Darkness isn’t just about what happens when the sun dips below the horizon; it’s something we all go through from time to time. Darkness can mean struggles, doubts, or times when you’re just not sure what’s next.
But here’s the surprising part—there’s a unique kind of beauty in darkness.
Sometimes, in those quiet, still moments, we find parts of ourselves we didn’t know were there. Strength, resilience, and a new kind of clarity have a way of showing up when the lights are low.
This collection of 100+ quotes delves into all sides of darkness, from the tough times to the glimmers of hope that peek through. So if you’re here to find comfort, a bit of perspective, or just words that feel real, you’re in the right place.
Table of Contents
Best Darkness Quotes
- “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” — Francis Bacon
- “Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.” — Carl Jung
- “The darker the night, the brighter the stars.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
- “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle

- “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — The Bible, John 1:5
- “The darkness declares the glory of light.” — T.S. Eliot
- “The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.” — Pliny the Elder
- “The shadow is the greatest teacher for how to come to the light.” — Ram Dass
- “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it.” — Brené Brown
- “The nearer the dawn, the darker the night.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- “Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness.” — Yousuf Karsh
- “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

- “Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.” — Mark Twain
- “She wears strength and darkness equally well,
The girl has always been half goddess, half hell”
― Nikita Gill - “Sometimes there is no darker place than our thoughts, the moonless midnight of the mind.” — Dean Koontz
- “If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” — C. S. Lewis
- “Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.” — Erica Jong
Quotes About Darkness and Light
- “There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and you are one of the lights, the light of all lights.” — Bram Stoker
- “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” — Desmond Tutu
- “The only way to get rid of darkness is to add more light.” — Dolly Parton
- “In the midst of darkness, light persists.” — Mahatma Gandhi
- “To see a candle’s light, one must take it into a dark place.” — Ursula K. Le Guin
- “We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in.” — Ernest Hemingway
- “There is no light without shadow, just as there is no happiness without pain.” — Isabel Allende

- “Light thinks it travels faster than anything, but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.” — Terry Pratchett
- “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” — Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
- “If light is in your heart, you will find your way home. Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames. Dance until you shatter yourself.” — Rumi
- “In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light.” — Kami Garcia, Beautiful Darkness
- “The light must always reach into the darkness.” — Charles de Lint
- “There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
- “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” — Madeleine L’Engle

- “Too much of anything could destroy you, Simon thought. Too much darkness could kill, but too much light could blind.” ― Cassandra Clare
- “Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.” ― Kamand Kojouri
- “After a lifetime of darkness, I want to leave something behind that is made of light.” ― Marie Lu
- “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.” — Walt Whitman
- “The dark and the light, they exist side by side. Sometimes overlapping, one explaining the other. The darkened path is as illuminated as the lightened…” — Raven Davies
Inspirational Darkness Quotes
- “All great beginnings start in the dark, when the moon greets you to a new day at midnight.” ― Shannon L. Alder
- “The sun does not abandon the moon to darkness.” — Brian A. McBride
- “The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.” — Morris Mandel
- “Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.” — Rabindranath Tagore
- “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen
- “There is no darkness so dense, so menacing, or so difficult that it cannot be overcome by light.” — Vern P. Stanfill
- “I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” — Og Mandino

- “Sometimes, it’s in the darkest places that we find the brightest light within ourselves.”
- “Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” ― Mary Oliver
- “I wonder if that’s how darkness wins, by convincing us to trap it inside ourselves, instead of emptying it out. I don’t want it to win.” ― Jasmine Warga
- “You must learn to be strong in the dark as well as in the day, else you will always be only half brave.” ― George MacDonald
- “But hope is no less realistic than despair. It is still our choice whether to live in light or lie down in darkness.” ― Rick Yancey
- “When the darkness comes, keep an eye on the light – whatever that is for you—no matter how far away it seems.” — Jan Berry
- “There is something in even the darkest situations that we can make a positive in our lives.” — Deborah Norville

