--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I suppose there were moonless nights and…" description: "\"I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but I remember them all as flooded with the ric..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png" --- # I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with… ![“I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but I remember them all as flooded with the rich indolence of a full moon.” quote by Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png) > “I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but I remember them all as flooded with the rich indolence of a full moon.” [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator recalls moonlit nights, contrasting darkness with the luminous, indulgent glow of a full moon that fills memory. **In simple terms:** Moonlight makes dark nights feel rich and soothing. Key Takeaway Appreciate moments of unexpected beauty. Themes memory nature contrast beauty Mood contemplative poetic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - night walks - writing inspiration - meditation Key Concepts romanticism visual imagery nostalgia Questions to Reflect On - What simple moments have felt richly beautiful? - How does nature influence your mood? A Different Perspective May romanticize nature unrealistically. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Full moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/full-moon/) [Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moon/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silver/) [Sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sky/) [Stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars/) [Stars in the sky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stars-in-the-sky/) [Sun moon and stars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sun-moon-and-stars/) ## Related quotes > [“Moonless nights haunt me. They evoke my once carefree life when I dreamed without doubt to what my future could be. I yearn for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-s-crow/moonless-nights-haunt-me-they-evoke-my-once-carefree-life-when-i/) [H.S. Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-s-crow/) > [“Moonless nights haunt me. They evoke remembrances of a carefree life when I dreamed without doubt to what my future could be. I yearn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-s-crow/moonless-nights-haunt-me-they-evoke-remembrances-of-a-carefree-life/) [H.S. Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-s-crow/) > [The pale stars are gone! For the sun, their swift shepherd, To their folds them compelling, In the depths of the dawn, Hastes, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/the-pale-stars-are-gone-for-the-sun-their-swift-shepherd-to-their/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“The pale stars were sliding into their places. The whispering of the leaves was almost hushed. All about them it was still and shadowy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-howard-dunbar/the-pale-stars-were-sliding-into-their-places-the-whispering-of-the/) Olivia Howard Dunbar > [“The night folded around them with a sweetness and poignancy heightened by the new pale stars that prickled silver fire in the water of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-gedge/the-night-folded-around-them-with-a-sweetness-and-poignancy/) [Pauline Gedge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-gedge/) > [Day was breaking at Plashwater Weir Mill Lock. Stars were yet visible, but there was dull light in the east that was not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/day-was-breaking-at-plashwater-weir-mill-lock-stars-were-yet-visible/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Nights spent on mountains are not to be recommended. Nights where the dark is full of the sounds of dead men trying to climb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/nights-spent-on-mountains-are-not-to-be-recommended-nights-where-the/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-he-woke-in-the-woods-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-of-the-night-he-d/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [That night was a dark day. Of course, all nights are dark days, because night is simply a badly lit version of day, ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-night-was-a-dark-day-of-course-all-nights-are-dark-days-because/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nights-dark-beyond-darkness-and-the-days-more-gray-each-one-than-what/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one that what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nights-dark-beyond-darkness-and-the-days-more-gray-each-one-that-what/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [“People used to say that on moonless nights Her Ladyship's broad-skirted scarlet trousers would glide eerily along the outdoor corridor, never touching the floor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ry-nosuke-akutagawa/people-used-to-say-that-on-moonless-nights-her-ladyship-s-broad/) [Ryūnosuke Akutagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ry-nosuke-akutagawa/) > [“On moonless nights in haunted hollow The tongues of beasts, men's blood do swallow Shape shifting shadows that soon will fade Leaving lifeless husks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-leckman/on-moonless-nights-in-haunted-hollow-the-tongues-of-beasts-men-s/) [Neil Leckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-leckman/) > [“On silent moonless nights, I don't feel lonely! I have my greatest friends - my books for company!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/on-silent-moonless-nights-i-don-t-feel-lonely-i-have-my-greatest/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) > [Sometimes, they say, the moon is so busy with the new souls of the world that it disappears from the sky. That is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sometimes-they-say-the-moon-is-so-busy-with-the-new-souls-of-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) ## More by Willa Cather > [The end is nothing; the road is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-end-is-nothing-the-road-is-all/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/of-all-the-bewildering-things-about-a-new-country-the-absence-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Success is less interesting than struggle. There is great pleasure in the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/success-is-less-interesting-than-struggle-there-is-great-pleasure-in/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“I only knew the schoolbooks said he "died in the wilderness, of a broken heart." "More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-only-knew-the-schoolbooks-said-he-died-in-the-wilderness-of-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Have the last word ma'm," he said cheerfully. "It's a lady's privilege.