145 Suffering Quotes: Finding Light in the Darkness

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A collection of suffering quotes from thinkers throughout history, curated to serve as one’s companion in moments of grief.

Suffering is an inherent part of being human, and yet it is an experience that can make one feel utterly alone. When in the midst of hardship, we often find it difficult to come up with the words to describe what is happening, or to make sense of the pain. The following collection of suffering quotes is meant exactly for such moments. Rather than easy fixes or simple cures, these wise words offer something much deeper: perspective, the comfort of a shared experience, and the reassurance that others have walked the same path.

They are a reminder that it is possible, even in difficult times, to find a new way of seeing.

Highlights

  • The list below examines the multifaceted nature of suffering, from its place as an inevitable part of life to its complex relationship with love, loss, evil, and compassion.
  • These wise words from philosophers, survivors, and spiritual teachers are meant to offer a source of comfort, a tool for reframing pain, and a reminder of the resilience of the human spirit.

Short Suffering Quotes

  1. You suffer because you expect.

    Maxime Lagacé

Our minds’ tendency is to live in a future of our own design. When reality unfolds differently, the gap between what we wanted and what we have becomes a source of great pain.

Letting go of rigid expectations does not mean giving up; it only allows us to open ourselves up to life as it truly is.

you suffer because you expect

  1. Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

    Haruki Murakami

Life will inevitably present us with pain – loss, hardship, and heartache are part of the human experience. Suffering, however, is the story we weave around that pain. It is our resistance, bitterness, and our narrative of victimhood. The space between the event and our reaction to it holds the key to freedom.

suffering is optional

  1. This too shall pass.

    Persian Proverb

In moments of anguish, these words are a gentle reminder that no state is forever. Like clouds across the sky, our sorrows will shift and change.

this too shall pass

  1. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.

    Rumi

Many of us try to hide our scars, seeing them as proof of brokenness. Yet, it is through these very cracks that empathy, wisdom, and grace may finally find a way in.

quotes to heal sadness

  1. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

    Friedrich Nietzsche

Hardship has a way of stripping away the non-essential, revealing a type of strength we never knew we possessed. To endure a great trial and survive is to be fundamentally changed – i.e. having one’s weaknesses burned away and, in the process, discovering a newfound resilient character.

what does not kill you makes you stronger

  1. Fall down seven times, stand up eight.

    Japanese Proverb

The path through life is not about avoiding the fall; it is about the resolve to rise again, quiet and determined.

fall seven times stand up eight

Best quote about suffering

Life is Suffering Quotes

  1. Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.

    James Baldwin

The same cosmic clockwork that gives us the wonder of a sunrise also guarantees its end. That said, acknowledging this tragic frame doesn’t diminish life’s value; it makes every moment, every connection, exquisitely precious.

life is tragic

  1. Life is essentially suffering, that this suffering arises from craving, particularly the craving for existence, and that the release from this suffering can only come from the release from blind craving itself.

    Arthur Schopenhauer

A fundamental human restlessness is the constant wanting for something more – more security, more love, more time. This endless striving is a source of discontent. True peace arrives not when all desires are met, but when the frantic grasp for them is understood and released.

life is essentially suffering

Quotes about suffering in life

  1. It’s a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering. There’s no escaping that.

    Stephen Colbert

To be alive is to receive an incredible, paradoxical gift. The price of admission for experiencing joy, love, and beauty is the acceptance of an equal capacity for loss, heartbreak, and pain. One simply cannot exist without the other; they are two sides of the same coin.

with existence comes suffering

  1. Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself.

    C. S. Lewis

Imagine a world without the possibility of pain. It might seem perfect, yet it would also be one without courage, as there would be no fear to overcome. It would be a world without true compassion, as there would be no sorrow to share. The very things that make life meaningful, therefore, are inseparable from the conditions that allow for suffering.

existence is suffering quotes

Existence is suffering quotes

Quotes about the Absurdity of Suffering

  1. Why do fireflies have to die so soon?

    Setsuko, ‘Grave of the Fireflies’

In an innocent child’s question lies the most significant philosophical challenge to the universe. It is the pure, heartbreaking cry against the senseless loss of beauty and light in the world. An existential question that cuts through all explanation, revealing an absurd reality that feels unjust.

why do fireflies have to die so soon

  1. I pray but I am lost. Am I just praying to silence?

    Sebastian Rodrigues, ‘Silence‘ (2016)

There is a unique and terrifying loneliness in calling out for help and hearing only the echo of one’s own voice. This is the crisis point where faith meets a seemingly indifferent cosmos – and, as a result, is challenged to its core.

i pray but i am lost

  1. I see my face and feel loathing and horror. My indifference to man has shut me out. I live now in a world of ghosts, a prisoner in my dreams.

    Antonius Block, ‘The Seventh Seal’

Sometimes the greatest suffering is not inflicted from the outside, but grows from a hollowness within. When the connection to humanity withers, one becomes a spectator to their own life.

quotes about the absurdity of suffering

  1. Laws of nature do not make exceptions for nice people. A bullet has no conscience; neither does a malignant tumor or an automobile gone out of control. That is why good people get sick and get hurt as much as anyone.

    Harold S. Kushner

The human heart longs for a world that operates on fairness, where goodness is a shield against tragedy. And yet, the truth is that the universe is governed by chance and physics, not morality. Accepting this randomness may be terrifying, but it also frees one from the burden of trying to find a “reason” for senseless pain.

quotes about the absurdity of suffering

Sad Suffering Quotes

  1. Sadness is but a wall between two gardens.

    Kahlil Gibran

Rather than a bottomless pit, sadness is only a temporary state of separation – a shadow cast by the garden of joy that was, and a quiet promise of the garden of peace that may one day be. The pain of the barrier is real, but it is defined by the beauty on either side.

sadness is but a wall between two gardens

  1. No matter how much suffering you went through, you never wanted to let go of those memories.

    Haruki Murakami

There is, indeed, a paradox in grieving. The memories that bring the sharpest sting of loss are typically what one clings to most fiercely. To let go of the pain feels like a betrayal, like letting go of the last tangible piece of what was loved.

suffering memory quotes

  1. I once read the sentence ‘I lay awake all night with a toothache, thinking about the toothache an about lying awake.’ That’s true to life. Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery’s shadow or reflection: the fact that you don’t merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.

