Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination

Even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination, and that such illumination may well come less from theories and concepts than from the uncertain, flickering, and often weak light that some men and women, in their lives and their works will kindle under all circumstances and shed over the time span that was given them on earth.

Hannah Arendt, Foreword to Men in Dark Times