--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If anything is horrible, if there is a…" description: "\"“If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that surpasses our worst dreams, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be in full possession of manly..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg" --- # If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that… ![“If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that surpasses our worst dreams, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be in full possession of manly vigor, to have health and joy, to laugh heartily, to rush toward a glory that lures you on, to feel lungs that breathe, a heart that beats, a mind…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg) > ““If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that surpasses our worst dreams, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be in full possession of manly vigor, to have health and joy, to laugh heartily, to rush toward a glory that lures you on, to feel lungs that breathe, a heart that beats, a mind that thinks, to speak, to hope, to love; to have mother, wife, children, to have sunlight, and suddenly, in less time than it takes to cry out, to plunge into an abyss, to fall, to roll, to crush, to be crushed, to see the heads of grain, the flowers, the leaves, the branches, unable to catch hold of anything, to feel your sword useless, men under you, horses over you, to struggle in vain, your bones broken by some kick in the darkness, to feel a heel gouging your eyes out of their sockets, raging at the horseshoe between your teeth, to stifle, to howl, to twist, to be under all this, and to say, ‘Just then I was a living man!”” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life’s vivid experiences—joy, love, struggle—are fleeting, yet they define our humanity. **In simple terms:** Life is a mix of highs and lows that shape us. Key Takeaway Embrace each moment fully. Themes life joy struggle humanity Mood reflective poetic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - celebrating milestones - coping with loss - mindful living - creative expression Key Concepts existentialism impermanence resilience Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning in hardship? - What simple pleasures ground you? A Different Perspective The passage can romanticize suffering, overlooking practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-feel-491497/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Horrible Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-reality-3104102/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Surpasses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-surpasses-2402676/) [Ur Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ur-eyes/) ## Related quotes > [“If anything is terrifying, if there is a reality that surpasses dream, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-anything-is-terrifying-if-there-is-a-reality-that-surpasses-dream/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“If there is anything terrible, if there exists a reality which surpasses dreams, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-there-is-anything-terrible-if-there-exists-a-reality-which/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [You'd assume I was being bullied a tonne at school and it was horrible, but in reality, I really was getting bullied everywhere else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizzie-velasquez/you-d-assume-i-was-being-bullied-a-tonne-at-school-and-it-was/) [Lizzie Velasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizzie-velasquez/) > [“My hopes for a relationship with her were wholly unreal, whereas my ongoing misery, and frustration, were an all-too-horrible reality. Was groundless, hopeless romantic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-tartt/my-hopes-for-a-relationship-with-her-were-wholly-unreal-whereas-my/) [Donna Tartt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-tartt/) > [The new light above my table is a great improvement. With all this darkness around me I feel less alone. (Pause.) In a way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/the-new-light-above-my-table-is-a-great-improvement-with-all-this/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [“I look into the mirror and i see nothing, only in darkness i feel myself, only in silence i hear myself. I have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neymat-khan/i-look-into-the-mirror-and-i-see-nothing-only-in-darkness-i-feel/) [Neymat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neymat-khan/) > [Reality surpasses imagination; and we see, breathing, brightening, and moving before our eyes sights dearer to our hearts than any we ever beheld in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/reality-surpasses-imagination-and-we-see-breathing-brightening-and/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [“Just as I felt the warmth of darkness, I could feel the cool breeze of divnity ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-day/just-as-i-felt-the-warmth-of-darkness-i-could-feel-the-cool-breeze-of/) [Kristen Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-day/) > [Oh darkness, I feel like letting go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-mclachlan/oh-darkness-i-feel-like-letting-go/) [Sarah McLachlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-mclachlan/) > [“She lay in darkness so thick she could feel its pressure all around her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mather-parker/she-lay-in-darkness-so-thick-she-could-feel-its-pressure-all-around/) [Patricia Mather Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mather-parker/) > [For now everything just seems so right, how do you make the darkness feel so bright.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-cole/for-now-everything-just-seems-so-right-how-do-you-make-the-darkness/) [J Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-cole/) > [We must first peer into the darkness, feel strangled and entombed in the hopelessness of living without God, before we are ready to feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/we-must-first-peer-into-the-darkness-feel-strangled-and-entombed-in/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [“Fortunately there is gin, the sole glimmer in this darkness. Do you feel the golden, copper-coloured light it kindles in you? I like walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/fortunately-there-is-gin-the-sole-glimmer-in-this-darkness-do-you/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I think that you have to experience darkness to feel empathy. For all of my failings - and I have many - I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/i-think-that-you-have-to-experience-darkness-to-feel-empathy-for-all/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [The light. The light is so bright that all that remains is you and the darkness. You can feel the audience breathing. It's like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/the-light-the-light-is-so-bright-that-all-that-remains-is-you-and-the/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## 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": "“If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that surpasses our worst dreams, it is this: to live, to see the sun, to be in full possession of manly vigor, to have health and joy, to laugh heartily, to rush toward a glory that lures you on, to feel lungs that breathe, a heart that beats, a mind that thinks, to speak, to hope, to love; to have mother, wife, children, to have sunlight, and suddenly, in less time than it takes to cry out, to plunge into an abyss, to fall, to roll, to crush, to be crushed, to see the heads of grain, the flowers, the leaves, the branches, unable to catch hold of anything, to feel your sword useless, men under you, horses over you, to struggle in vain, your bones broken by some kick in the darkness, to feel a heel gouging your eyes out of their sockets, raging at the horseshoe between your teeth, to stifle, to howl, to twist, to be under all this, and to say, ‘Just then I was a living man!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Victor Hugo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-reality-that-surpasses-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-reality-that-surpasses-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0bc/victor-hugo-32_darkness_if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-re_807905.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If anything is horrible, if there is a reality that surpasses our worst dreams, it is this: to live, to see…” — Victor Hugo", "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": "Victor Hugo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If anything is horrible, if there...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-reality-that-surpasses-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/if-anything-is-horrible-if-there-is-a-reality-that-surpasses-our/#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 } } ] } ```