    C. S. Lewis

Sorrow is a double wound. First comes the initial blow of the event itself. Then comes the looping torment of a mind that cannot look away from its own misery. It is the awareness of being trapped in grief that creates its own layer of suffering.

famous quote about misery

Famous quote about misery

Read more: 120 Overcoming Sadness Quotes – From Sorrow to Strength

Quotes on Pain and Suffering

  1. Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart.

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

To be aware of the world is to be vulnerable to its sorrows. A mind that sees injustice and a heart that feels the pain of others cannot remain untouched.

pain and suffering are always inevitable

  1. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it.

    J. K. Rowling

While suppression offers temporary relief, it does not erase the problem. True healing requires the courage to sit with the feeling in the moment, rather than letting it fester into a greater misery later on.

sad quotes about pain

Suffering quotes

  1. When pain is unbearable it destroys us; when it does not it is bearable.

    Marcus Aurelius

In the midst of agony, if one is still present to experience it, then by definition, they are much more capable and powerful than they might have thought!

when pain is unbearable

  1. We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.

    Seneca

Finding peace lies in learning to distinguish what is actually happening from what is only feared to be.

we suffer more in imagination than in reality

  1. There’s no hierarchy of pain. Suffering shouldn’t be ranked, because pain is not a contest.

    Lori Gottlieb

There is a common tendency to invalidate a struggle by comparing it to a greater tragedy, to believe that some have “no right” to their pain. This is a second injury inflicted upon the first. Compassion begins with understanding that all pain is valid to the person experiencing it; every heart knows the weight of its own sorrow.

no hierarchy of pain

  1. Pain itself destroys pain. Suffering itself frees man from suffering.

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

The moment one stops resisting their suffering and instead observes it attentively, its grip begins to loosen. The narrative of “suffering” burns away, leaving a newfound sense of freedom.

pain suffering quotes

Painful quotes

Suffer in Silence Quotes

  1. When a man has learned how to remain alone with his suffering, how to overcome his longing to flee, then he has little left to learn.

    Albert Camus

The primal impulse in the face of pain is to seek escape through any available distraction. To quiet that instinct and simply stay with the feeling, without flinching, is in itself an act of self-mastery.

suffer in silence quotes

  1. You’d probably prefer to sit in your little room and cry. Live in your finite collection of memories, carefully polishing each one. Half a life set behind glass and pinned to cardboard like a collection of exotic insects. You’d like to live behind that glass, wouldn’t you?

    Jonathan Nolan

And yet, retreating into sorrow without concrete actions only creates a barrier between an individual and the present. This is the danger of silent suffering: choosing to be a spectator of a life already lived.

silent suffering quotes

Silent suffering quotes

Read more: 50 Push Yourself Quotes to Move Forward

Death and Suffering Quotes

  1. Life is brief
    Fall in love, maiden
    Before the crimson bloom
    Fades from your lips
    Before the tides of passion
    Cool within you
    For those of you
    Who know no tomorrow.

    Kanji Watanabe, ‘Ikiru’ (1952)

The reality of death transforms existence into a series of precious, fleeting moments. It is an urgent plea to embrace life with passion and immediacy, to connect without reservation – before the capacity to do so fades away forever.

gondola no uta

  1. Dying doesn’t mean the end. You go through it and on to the next thing. It’s a gate and as the gatekeeper I’ve sent so many on their way, telling them, ‘Off you go. We’ll meet again.’

    Shokichi, ‘Departures’ (2008)

Death is a doorway through which everyone must travel. Not an annihilation, but an ordered transition – after which something magnificient is awaiting.

dying does not mean the end

  1. If I take death into my life, acknowledge it, and face it squarely, I will free myself from the anxiety of death and the pettiness of life – and only then will I be free to become myself.

    Martin Heidegger

Acknowledging the finitude of life makes it possible to dissolve trivial anxieties. Once the greatest fear is faced, the smaller worries of daily existence lose their power, clearing the space for authentic living.

death suffering quotes

  1. The fear of death is indeed the pretense of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretense of knowing the unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.

    Socrates

What comes after life is a great mystery – something feared by a lot of people. And yet, perhaps the event so universally dreaded is not a guaranteed evil, but rather a neutral passage or even a benevolent release. Who knows?

fear of death is not real wisdom

  1. Since beginningless time I have always been free. Birth and death are only a door through which we go in and out. Birth and death are only a game of hide-and-seek. So smile to me and take my hand and wave good-bye. Tomorrow we shall meet again or even before.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

From a certain viewpoint, individual existence is part of a continuous, eternal flow. “Birth” and “death” are superficial markers, like waves cresting and returning to the ocean. Realizing one’s identity is not the temporary wave but the entire ocean itself is a path to liberation from fear.

quotes about suffering being good

Quotes about suffering being good

Read more: 72 Memento Mori Quotes – Remember You’re Mortal!

Suffering is Personal Quotes

  1. Suffering is a characteristic of life. You can’t take it personally.

    Jordan Peterson

The instinct during hardship is to ask, “Why me?” as if the pain were a targeted punishment or a personal failing. To reframe suffering as an impersonal condition of existence, like weathering a storm, is to find a measure of freedom.

suffering is a characteristic of life

  1. To draw an analogy: a man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the “size” of human suffering is absolutely relative.

