140 Most Relatable Quotes About Pain To Give You More Strength
“Pain“, by Riccardo Cuppini, is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Physical pain or mental suffering can be due to many reasons. These quotes about pain will remind you how powerful and strong you actually are. May these quotes about pain help you to remove all your sorrows and bring a smile to your face.
Quotes About Pain
“It is always by way of pain one arrives at pleasure.”
MARQUIS DE SADE, “Philosophy in the Bedroom: An Erotic Novel”, Library of Alexandria
“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
BOB MARLEY, Song: Trenchtown Rock
“Nearly everyone has his box of secret pain.”
JOHN STEINBECK (1952). “East of Eden”
“The greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to feel the pain.”
JENNIFER ANISTON, “Oprah Magazine”, 2004.
“One thing you can’t hide – is when you’re crippled inside.”
JOHN LENNON, Song: Crippled Inside, Album: Imagine
“But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.”
GEORGE ELIOT (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of George Eliot (Illustrated)”, p.2488, Delphi Classics
“It’s no good trying to keep up old friendships. It’s painful for both sides. The fact is, one grows out of people, and the only thing is to face it.”
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM (1930). “Cakes and Ale”
“If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.”
GEORGE SANTAYANA (2011). “The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, Volume VII, Book One”, p.136, MIT Press
“The greatest evil is physical pain.”
SAINT AUGUSTINE, Soliloquies I.21
“When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy.”
SALMAN RUSHDIE (2010). “Midnight’s Children”, p.497, Random House
“Real pain can alone cure us of imaginary ills. We feel a thousand miseries till we are lucky enough to feel misery.”
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Illustrated)”, p.3497, Delphi Classics
“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.”
JAMES BALDWIN, “Doom and glory of knowing who you are”. “LIFE” Magazine, Vol. 54, No. 21, (p. 89), May 24, 1963.
“Life is pain and the enjoyment of love is an anesthetic.”
CESARE PAVESE (1961). “This Business of Living”, p.74, Transaction Publishers
“Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?”
JOHN KEATS (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of John Keats (Illustrated)”, p.824, Delphi Classics
“Rich the treasure, Sweet the pleasure,- Sweet is pleasure after pain.”
JOHN DRYDEN, ‘Alexander’s Feast’ (1697) l. 57
“Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.”
SIMONE WEIL (2015). “First and Last Notebooks: Supernatural Knowledge”, p.69, Wipf and Stock Publishers
“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It’s the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
LOIS LOWRY (2014). “The Giver Movie Tie-In Edition”, p.193, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
“What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor, but the silence of the bystander.”
ELIE WIESEL, “Courage To Care – Rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust” by Carol Rittner and Sandra Meyers, NYU Press, (p. 2), 1986.
“After great pain, a formal feeling comes. The nerves sit ceremonious, like tombs.”
EMILY DICKINSON, ‘After great pain, a formal feeling comes’ (1862)\
“Never producing pain by thought, word, and deed, in any living being, is what is called Ahimsâ, non-injury.”
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (2015). “The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda”, p.175, Manonmani Publishers
“You purchase pain with all that joy can give and die of nothing but a rage to live.”
ALEXANDER POPE (1822). “The poems of Alexander Pope”, p.91
“Time was passing like a hand waving from a train I wanted to be on. I hope you never have to think about anything as much as I think about you.”
JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”. Book by Jonathan Safran Foer, 2005.
“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”
THEODORE ROOSEVELT (2015). “Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century”, p.31, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.”
WILLIAM PENN, No Cross, No Crown (1669) See Proverbs 212
“World’s use is cold, world’s love is vain, world’s cruelty is bitter bane; but is not the fruit of pain.”
ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING (1866). “Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetical works”, p.222
“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”
MARKUS ZUSAK (2013). “The Book Thief: Enhanced Movie Tie-in Edition”, p.211, RH Childrens Books
“Nature has placed mankind under the government of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure.”
JEREMY BENTHAM, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation ch. 1 (1789)
“Even pain pricks to livelier living.”
AMY LOWELL (2009). “Sword Blades and Poppy Seed”, p.43, ReadHowYouWant.com
“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.”
