Where does this quote come from?

April 18, 2008 5:54 AM

"The soul perishes not of dark, but of cold." - Where does this quote come from?

"The soul perishes not of dark
But of cold.
The soul in deep distress
Seeks not light but warmth,
Not counsel but understanding."

I've come across this phrase (verse?) a couple of times, generally as the opening profundity on a sappy fanfic story. But where does it come from originally? The only other references I can find when searching individual lines on Google are christian apologetics and sermons regarding Job's three comforters. But the oldest of these is from 2006, and the fanfic where I encountered it first was uploaded in 1999, so the sermons can't be the source. Any ideas?

posted by talitha_kumi to media & arts (3 comments total)

The concept, if not the original quote is seen in Fassbinder's Fear Eats the Soul
posted by acro at 6:08 AM on April 18

This article has it attributed to Paul Scherer. Possibly this guy?
posted by EarBucket at 8:56 AM on April 18

I think Paul Scherer is probably right. The quote comes up in a google book search as being in The Interpreter's Bible edited by George Buttrick (1952). Unfortunately, it's one of those books in Google Books that doesn't display any of the text.

There is a section in The Interpreter's Bible by Paul Scherer. If you found a copy of the book in a library and looked up the commentary on Job by Paul Scherer, I'd bet the quote is there. A lot of academic libraries have it, just not mine so I can't help you out.
posted by interplanetjanet at 1:41 PM on April 18