    Viktor Frankl

The magnitude of an external event does not determine the intensity of the inner experience; the latter is only a product of personal perception. In other words, we all have the power to alter what’s “in here” and find meaning, even when the external cause of the pain cannot be changed.

suffering is personal quotes

  1. When we suffer we have made it into a personal affair. We shut out all the suffering of mankind.

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

The ego is what causes many of us to forget that sorrow is a universal human thread. Recognizing one’s own pain in the experience of others is essential to breaking the spell of solitude, transforming a personal burden into a shared, compassionate connection.

suffering personal quotes

  1. Comparative suffering has taught me not to discount the importance of having a process to navigate everyday hurts and disappointments. They can shape who we are and how we feel just as much as those things that we consider the big events do.

    Brené Brown

Dismissing smaller pains because “others have it worse” is a form of self-neglect. It is vital to honor and process all emotional wounds, realizing their cumulative power to form who one becomes.

suffering is very personal quotes

Suffering is very personal quotes

Read more: 55 Self-discovery Quotes – Knowing Thyself

Suffering is a Choice Quotes

  1. Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

    Viktor Frankl

Even when all external agency is stripped away, the capacity to choose a response – be it with dignity, courage, or compassion – cannot be extinguished by any circumstances.

suffering is a choice

  1. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

    Marcus Aurelius

Events in the world are in themselves neutral; they simply are. The mind, however, applies a layer of judgment, labeling them “good” or “bad,” “fair” or “unfair.” This interpretation is the real source of distress.

power of choice quote

  1. It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens. It isn’t the things that happen to us in our lives that cause us to suffer, it’s how we relate to the things that happen to us that causes us to suffer.

    Pema Chodron

Suffering arises not from the event, but from the narrative that is told about it – a tale of victimhood, injustice, or despair. The path to freedom lies in becoming aware of this inner author and consciously choosing to write a new, more empowering story.

what causes us to suffer

  1. We create our own unhappiness. The purpose of suffering is to help us understand we are the ones who cause it.

    Willie Nelson

Pain is an alarm that alerts one to a harmful attachment or a false belief. It is an invitation to look inward and discover the source of the “fire”.

we create our own unhappiness

  1. It may look as if the situation is creating the suffering, but ultimately this is not so – your resistance is.

    Eckhart Tolle

Reality is a current, flowing in its own direction. Suffering is the friction and exhaustion that comes from trying to fight that current, from insisting that things should be other than they are. Only by wisely and courageously letting go of the struggle may one know peace.

resistance causes suffering

  1. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame.

    Mark Manson

A life dedicated to evading discomfort creates its own unique prison. Sometimes, the only way to escape the pain of running is to have the courage to face the thing being run from.

avoidance of suffering quote

Suffering is optional quote

Read more: 100 Deep Quotes About Life Choices – Finding Your Path

Confronting & Overcoming Suffering Quotes

  1. The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.

    Thomas Merton

When the primary goal is to prevent being hurt, the world shrinks and the senses become hypersensitive to the slightest disturbance. This fear-driven existence is what creates a state of chronic, low-grade suffering.

confronting suffering quotes

  1. Suffering begins to dissolve when we can question the belief or the hope that there’s anywhere to hide.

    Pema Chodron

When one turns to face reality without the illusion of escape, the energy once used for fleeing may now be reclaimed for presence and healing.

confronting suffering quotes

  1. In the end one needs more courage to live than to kill himself.

    Albert Camus

To wake each morning and consciously decide to face the world’s sorrows and absurdities is in itself an act of courage – one that has the power to eventually drive out despair.

one needs more courage to live

  1. Despite men’s suffering, despite the blood and wrath, despite the dead who can never be replaced, the unjust wounds, and the wild bullets, we must utter, not words of regret, but words of hope, of the dreadful hope of men isolated with their fate.

    Albert Camus

In the face of a world that seems intent on crushing humanity, the act of staring directly into the abyss – being fully aware of the darkness – is not a sign of naive optimism, but a necessary and commendable choice.

quotes about men suffering

Quotes about men suffering

  1. We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.

    Kenji Miyazawa

Pain does not have to be a roadblock; it can be transformed into a source of energy. The challenge is to take the leaden weight of sorrow and transmute it into the driving fuel of determination, creativity, and purpose, allowing it to propel one forward.

  1. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.

    Martin Luther King Jr.

We need to do what is possible, even when it is not ideal. Dignity is not in the grandeur of the leap, but in the persistent act of taking the next small step.

  1. We shouldn’t pray for an easy life, but the strength to endure a difficult one.

    Stuart Long, ‘Father Stu’

To wish for the removal of challenges is to ask for a different reality – which is impossible. What is important is to focus on cultivating the inner resilience needed to face whatever comes.

  1. Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

    Victor Hugo, ‘Les Misérables’

By the laws of nature itself, dawn will eventually break. We simply need to believe and stay awake, no matter how terrible and insufferable the current reality is.

the darkest night will end

  1. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

    Stephen King, ‘The Shawshank Redemption’

Even in the most absolute darkness, hope remains an indestructible part of the human spirit – with which one may survive and thrive.

Hope is a good thing

Read more: 50 Facing Fears Quotes – Unleash the Power Within

Quotes about Suffering and Acceptance

  1. When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.

    Byron Katie

To mentally fight against what has already happened is a futile expenditure of energy. It is like shouting at the tide to turn back; the only result is exhaustion. Acceptance is, therefore, a pragmatic starting point – the most logical choice in a battle that can never be won.

  1. Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

    Morgan Scott Peck

A great deal of frustration arises from the baseline assumption that life should be easy. When every challenge is met with the shock of a violated expectation, the struggle is constant. The moment one admits difficulty as the fundamental nature of existence, the layer of resistance falls away, and a sense of clarity may come in.

  1. We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.

    Martin Luther King Jr.

Acknowledging the reality of a present loss while maintaining faith in a future possibility is the balance that makes resilience possible.

  1. I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.

    Mahatma Gandhi

Many times, suffering is a necessary consequence of a higher commitment – a purposeful burden carried in the service of a greater cause.

i shall conquer untruth by truth

Read more: 45 Inner Peace Quotes – Nourishing the Tranquility Within

Finding Meaning in Suffering Quotes

  1. The events of your past are fixed. The meaning of your past is not.

    James Clear

While the facts of history cannot be altered, the role they play in one’s life story remains open to interpretation. A painful memory can always be reframed from a source of victimhood into the starting point of resilience and compassion.