MAXWELL MALTZ (1989). “Psycho-Cybernetics”, p.137, Simon and Schuster
“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.”
MARY PICKFORD, “Why Not Try God?”, Chapter 6 (newspaper serial) in St. Petersburg Times, sect. 2, p. 3, January 25, 1936.
“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.”
KHALIL GIBRAN (2007). “Kahlil Gibran: Masterpieces”
“Pain of mind is worse than pain of body.”
PUBLILIUS SYRUS, Sententiae
“Those who do not feel pain seldom think that it is felt.”
SAMUEL JOHNSON, The Rambler No. 48, 1 September (1750)
“Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself.”
GEORGE MEREDITH, ‘Vittoria’ (1866) ch. 42
“Virtue she finds too painful an endeavour, content to dwell in decencies for ever.”
ALEXANDER POPE, ‘Epistles to Several Persons’ ‘To a Lady’ (1735) l. 163
“So great was the extremity of his pain and anguish, that he did not only sigh but roar.”
MATTHEW HENRY (1839). “An Exposition of the Old and New Testament: Wherein Each Chapter is Summed Up in Its Contents: Job-Solomon’s Song. 1839”, p.24
“One fire burns out another’s burning, One pain is lessen’d by another’s anguish.”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (2000). “Romeo and Juliet”, p.36, Classic Books Company
“Ah, to think how thin the veil that lies Between the pain of hell and Paradise.”
GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL (1935). “Selected poems”
“Remember that pain has this most excellent quality. If prolonged it cannot be severe, and if severe it cannot be prolonged.”
SENECA THE YOUNGER, Epistulae ad Lucilium XCIV
“Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain.”
JOHN SELDEN, ‘Table Talk’ (1689) ‘Pleasure’
“One pain is lessened by another’s anguish.”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (2003). “Romeo and Juliet”, p.46, Perfection Learning
“There is no greater pain than to remember, in our present grief, past happiness.”
DANTE ALIGHIERI (1995). “Dante’s Inferno: The Indiana Critical Edition”, p.311, Indiana University Press
“Never a lip is curved with pain that can’t be kissed into smiles again.”
BRET HARTE (2016). “Poetical Works, Complete: Top American Novelist”, p.112, VM eBooks
“On the outskirts of every agony sits some observant fellow who points.”
VIRGINIA WOOLF (2005). “Selected Works of Virginia Woolf”, p.756, Wordsworth Editions
“All pain is the same.”
OPRAH WINFREY (2017). “The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights and Inspirational Conversations”, p.6, Pan Macmillan
“Pain pays the income of each precious thing.”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (2002). “The Complete Sonnets and Poems”, p.262, Oxford University Press on Demand
“Long pains, with use of bearing, are half eased.”
JOHN DRYDEN (1808). “The Works of John Dryden: Now First Collected in Eighteen Volumes”, p.123
“And the wind that saddens, the sea that gladdens, Are singing the selfsame strain.”
BAYARD TAYLOR (1856). “Poems”, p.226
“Pains of love be sweeter far than all other pleasures are.”
JOHN DRYDEN, ‘Tyrannic Love’ (1669) act 4, sc. 1
“Pain dies quickly, and lets her weary prisoners go; the fiercest agonies have shortest reign.”
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, “Mutation”
“There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.”
ERMA BOMBECK (2013). “The Erma Bombeck Collection: If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, Motherhood, and The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank”, p.139, Open Road Media
“Amour is the one human activity of any importance in which laughter and pleasure preponderate, if ever so slightly, over misery and pain.”
ALDOUS HUXLEY (2015). “Crome Yellow”, p.86, Sheba Blake Publishing
“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.”
JOHN LENNON, “God” (song) (1970)
“All our knowledge merely helps us to die a more painful death than animals that know nothing.”
MAURICE MAETERLINCK (1913). “Our Eternity”
“Men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage – they’ve experienced pain and bought jewelry.”
RITA RUDNER (2008). “I Still Have It . . . I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It: Confessions of a Fiftysomething”, p.86, Crown Archetype
“Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.”
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (2013). “Three Novels: Tender is the Night; The Beautiful and Damned; Thi”, p.171, Simon and Schuster
“It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”
AIDEN WILSON TOZER, “The Root of the Righteous”. Book by Aiden Wilson Tozer, 1955.
