I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Dying for dark — and the darker the Worse. Strange.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that the experience of suffering can intensify in its darkness and complexity, leading to a deeper contemplation of existence.
In this quote, Samuel Beckett explores the profound depths of human suffering and darkness. The notion of 'dying for dark' implies a certain inevitability of confronting despair, while 'the darker the worse' underscores that these experiences can often become increasingly complex and heavy, challenging one's understanding and acceptance of life itself. It reflects a philosophy of existential inquiry, inviting us to engage with the darker aspects of our existence rather than shy away from them.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of life and mental health.
More from Samuel Beckett
All quotes →Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
Similar quotes
If Christians should vote their duty to God at the polls, they would carry every election, and do it with ease. They would elect every clean candidate in the United States, and defeat every soiled one. Their prodigious power would be quickly realized and recognized, and afterward there would be no unclean candidates upon any ticket, and graft would cease.
The thing that moves us to pride or shame is not the mere mechanical reflection of ourselves but the imagined effect of this reflection upon another's mind.
I think 'The Act of Killing' forced people to look at the problem, but the problem is actually a state run by thugs, or a shadow state, a part of the state that's run by thugs, and a military that enjoys complete legal - not just impunity, but immunity.
Bizarre and engrossingly disturbing, Naked Lunch, finds truth in madness.
Live simply so that others may simply live.
Freedom is the power to create out of nothing, the power of the spirit to create out of itself.