3,815 Quotes About Suffering

Paul says that our troubles are “light.” Granted I may not see them as light in the midst of trauma, but looking back on them, they may seem light. He also says they are “momentary.” They only last for a short time.

There is this guilt that often accompanies being the first one to leave home. You will feel as though you shouldn’t have, so you will find a way to suffer, to not succeed. Your mind will trick you into believing it is a mistake to survive without the rest.

Without suffering, there is no knowing of the soul.

Without suffering, there is no seeking.

There is no error more absurd, and yet more rooted in the heart of man, than the belief that his sufferings will promote his spiritual safety.

The pain of severe depression is quite unimaginable to those who have not suffered it, and it kills in many instances because its anguish can no longer be borne. The prevention of many suicides will continue to be hindered until there is a general awareness of the nature of this pain.

Hell had been his Vietnam. It had stamped its mark on him for all eternity, and no amount of denial or self-imposed ignorance was going to change it. Ever.

Suicidal pain includes the feeling that one has lost all capacity to effect emotional change. The agony is excruciating and looks as if it will never end. There is the feeling of having been beaten down for a very long time. There are feelings of agitation, emptiness, and incoherence. 'Snap out of it and get on with your life,' sounds like a demand to high jump ten feet.

For the first time in this 11 years--I have come to love the darkness--for I believe now that it is a part, a very, very small part of Jesus' dakness and pain on earth. You have taught me to accept it [as] a "spiritual side of 'your work'"... (Mother Teresa, quoated in Kolodiejchuk, p. 208).