Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.

The line suggests that suffering, doubt, or periods of “darkness” can deepen one’s capacity for gratitude, joy, and moral clarity—“light” becomes meaningful not as an abstract ideal but as something recognized through contrast and experience. It frames hardship as potentially formative rather than merely destructive: encountering fear, grief, or failure can enlarge empathy and sharpen perception of what is good. The wording (“Maybe”) keeps the claim tentative, acknowledging that darkness is not inherently valuable, yet proposing that it can become a condition for appreciation and growth when integrated into one’s understanding of life.