Thought, Light and Darkness

“We speak of the sun’s light as 'pouring down on us,' as 'pouring over us' in all directions. Yet it’s never poured out. Because it doesn’t really pour; it extends. Its beams (ἀκτῖνες) get their name from their extension (ἐκτείνεσθαι). To see the nature of a sunbeam, look at light as it falls through a narrow opening into a dark room. It extends in a straight line, striking any solid object that stands in its way and blocks the space beyond it. There it remains—not vanishing, or falling away.

That’s what the outpouring—the diffusion—of thought should be like: not emptied out, but extended. And not striking at obstacles with fury and violence, or falling away before them, but holding its ground and illuminating what receives it. What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.” 

(Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.57)