  1. Suffering is a sign that you’re out of touch with the truth. Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth, that you might understand that there’s falsehood somewhere, just as physical pain is given to you so you will understand that there is disease or illness somewhere.

    Anthony de Mello

The misery of intense jealousy, for instance, is not just about another person; it’s a signal pointing to the false idea that one’s self-worth depends entirely on someone else’s approval. The suffering, therefore, is an invitation to find and fix the underlying untruth.

  1. In some ways suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.

    Viktor Frankl

Consider the physical exhaustion of a grueling task. Endured for no reason, it is simply misery. But if that same exhaustion is part of building a home for one’s family or completing a marathon for a cause, it is transformed. The pain is still real, but the purpose behind it reframes the entire experience into a meaningful and willed sacrifice.

  1. To live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.

    Gordon W. Allport, Foreword to the 1962 edition of ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’

Attaching a “why” to the hardship, no matter how small, provides the essential scaffolding required to carry on – and is the primary antidote to hopelessness.

  1. He who has a “why” to live for can bear almost any “how.”

    Friedrich Nietzsche

When a person has a powerful enough reason, the specific hardships of the journey become costs worth paying. A scientist can endure years of failed experiments (“the how”) because the goal of a breakthrough discovery (“the why”) is so compelling.

a why to live

Suffering quotes

  1. The purpose of life, as far as I can tell, is to find a mode of being that’s so meaningful that the fact that life is suffering is no longer relevant.

    Jordan Peterson

Instead of aiming to eliminate suffering (which is futile), we are encouraged to look for a mission so compelling that the inherent difficulties of life become minor background noise.

  1. Some day, even you will see that there’s sense in this. Your suffering is never for nothing.

    Elisabeth Elliot

In the immediate grip of pain, any search for meaning may feel hollow. And yet, with enough time, we should be able to realize a larger pattern in the chaos – and know that no experience is ever wasted, even if its value is hidden from present view.

  1. He gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered. Those were the best years of his life, ’cause they made him who he was.

    Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Meaning is sometimes only found in the rear-view mirror. From the vantage point of the future, periods of intense struggle are typically revealed as the crucibles where character was forged.

sweet suffering quotes

Sweet suffering quote

Read more: 60 Quotes on the Meaning of Life – Timeless Wisdom for Life Pilgrims

Deep Quotes about Suffering

  1. If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

    Friedrich Nietzsche

To immerse oneself in darkness, whether it is the study of tragedy or the depths of despair, is not a passive act. The experience seeps inward, subtly altering one’s worldview and emotional landscape. What one chooses to confront will eventually become a part of them.

  1. With every increase in the degree of consciousness, and in proportion to that increase, the intensity of despair increases: the more consciousness the more intense the despair.

    Søren Kierkegaard

A simple animal exists without anguish, but a highly aware person is conscious of all the paths not taken and the weight of their own freedom. This heightened awareness of infinite possibilities within a finite life is a direct source of despair.

  1. Man must create his own essence: it is in throwing himself into the world, suffering there, struggling there, that he gradually defines himself.

    Jean-Paul Sartre

One is not born with a fixed character. It is only by engaging with the world – making choices, facing struggles, and enduring the pain that follows – that their identity is forged. Character is the sculpture carved from the raw stone of experience through the chisel of hardship.

  1. You can suffer greatly but still have a great life. You can suffer little and have a meaningless life. Suffering has less to do with it than we think.

    Mark Manson

A good life should not be confused with an easy or happy one. The true measure of a life’s quality is its meaning. A person who endures hardship for a cause they believe in has lived much better than one who drifts through comfort without purpose.

  1. A man who does not understand the benefit of suffering does not live a clever and true life.

    Leo Tolstoy

Just as a muscle needs resistance to grow, the human spirit needs challenges to cultivate wisdom and compassion. To miss the formative power of hardship is to miss the opportunity to live authentically.

  1. You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.

    Jiddu Krishnamurti

A person who seeks only joy and beauty is choosing to experience only a fraction of what it means to be human. To live is to embrace the entire spectrum of existence, including its inevitable sorrows.

you must understand the whole of life

Quotes about Suffering, Change and Impermanence

  1. All conditioned things are impermanent – when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.

    Buddha

Much of what causes anguish is the attempt to treat temporary states – pleasure, health, even life itself – as if they lasted forever. To truly understand that everything is in a constant state of flux is to release the frantic need to hold on. The turning away from suffering is the natural result of seeing things as they actually are.

  1. If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

    Lao Tzu

The act of clinging to moments, people, or possessions is a primary source of anxiety. It is like trying to capture flowing water in a clenched fist. The wisest approach is to open the hand and allow life to move through it; in other words, to participate in its flow without the need to control or possess it.

all things change lao tzu

  1. The reason we are foolish enough to make ourselves suffer and make the other person suffer is that we forget that we and the other person are impermanent. Someday when we die we will lose all our possessions, our power, our family, everything. Our freedom, peace, and joy in the present moment is the most important thing we have.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

The illusion of permanence fuels endless conflicts over things that will ultimately vanish. Remembering that life is fleeting puts arguments and grievances into their proper perspective. In the end, we should prioritize what truly matters: the peace, freedom, and kindness that can be experienced in the present moment.

  1. Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible. Life itself is possible. If a grain of corn is not impermanent, it can never be transformed into a stalk of corn. If the stalk were not impermanent, it could never provide us with the ear of corn we eat.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

Change is not a flaw of the universe; it is the very engine of creation and renewal. It is the principle of change that allows a wound to heal, a seed to grow, and a moment of sorrow to eventually give way to joy. It is the reason for all possibility.

thanks to impermanence everything is possible

Read more: 85 Embracing Change Quotes – Thriving in Transformation

Quotes about Suffering and Healing

  1. Do not apologize for crying. Without this emotion, we are only robots.

    Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat, Pray, Love’

The act of crying is a necessary, healthy release, a confirmation that one is a living being with a heart that can be touched by life. To suppress it is to deny a critical part of the human experience.

