abrupt endings and the fragility of life. **In simple terms:** A bright flash is followed by complete darkness. Key Takeaway Accept impermanence and cherish moments. Themes mortality change impermanence Mood somber reflective Type narrative dramatic When to use this quote - grief - personal loss - creative projects Key Concepts existentialism sudden loss Questions to Reflect On - How do you prepare for sudden change? - What does the flash represent to you? A Different Perspective Life can end unexpectedly despite brilliance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crow/) [Crow Daddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crow-daddy-2094452/) [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Flash White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flash-white-2094453/) [White Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-darkness-1581845/) ## Related quotes > [“The effort mined a core of dizziness inside him. He resisted it, but then realizing that there was nothing attractive about consciousness, nothing he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-shepard/the-effort-mined-a-core-of-dizziness-inside-him-he-resisted-it-but/) [Lucius Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-shepard/) > [“We didn't need to talk. We just laid there watching falling stars go streaking white through all that darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryn-greenwood/we-didn-t-need-to-talk-we-just-laid-there-watching-falling-stars-go/) [Bryn Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryn-greenwood/) > [“If the world was black and white then darkness would have never mind , the night would have never cried and the day would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskan-bhatia/if-the-world-was-black-and-white-then-darkness-would-have-never-mind/) [muskan bhatia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskan-bhatia/) > [“Damn it," I said. "I don't suppose you have any ideas on how to kill Littleton." He smiled at me, his teeth very white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/damn-it-i-said-i-don-t-suppose-you-have-any-ideas-on-how-to-kill-2/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [If you want to please me very much, you will fall down when I shoot you," -Oates The White Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geraldine-mccaughrean/if-you-want-to-please-me-very-much-you-will-fall-down-when-i-shoot/) [Geraldine McCaughrean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geraldine-mccaughrean/) > [Kingsley smiled his Cheshire smile. And without a word, he called up the white darkness—the subvertio—a spell that unlocked what could not be unlocked,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-de-la-cruz/kingsley-smiled-his-cheshire-smile-and-without-a-word-he-called-up/) [Melissa de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-de-la-cruz/) > [I think we'd all like to believe that after we shuffle off this mortal coil, that there's going to be something on the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-we-d-all-like-to-believe-that-after-we-shuffle-off-this/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It's a matter of how the bullpen looks as to whether Bell goes in there or Crow goes in there. Bell won't be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-graham/it-s-a-matter-of-how-the-bullpen-looks-as-to-whether-bell-goes-in/) [Wayne Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-graham/) > [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/) [Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/) [John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/) > [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/) [Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/) > [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/) [Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/) > [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) ## More by Stephen King > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/october-3-2017-the-clown-hagarty-said-looked-like-a-cross-between/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-hurt-of-course-but-more-often-than-not-the-best-things-do-i-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... Creative people probably do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west blask-satin thunderheads continued to stack up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-sun-had-burned-through-and-the-day-had-gone-from-dull-to-dazzling/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Flakes of snow swirled and danced across the porch. The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/flakes-of-snow-swirled-and-danced-across-the-porch-the-overlook-faced/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/who-gets-to-be-best-liked-in-any-community-who-is-the-most-trusted/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“¿Lo ves, tonto? Volvió a regañarse. Tú lo inventaste todo, gato asustado. No fue más que tu imaginación, gato asustado, gato asustado... No te…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/lo-ves-tonto-volvi-a-rega-arse-t-lo-inventaste-todo-gato-asustado-no/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Death . . . but not for you. That was what Walter, clever as Satan even at the end, had said. A lawyer’s answer . . . so close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/death-but-not-for-you-that-was-what-walter-clever-as-satan-even-at/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Climb aboard, Jonesy. I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Crow quotes > [“That fucking crow-bodied thing had won. How gleeful it was now. All because he'd wanted to live, forget genius and destiny, and simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/that-fucking-crow-bodied-thing-had-won-how-gleeful-it-was-now-all/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [“I pull his hand up to my chest. "It's okay. Some of my best friends are in the mob. It must be really tough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorge-leedy/i-pull-his-hand-up-to-my-chest-it-s-okay-some-of-my-best-friends-are/) [Giorge Leedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorge-leedy/) > [Here the crow starves, here the patient stag Breeds for the rifle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-stearns-eliot/here-the-crow-starves-here-the-patient-stag-breeds-for-the-rifle/) [Thomas Stearns Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-stearns-eliot/) > [The welfare state has done to Black Americans what slavery (and Jim Crow and racism) could not have done. . .break up the black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stossel/the-welfare-state-has-done-to-black-americans-what-slavery-and-jim/) [John Stossel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stossel/) > [Crows pick out the eyes of the dead, when the dead have no longer need of them; but flatterers mar the soul of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/crows-pick-out-the-eyes-of-the-dead-when-the-dead-have-no-longer-need/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Since the nations founding, African Americans repeatedly have been controlled through institutions such as slavery and Jim Crow, which appear to die but then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/since-the-nations-founding-african-americans-repeatedly-have-been/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [“music puts me in touch with life's energy and death still hanging like an old crow on the vines of my mind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanna-abi-akl/music-puts-me-in-touch-with-life-s-energy-and-death-still-hanging/) [Hanna Abi Akl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanna-abi-akl/) > [It's a matter of how the bullpen looks as to whether Bell goes in there or Crow goes in there. Bell won't be ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-graham/it-s-a-matter-of-how-the-bullpen-looks-as-to-whether-bell-goes-in/) [Wayne Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-graham/) > [I've always been a really really big Sheryl Crow fan. I just respect what she does in a way that she just remains true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-voegele/i-ve-always-been-a-really-really-big-sheryl-crow-fan-i-just-respect/) [Kate Voegele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-voegele/) > [I went from an unemployed actor's life to doing stand-up comedy, and that was fortuitous. It's not the usual way the crow flies, going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-tate/i-went-from-an-unemployed-actor-s-life-to-doing-stand-up-comedy-and/) [Catherine Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-tate/) > [You cannot be responsible for Jim Crow. You can not be responsible for racism. This is much more a problem for the person exercising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/you-cannot-be-responsible-for-jim-crow-you-can-not-be-responsible-for/) [Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [You know, all is development. The principle is perpetually going on. First, there was nothing, then there was something; then-I forget the next-I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/you-know-all-is-development-the-principle-is-perpetually-going-on/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [I submit my tongue as an instrument of righteousness when I make it bless them that curse me and pray for them who persecute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/i-submit-my-tongue-as-an-instrument-of-righteousness-when-i-make-it/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [She stood looking carefully at the labeled portraits Ursala had put up: Little Crow, Chief of the Santees, Geronimo, last of the Apaches, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-ibbotson/she-stood-looking-carefully-at-the-labeled-portraits-ursala-had-put/) [Eva Ibbotson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-ibbotson/) [Browse all 426 Crow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crow/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow Daddy but his clothes.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen King" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-then-darkness-four-seconds-later/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Crow" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-then-darkness-four-seconds-later/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/stephen-king-13_darkness_there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-the_998777.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There was a brilliant flash of white, then darkness. Four seconds later, there was nothing left of Crow…” — Stephen King", "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": "Stephen King", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There was a brilliant flash of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-then-darkness-four-seconds-later/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-was-a-brilliant-flash-of-white-then-darkness-four-seconds-later/#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 } } ] } ```