- “I guess darkness serves a purpose: to show us that there is redemption through chaos. I believe in that. I think that’s the basis of Greek mythology.” — Brendan Fraser
- “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” — Corrie Ten Boom
- “In complete darkness we are all the same, it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us, don’t let your eyes deceive you.” — Janet Jackson
- “The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” — Agnes de Mille
- “Don’t fight darkness—bring the light, and darkness will disappear.” — Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
- “However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.” — Stanley Kubrick
Short Darkness Quotes
- “There is no darkness but ignorance.” — William Shakespeare
- “Character is what a man is in the dark.” — Dwight L. Moody
- “Stars can’t shine without darkness.” — D.H. Sidebottom
- “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”
- “It is always darkest just before the dawn.” — Thomas Fuller
- “Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” — Maori Proverb
- “Even a small star shines in the darkness.” — Finnish Proverb

- “To fight evil, you have to understand the dark.” ― Nalini Singh
- “Go with your fate, but not beyond. Beyond leads to dark places.” — Mary Renault
- “There is nothing in the dark that isn’t there when the lights are on.” — Rod Serling
- “Life is one long struggle in the dark.” — Lucretius
- “Flowers grow out of dark moments.” — Corita Kent
- “You can’t study the darkness by flooding it with light.” — Edward Abbey
- “You can’t have a light without a dark to stick it in.” — Arlo Guthrie
Darkness Quotes About Life
- “Life isn’t just about darkness or light, rather it’s about finding light within the darkness.” — Landon Parham
- “Blemishes are hid by night and every fault forgiven; darkness makes any woman fair.” — Ovid
- “The dark moments of our life will last only so long as is necessary for God to accomplish His purpose in us.” — Charles Stanley
- “Every life has dark pages; it’s up to us to read between the lines and find the hidden light.”
- “You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.” — Shaun Hick

- “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- “When darkness comes, let us not condemn the dark, but light a lamp to illuminate it.”
- “Some things can only be seen in the shadows.” — Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
- “The darkness of life can be a guide if we allow it to teach us.”
- “No matter how dark the moment, love and hope are always possible.” — George Chakiris
- “There are times when the world feels dark, but that’s when we must shine our light the brightest.”
- “Life is a journey through the dark places where we find the brightest truths.”
- “Without darkness, nothing comes to birth, as without light, nothing flowers.” — May Sarton
- “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.” — Helen Keller

- “The rising sun can dispel the darkness of night, but it cannot banish the blackness of malice, hatred, bigotry, and selfishness from the hearts of humanity.” — David O. McKay
- “Human knowledge is dark and uncertain; philosophy is dark, astrology is dark, and geometry is dark.” — John Jewel
- “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.” — Dante Alighieri
- “If no pain, then no love. If no darkness, no light. If no risk, then no reward. It’s all or nothing. In this damn world, it’s all or nothing.” — Glennon Doyle Melton
- “Rain symbolizes darkness but also represents an essential part of rebirth.” — Sabrina Claudio
- “There is no such thing as darkness; only a failure to see.” — Malcolm Muggeridge
- “Most of us are imprisoned by something. We’re living in darkness until something flips on the switch.” — Wynonna Judd
Beauty in Darkness Quotes
- “There is something beautiful about being able to see the beauty in the darkest moments of life.”
- “Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.” — Junichiro Tanizaki
- “People are like stained – glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
- “I actually think sadness and darkness can be very beautiful and healing.” — Duncan Sheik

- “In the midst of darkness, there is beauty, waiting patiently for those who dare to see.”
- “Sometimes we need the fog to remind ourselves that all of life is not black and white.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
- “The darkness has its own beauty, like the moon and the stars, unseen in daylight.”
- “There is something beautiful about seeing light through the cracks of darkness.”
- “Darkness need not be feared; it’s where we find the mysteries and beauty that the light conceals.”
- “I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
- “We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it.” — Saul Alinsky
- “Even in your darkest moments, you’ll think of something that’ll crack you up.” — Brad Paisley
Final Thoughts
Darkness is something we all experience, but it doesn’t have to be a place of fear or despair. Sometimes, it’s where we find our strength, a new perspective, or even a gentle reminder that light is always nearby, even if it feels out of reach.
If these words brought you even a little bit of peace or clarity, then they’ve served their purpose. Remember, light finds its way, often when we least expect it.