  1. There was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer.

    Viktor Frankl

It is easy to become numb or to flee from pain. And yet, the truly brave act is to stay present with one’s own miseries without turning away.

  1. So many of us start along the spiritual path because we are suffering. But you must realize that for real healing to occur, there must first be deep compassion for yourself, especially the parts of yourself you dislike or consider ugly.

    Pema Chodron

There is a common tendency to reject the parts of the self that are wounded or feel weak. However, we need to remember that healing cannot begin in a state of inner war. The first step toward wholeness is to create a space of unconditional welcome, being open precisely to those aspects of one’s being that need it most.

  1. Complaining is okay as long as we piss and moan with a little perspective. Hurt is hurt, and every time we honor our own struggle and the struggles of others by responding with empathy and compassion, the healing that results affects all of us.

    Brené Brown

Giving voice to pain is an act of self-validation that breaks the spell of isolation. When a struggle is shared and met with empathy, a connection is forged that benefits everyone.

quote about struggles

Best quote about struggles

  1. If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now.

    Masaru Emoto, ‘The Secret Life of Water

The path to recovery lies in finding the quiet anchor of the core self that exists beneath the turbulent surface of feelings. Only then may one be equipped with the stability and clarity needed for the process to begin.

return to yourself

  1. Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect.

    J. K. Rowling

Healing does not always mean getting back exactly what was lost. As challenging as it may seem, we need to trust that the void created by loss will eventually be filled – perhaps by a new form of love, a different kind of wisdom, or a quiet strength that could not have grown otherwise.

quotes about suffering and healing

  1. High calls low and low calls high. I tell you, if you were in such dire straits as I was, you too would elevate your thoughts. The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.

    Yann Martel, ‘Life of Pi’

Reaching a point of absolute despair can paradoxically breed a new kind of freedom. When there is nothing left to lose, the trivial anxieties that cloud judgment are stripped away, leaving only clarity. From this raw space, the mind is able to generate new perspectives and solutions that were previously unimaginable.

  1. Art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life.

    Pablo Picasso

Immersing oneself in a compelling story, a piece of music, or a beautiful painting pulls the focus outward and reconnects one to universal themes. It is a potent reminder that there is a vast and varied world beyond one’s own sorrow.

art washes from the soul the dust of everyday life

Quotes about suffering and art

Read more: Healing Your Inner Child – A 15-step Guide

Quotes about Suffering and Growth

  1. Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.

    Aristotle

One can never pretend that pain does not exist, and yet one can absolutely choose to maintain their inner grace and fortitude in the face of difficulties. To bear the burden with dignity.

  1. Fire tests gold, suffering tests brave men.

    Seneca

Hardship acts as a refining fire that burns away the impurities of one’s character – pride, triviality, and fear. What survives the crucible is the pure, essential self, proven and strengthened by the heat of the trial.

  1. Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but – I hope – into a better shape.

    Charles Dickens

Growth is not always a gentle or additive process; sometimes it requires a fundamental reshaping. Like a blacksmith hammering a piece of steel, the process helps forge a new self that is stronger, more resilient, and more purposeful.

  1. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

    Kahlil Gibran

The scars of one’s history, both visible and invisible, are marks of survival. They are the lasting evidence of battles fought and overcome, adding weight and dimension to one’s character.

  1. Hardships make us strong. Problems give birth to wisdom. Sorrows cultivate compassion. Those who have suffered the most will become the happiest.

    Daisaku Ikeda

Each form of adversity cultivates a specific virtue. The struggle against great difficulty builds the muscle of strength. Navigating complex problems forces the mind to come up with new insights. Experiencing personal sorrow firsthand opens the heart, allowing one to truly connect with the suffering of others.

uplifting quote for hard times

Uplifting quote for hard times

  1. A man may perform astonishing feats and comprehend a vast amount of knowledge, and yet have no understanding of himself. But suffering directs a man to look within. If it succeeds, then there, within him, is the beginning of his learning.

    Søren Kierkegaard

Far too often, most of us only live on the surface – until a crisis comes. At that moment, we are forced to direct our focus inward. It is in this unwelcome turn toward the self, stripped of all external validation, that the journey of true self-knowledge begins.

suffering directs a man to look within

Quotes about suffering and success

Quotes about Suffering and Happiness

  1. Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.

    Zhuangzi

The constant pursuit of a future state called “happiness” is the very thing that breeds dissatisfaction in the present. True contentment arrives quietly when the chase ends. It is found not in achieving a goal, but in the simple, peaceful state of letting go of the need to be anywhere else – but here!

  1. The word ‘happiness’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

    Carl Jung

Just as a world of pure, undifferentiated light would make it impossible to see, a life without sorrow would render joy meaningless. The experience of sadness provides the necessary contrast that allows happiness to be fully felt and understood. One gives the other its definition.

happiness & sadness quotes

  1. Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby. To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and all around us, everywhere, any time.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

When in pain, one can still choose to feel the warmth of the sun, taste a sip of tea, or observe the color of the sky – even for a brief moment. While this conscious act may not erase one’s trouble, it does prove that more than just suffering exists in life.

  1. With hardships comes pleasure and pleasure comes hardships.

    Japanese Proverb

A practical observation of life’s natural flow. In good times, understanding this rhythm encourages one to savor the moment and feel gratitude, knowing it is not permanent. In difficult times, it gives one the hope needed to endure – a reminder that this, too, is a temporary phase that will eventually give way to something better.

  1. Happiness is not the absence of problems; it’s the ability to deal with them.

    Steve Maraboli

True contentment is not found in a fantasy life where the car never breaks down or conflicts never arise. It comes from knowing that when the car breaks down, you have the resourcefulness to get it fixed.

happy life quotes

  1. Your unhappiness cannot be blamed on your past or your environment. And it isn’t that you lack competence. You just lack courage. One might say you are lacking in the courage to be happy.