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/have-the-last-word-ma-m-he-said-cheerfully-it-s-a-lady-s-privilege/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > ["More than him has done that," said Antonia sadly, and the girls murmured assent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/more-than-him-has-done-that-said-antonia-sadly-and-the-girls-murmured/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Nothing mattered ... but writing books, and living the kind of life that made it possible to write them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/nothing-mattered-but-writing-books-and-living-the-kind-of-life-that/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Money and office and success are the consolations of impotence. Fortune turns kind to such solid people and lets them suck their bone in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/money-and-office-and-success-are-the-consolations-of-impotence/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [But she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/but-she-still-had-that-something-which-fires-the-imagination-could/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“You remember how homesick I used to get, and what long talks we used to have coming from school? We've someway always felt alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/you-remember-how-homesick-i-used-to-get-and-what-long-talks-we-used/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“He placed this book in my grandmother's hands, looked at her entreatingly, and said, with an earnestness which I shall never forget, "Te-e-ach, te-e-ach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/he-placed-this-book-in-my-grandmother-s-hands-looked-at-her/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [The sincerity of feeling that is possible between a writer and a reader is one of the finest things I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/the-sincerity-of-feeling-that-is-possible-between-a-writer-and-a/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/our-tree-became-the-talking-tree-of-the-fairy-tale-legends-and/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [“Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/isn-t-it-queer-there-are-only-two-or-three-human-stories-and-they-go/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) [Explore all 434 Willa Cather quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) ## More Dark quotes > [Crony capitalism is essentially a condition in which... public officials are giving favours to people in the private sector in payment of political favours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/crony-capitalism-is-essentially-a-condition-in-which-public-officials/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [“I could see her will leaving and death seeping through her skin to skewer her soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/i-could-see-her-will-leaving-and-death-seeping-through-her-skin-to/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-zimmerman/the-soul-wanders-in-the-dark-until-it-finds-love-and-so-wherever-our/) [Mary Zimmerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-zimmerman/) > [“Men circle like bees around honey, buzzing to communicate their sexual despair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-h-krueger/men-circle-like-bees-around-honey-buzzing-to-communicate-their-sexual/) [Carla H Krueger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-h-krueger/) > [All comedy comes from a dark place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katt-williams/all-comedy-comes-from-a-dark-place/) [Katt Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katt-williams/) > [It's a really dark, emotionally wrenching world that we've created on 'The Walking Dead.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/it-s-a-really-dark-emotionally-wrenching-world-that-we-ve-created-on/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [I get afraid of the dark if I'm in a great deal of dark, and I have to move around inside of that fear...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-ferris/i-get-afraid-of-the-dark-if-i-m-in-a-great-deal-of-dark-and-i-have-to/) [Emil Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-ferris/) > [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/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Let death bless me with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-death-bless-me-with-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“what do you call/that space between the dark geographies of sex?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethaway/what-do-you-call-that-space-between-the-dark-geographies-of-sex/) Natasha Trethaway > [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 > [Even in the dark your shadow is like a guide to me! you are my rising sun that brings forth hope just as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkemjika-linus/even-in-the-dark-your-shadow-is-like-a-guide-to-me-you-are-my-rising/) [Nkemjika Linus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkemjika-linus/) [Browse all 10,198 Dark quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but I remember them all as flooded with the rich indolence of a full moon.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Willa Cather" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and-dark-ones-with-but-a-silver/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dark" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and-dark-ones-with-but-a-silver/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/279/willa-cather-634_dark_i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and_357969.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I suppose there were moonless nights and dark ones with but a silver shaving and pale stars in the sky, but…” — Willa Cather", "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": "Willa Cather", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I suppose there were moonless nights...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and-dark-ones-with-but-a-silver/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/i-suppose-there-were-moonless-nights-and-dark-ones-with-but-a-silver/#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 } } ] } ```