Q0277
“Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect…” — Hannah Arendt (Men in Dark Times)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: Men in Dark Times. Theme: time.
English
Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to Men in Dark Times and files it under Political Phenomenology. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) was a German-Jewish political theorist who fled Nazism and wrote in the United States in English and German. A student of Heidegger and Jaspers, she refused the label “philosopher” yet produced lasting works on totalitarianism, revolution, and the vita activa.
How to read this passage
Is time a river, a dimension, or a structure of consciousness? Augustine, Bergson, and modern metaphysics offer rival pictures while ethics asks how finite time should be spent. This passage enters that discussion through time.
Concepts in this quote
- Time
- Philosophy of time asks what tense and duration are—and how memory, death, and history shape a human life.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Hannah Arendt. (n.d.). Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0277
MLA: Hannah Arendt. “Even in the darkest of times we have….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0277.
Chicago: Hannah Arendt. “Even in the darkest of times we have….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0277.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Even in the darkest of times we have…”?
The passage is attributed to Hannah Arendt, Men in Dark Times. The archive attributes this English wording to Men in Dark Times and files it under Political Phenomenology. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Hannah Arendt mean by time?
Is time a river, a dimension, or a structure of consciousness? Augustine, Bergson, and modern metaphysics offer rival pictures while ethics asks how finite time should be spent. This passage enters that discussion through time.