    Ichiro Kishimi

To be happy means being brave enough to let go of familiar grievances and the comfortable identity of a victim. It means taking full responsibility for one’s own well-being and facing the future head-on.

  1. Pleasure is not different from difficulty. Good is not different from bad. Bad is good; good is bad. They are two sides of one coin. So enlightenment should be in practice. That is the right understanding of practice, and the right understanding of our life. So to find pleasure in suffering is the only way to accept the truth of transiency.

    Shunryu Suzuki

The mind is what applies the labels of “good” and “bad” to the sensations of life. The ultimate practice is to experience the transient flow of existence without this layer of judgment. In doing so, one may find peace in all moments, as they are all simply part of what is.

find pleasure in suffering

Read more: 100 Happy Life Quotes – Illuminate the Day & Warm the Soul

Quotes about Suffering in Love

  1. Grief is just love with no place to go.

    Jamie Anderson

All the daily expressions of love – the care, the conversations, the simple acts of affection – are habits of the heart. When a person is lost, those impulses do not simply vanish. Grief is the tangible weight of all that unexpressed love, now piled up inside with no recipient.

  1. The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.

    Bob Marley

Seeking a perfect, painless relationship is a futile dream. A more mature love accepts that friction and disappointment are inherent parts of any meaningful human connection.

  1. To love is to suffer and there can be no love otherwise.

    Fyodor Dostoevsky

To truly love is to shatter the protective shell of the self. It requires caring for another’s well-being as much as one’s own, sharing their burdens and making oneself completely vulnerable.

  1. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

    C. S. Lewis

To protect the heart from all possible hurt is to make it impenetrable, airless, and lifeless. The pain of loving is the unavoidable cost of remaining fully human.

  1. If I am the phantom, it is because man’s hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me.

    Gaston Leroux, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’

Cruelty and rejection can twist a person into a monster, one suffering from isolation and self-loathing. Love holds the unique and powerful ability to reverse this damage. It is a redemptive force that can see past the scarred exterior to the human within, restoring a sense of worth and belonging that the world had taken away.

quotes about suffering love

I am suffering quotes

Read more: 84 Unconditional Love Quotes for Every Soul

Quotes about Suffering and Compassion

  1. When you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world.

    Timothy Keller

The journey toward compassion begins not with a grand gesture, but with a shift of attention outward. Only when the focus on the self is released can the vast, shared human experience of sorrow become visible.

  1. Men are not our enemies. If we kill men, with whom shall we live?

    Thich Nhat Hanh

Wherever we are, we need to see past conflict toward a shared future. The label of “enemy” is a dangerous illusion that obscures the fact that everyone must inhabit the same world. After all, the world is not always black and white.

  1. When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight. When you see in yourself the wish that the other person stop suffering, that is a sign of real love.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

It is easy to view one’s harmful actions as pure malice. However, these actions are often symptoms of inner pain, fear, or turmoil. Recognizing that a person’s anger may spring from their own wound does not excuse the hurt they cause, yet it does dissolve the fuel for hatred – from which a wiser and more inclusive outlook may emerge.

  1. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. Therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

    John Donne

The world works because of a vast, invisible web of people; the loss of any individual removes a thread from the network that supports everyone. The collective becomes a little less skilled, a little less knowledgeable, and a little less whole.

for whom the bell tolls

Quotes about Evil and Suffering

  1. Just because we don’t see a reason for evil and suffering doesn’t mean there’s not a reason for it.

    Timothy Keller

It is natural for one to fall into despair in the face of senseless cruelty and pain. And yet, there remains the possibility of a larger purpose that exists beyond one’s current vantage point.

  1. Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.

    Marcus Aurelius

Goodness and cruelty are not properties of existence, but qualities brought into the world by our choices and actions. In other words, humanity must embrace their full responsibility for everything that happens to them.

life is neither good or evil

  1. You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you or my boy to me?

    Mario Puzo, ‘The Godfather’

Acts of retribution may satisfy a momentary rage, but they are, eventually, futile and only give rise to a new cycle of loss and suffering.

  1. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

    Yoda, ‘Star Wars’

Many of the world’s greatest miseries are born from a single, unexamined emotion. If one traces feelings like anger or hatred back to their origin, they will almost always find a bedrock of fear – the fear of being insignificant, of losing control, or of what is different.

Quotes About the Nature of Fear

Suffering quotes

  1. Hurt people hurt people. People hurt others as a result of their own inner strife and pain. Avoid the reactive response of believing they are bad; they already think so and are acting that way. They aren’t bad; they are damaged and they deserve compassion.

    Will Bowen

Cruelty and aggression are typically just a person’s own pain being tragically passed on to others. Wisdom lies in separating the harmful action from the damaged actor. One can then respond with clarity and strength – firmly rejecting the unacceptable behavior – while simultaneously holding compassion for the brokenness that is likely its source.

powerful quote about hurt

Powerful quote about hurt

  1. If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

    Desmond Tutu

Peace is not a passive absence of conflict; it is an active and difficult process of creation. It requires the courage to step out of comfortable circles and engage directly with one’s adversaries. Meaningful resolution can only take place when the “enemy” is treated as a necessary partner in the work of visualizing a shared future.

  1. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions but not on conditions.

    Viktor Frankl

The capacity for both goodness and evil coexists within every human heart. The choice is ours – under extreme circumstances, which side will we pick?

man is ultimately self-determining

Stoic Quotes About Suffering

  1. Keep death and exile before your eyes each day, along with everything that seems terrible. By doing so, you’ll never have a base thought nor will you have excessive desire.

    Epictetus

The act of contemplating one’s own mortality is crucial to distinguishing what truly matters from what does not. When measured against the finality of life, daily anxieties and desires are revealed as insignificant distractions.

Keep death and exile before your eyes each day

  1. It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.

    Epictetus

Many life events are, after all, outside of one’s ability to influence. The fear of them, however, is a creation of the mind and therefore falls within the sphere of control. As such, one needs to shift the focus from trying to manage a chaotic world to mastering one’s own internal reaction to it.

stoic quotes about pain

  1. A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary.

    Seneca

Anticipating a future misfortune is a critical error that many of us make. Mental discipline calls for confining one’s response to the present moment, rather than borrowing trouble from an imaginary future.

stoic quotes about suffering

  1. Reflect on how many things have happened that you didn’t want, and yet they turned out for the best.

    Musonius Rufus

We have all been there, right? A failed project that taught a crucial lesson, or a painful break-up that cleared the path for a new beginning. No matter how unbearable or unfair the current difficulties may seem, there’s always the possibility that they may actually be “blessings” in disguise after all.

stoic reflection

  1. A bad feeling is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason, and against nature.

    Zeno of Citium

For the Stoics, a person’s true nature is to be rational and clear-headed. An overwhelming negative emotion like panic or rage is seen as a temporary breakdown of that reason. The goal is not to suppress the feeling, but to correct the faulty judgment that caused it, thereby restoring the mind to its natural state of tranquility.

  1. He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.

    Michel de Montaigne

The physical and mental sensations of dread and anxiety are a form of suffering in their own right. In the very act of fearing, one has already inflicted a real pain upon themselves.

  1. My philosophy is that worrying means you suffer twice.

    J. K. Rowling

Speaking from a purely logical standpoint, there are two outcomes when one is faced with a potential misfortune. If bad thing happens, one suffers once in worry and again in reality. Otherwise, they have suffered needlessly for nothing. In either scenario, the act of worrying is a losing proposition that only adds a layer of pain.

  1. If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

    Dalai Lama XIV

If a solution exists, all energy should be channeled into taking action, not wasted on the passive state of worry. If no solution exists, then energy spent worrying is completely futile. Understanding this simple truth should leave one with no logical room for anxiety to exist.

there is no benefit in worrying

Stoic quotes on suffering

Read more: 105 Powerful Stoic Quotes – Toward a Virtuous & Fulfilling Existence

Loved One Suffering Quotes

  1. The suffering of a loved one was in many ways worse than one’s one suffering because it left one feeling so very helpless.

    Mary Balogh

To witness a cherished person in pain and be unable to do anything about it is a unique torment. This feeling of helplessness, however, is not a sign of failure – but the clearest proof of a loving connection. The only remedy is to channel that desperate energy away from the impossible task of fixing and into the possible act of being with, offering one’s solace of presence.

  1. You think the dead we have loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?

    J. K. Rowling

The connection of love is not severed by death; it becomes an ingrained part of a person’s spirit. In times of extreme hardship, when one feels most lost, that bond can make itself felt with a surprising clarity.

  1. When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

A hurtful act from a loved one is, many times, an unintentional signal of their own inner pain. We can either react to the symptom (the hurtful words), or respond to the root cause (their suffering). The choice is ours.

  1. What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

    Helen Keller

Loss cannot erase the ways a relationship has shaped a person’s being. The joy, the lessons, and the affection received are woven into one’s character and memories. In a sense, death and separation can never truly take away our loved ones.

all that we love deeply becomes a part of us

Quotes about Suffering Together

  1. It is our suffering that brings us together.

    Ursula K. Le Guin

The experience of hardship is a common ground that cuts across all cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs. Realizing this shared vulnerability is the basis for empathy, the bedrock upon which genuine human connection is cultivated.

  1. Nothing brings people closer together than shared suffering.

    Francine Rivers

Think about a community after a natural disaster. Neighbors who were once strangers now share food, shelter, and their deepest fears. The shared ordeal erases superficial differences and forges a bond of mutual reliance that years of peaceful life rarely allow.

  1. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

    1 Corinthians 12:26

Within a truly close-knit group, there is no such thing as a purely individual experience. The anxiety of one member is felt by all; the triumph of another becomes a shared celebration. In such a community, every joy is amplified and every sorrow is divided, because the well-being of one is tied to the well-being of the whole.

if one part suffers every part suffers

  1. We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering, we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is we only become more fearful, more hardened and more alienated. We experience ourselves as being separate from the whole. This separateness becomes like a prison for us – a prison that restricts us to our personal hopes and fears, and to caring only for the people nearest to us. Curiously enough, if we primarily try to shield ourselves from discomfort, we suffer. Yet, when we don’t close off, when we let our hearts break, we discover our kinship with all beings.

    Pema Chodron

Trying to avoid all pain only makes one feel lonely and unable to understand the struggles of others. Allowing oneself to feel genuine heartbreak, however painful, unlocks a new capacity for empathy. The personal experience of sorrow becomes the very bridge that connects a person to the rest of humanity.

quotes about suffering together

No More Suffering Quotes

  1. Suffering cracks open the shell of ego, and then comes a point when it has served its purpose. Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.

    Eckhart Tolle

Identifying with the ego – the mind’s story of “me” – is a source of anguish. Once we truly internalize the fact that  suffering comes not from the external event – but from our internal resistance to it, we can consciously choose to accept reality as it is.

  1. Once you create a distance between you and your body, between you and your mind, that is the end of suffering.

    Sadhguru

Instead of being a wave tossed in the stormy sea of emotion, one can learn to become the calm, silent observer on the shore. The waves still rise and fall, but they are no longer confused with the totality of one’s being.

  1. Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear?

    Lao Tzu

There is nothing to protect when one’s true nature is the vast space where events happen, not the fleeting events themselves.

hope and fear are phantoms

  1. All it takes is a simple choice, a simple decision: no matter what happens, I will create no more pain for myself. I will create no more problems.

    Eckhart Tolle

There are two layers of pain: the unavoidable reality of the situation, and the optional layer of mental commentary and resistance added on top of it. The “simple choice” is to drop that second layer – to cease the internal argument with what is. It is the decision to stop fueling the fire of one’s own unhappiness with more thoughts.

  1. I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

    Mother Teresa

To love so completely and selflessly that the self’s own needs and fears are burned away is to pass through a fire. On the other side is a state of pure, unconditional love where, because the fragile ego is gone, the capacity to be personally wounded no longer exists.

  1. When she first died, do you think I didn’t grieve like anyone else? But I looked back to her beginning and the time before she was born. Not only the time before she was born, but the time before she had a body. Not only the time before she had a body, but the time before she had a spirit. In the midst of the jumble of wonder and mystery a change took place and she had a spirit. Another change and she had a body. Another change and she was born. Now there’s been another change and she’s dead. It’s just like the progression of the four seasons, spring, summer, fall, winter. Now she’s going to lie down peacefully in a vast room. If I were to follow after her bawling and sobbing, it would show that I don’t understand anything about fate. So I stopped.

    Zhuangzi

Death is not an isolated, human tragedy – just a natural transformation within an endless, impersonal cycle, like the turning of the seasons. As soon as one adopts such an inclusive view, one will be able to finally find peace.

no more pain and suffering quotes

No more pain and suffering quotes

Read more: 57 Hope Quotes to Uplift Spirits & Brighten the Day

Famous Quotes about Suffering by Philosophers

  1. There are no facts, only interpretations.

    Friedrich Nietzsche

If there is no single, objective truth about a painful event, then a person is not a passive victim of a terrible fact. Instead, they are the active creator of the incident’s meaning. They are free to choose an empowering interpretation – such as viewing a setback as a lesson in resilience – over one that creates only misery.

  1. If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.

    Socrates

The human mind is a machine built to chase and cling, yet it exists in a world of constant change. The suffering comes not from any particular outcome, but from the very nature of this mechanism clashing with the nature of reality.

  1. Even in reaching for the beautiful there is beauty, and also in suffering whatever it is that one suffers en route.

    Plato

Our focus is typically fixed on the final goal, with the journey seen as a mere series of obstacles. And yet, we need to remind ourselves of the need to find value and a certain grace in the process of striving itself. The dedication, endurance, and pain accepted in the pursuit of a noble aim are not ugly necessities, but worthy parts of the path.

  1. No man is hurt but by himself.

    Diogenes of Sinope

The world has the power to harm one’s body, possessions, or reputation, but it has no power over their character or reason. The only injury that truly matters is the self-inflicted wound of a poor judgment or a compromised virtue; all other damages are superficial.

  1. Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow.

    Lao Tzu

Reality is an organic, fluid process, not a fixed problem to be controlled. The deepest sorrow comes from trying to impose a rigid will upon this natural unfolding.

life is changes

Spiritual & Religious Quotes about Suffering

  1. Everything – including love, hate, and suffering – needs food to continue. If suffering continues, it’s because we keep feeding our suffering.

    Thich Nhat Hanh

Pain cannot survive without fuel. The “food” that keeps suffering alive is the mental habit of replaying painful memories, nursing grievances, and indulging in anxious thoughts. To heal is to consciously choose to let the fire of anguish burn itself out from lack of attention.

  1. Attachment is the root of suffering.

    Buddha

Anxiety, grief, and jealousy are merely different branches growing from the same root: the desperate desire to cling to people, things, and moments that are by their nature impermanent. To address the root is to heal the entire tree.

  1. The sea of suffering is boundless; turn your head and you will see the shore.

    Chinese Proverb

When one feels lost in a vast ocean of sorrow, escape may seem impossible. That said, peace is not a distant destination to be reached after a long struggle. The “shore” is always right there, just a simple shift of perspective away, a conscious choice to turn one’s attention from the boundless water to the solid ground.

the sea of suffering is boundless

Suffering quotes in Buddhism

  1. Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits of your toil, but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere.

    Qur’an, Sura 2:155

When viewed through the lens of faith, hardship is no longer a random, meaningless event, but a trial intended to strengthen one’s character.

glad tidings to those who patiently persevere

Islam suffering quotes

  1. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!

    John 16:33

Difficulty is a guaranteed part of life. What matters is to be courageous – to find hope and fortitude not in the absence of trouble, but right in the middle of it.

In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart

  1. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

    Matthew 5:4

The act of grieving shatters pride and self-sufficiency, creating a sense of inner openness. This vulnerable, broken-hearted condition is the very state that allows for a higher comfort to enter.

blessed are those who mourn

Comforting quote

  1. Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

    Romans 5:3-4

Enduring trials builds the skill of perseverance, and consistently persevering proves one’s own character to oneself. The resulting hope is a resilient trust, born not from a belief that the world will become easy, but from the hard-won, experiential knowledge of one’s own strength to meet it.

  1. Be careful that no one entices you by riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside. Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress?

    Book of Job 36:18-19

In a true crisis – a moment of loss or existential despair – what is the actual value of material possessions? This question is a call to invest in more durable sources of strength, such as faith and character, which are the only things that can offer solace when it is most needed.

christian suffering quotes

Christian suffering quotes

  1. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

    John 12:24

For a new, more abundant reality to emerge, the old, limited self must “die” – letting go of ego and a previous way of being. This necessary ending creates the fertile ground from which a more fruitful existence may spring, benefiting many.

suffering quotes in the Bible

Suffering quotes in the Bible

  1. Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end… and take courage.

    Teresa of Avila

From this mystical viewpoint, suffering is a gift that purifies the soul and detaches it from worldly concerns, bringing it closer to the divine. The trial is temporary; as soon as one is reminded of that, the difficult “favor” becomes much more bearable.

saint quotes on suffering

Saint quotes on suffering

Final Thoughts

The above-mentioned suffering quotes are mirrors, reflecting humanity’s immense capacity for resilience and grace. The path through hardship may be challenging, and yet that doesn’t negate the power for each of us to create our own meaning.

As such, may you be gentle with yourself on the journey.

May you find strength in the shared story of humanity.

And may you always, always find your way back to hope!

Other resources you might be interested in:

Let’s Tread the Path Together, Shall We?

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