“Every setback might be the very thing that makes you carry on and fight all the harder and become much better.”
LES PAUL, “The Man Before The Guitar: Remembering Les Paul At 100”. “All Things Considered” with Joel Rose, kvcrnews.org. June 9, 2015.
“As much horror as we have always created, we are a species that keeps moving forward, seeing new sights in new ways, and enjoying the journey.”
MARTHA BECK, “Reasons to feel good about the future” by Martha Beck, edition.cnn.com. January 9, 2008.
“What may look like a small act of courage is courage nevertheless. The important thing is to be willing to take a step forward.”
DAISAKU IKEDA (2000). “The Way of Youth: Buddhist Common Sense for Handling Life’s Questions”, p.111, Middleway Press
“Faith doesn’t mean that you don’t have doubts.”
BARACK OBAMA (2007). “The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream”, p.207, Canongate Books
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
THICH NHAT HANH (2015). “Mindfulness Meditation: For a Quieter Mind, Self-Awareness and Healthy Living”, p.125, Souvenir Press
“You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.”
EDWIN LOUIS COLE (1998). “Profiles in Courageous Manhood”, Albury Pub
“It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience, including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.”
RAM DASS (2012). “Journey of Awakening: A Meditator’s Guidebook”, p.28, Bantam
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
SAM LEVENSON (2016). “You Don’t Have to Be in Who’s Who to Know What’s What: The Choice Wit and Wisdom of Sam Levenson”, p.146, Open Road Media
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”
VINCE LOMBARDI, JR. (2012). “What It Takes to Be Number One”, p.31, Thomas Nelson Inc
“Forget the past.”
NELSON MANDELA (1990). “Nelson Mandela, symbol of resistance and hope for a free South Africa: selected speeches since his release”
“Every setback means you’re one step closer to seeing the dream come to pass.”
JOEL OSTEEN (2012). “I Declare: 31 Promises to Speak Over Your Life”, p.19, Hachette UK
“I’m at the point where going forward is easier than going back.”
ALICE HOFFMAN (2012). “Green Heart”, p.93, Scholastic Inc.
“When you hit a wall – of your own imagined limitations – just kick it in.”
SAM SHEPARD, “Remembering Sam Shepard: The Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Author’s 10 Best Quotes on Writing, Love and Life” by Olivia Ladd, July 31, 2017.
“First steps are always the hardest but until they are taken the notion of progress remains only a notion and not an achievement.”
ABERJHANI (2014). “Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry”, p.21
“My heart is broke, but I have some glue, help me inhale and mend it with you.”
KURT COBAIN, “Song: “Dumb” (“In Utero”)”. 1993.
“I realize I waited too long but please don’t move on.”
DRAKE, Song: Sooner Than Later, Album: So Far Gone
“I had wanted to say that my song was far too painful to sing.”
ANNE RICE (2011). “New Tales of the Vampires: includes Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire”, p.26, Ballantine Books
“The marks humans leave are too often scars.”
JOHN GREEN (2012). “The Fault in Our Stars”, p.176, Penguin
“But pain is perfect misery, the worst Of evils, and excessive, overturns All patience.”
JOHN MILTON, 1665 Paradise Lost (published1667), bk.6, l.461-3.
“Friends share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.”
HENRI J.M. NOUWEN (2017). “You Are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living”, Convergent Books
“For all the happiness mankind can gain Is not in pleasure, but in rest from pain.”
JOHN DRYDEN, ‘The Indian Emperor’ (1665) act 4, sc. 1
“For it would be better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all one’s life.”
AESCHYLUS, “Prometheus Bound”. Play by Aeschylus,
“He preacheth patience that never knew pain”
HENRY GEORGE BOHN (1855). “A Hand-book of Proverbs: Comprising Ray’s Collection of English Proverbs, with His Additions from Foreign Languages. And a Complete Alphabetical Index”, p.381
“In the secular view, suffering is never seen as a meaningful part of life but only as an interruption.”
TIMOTHY KELLER (2013). “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering”, p.26, Penguin
“Pain comes from the darkness. And we call it wisdom. It is pain.”
RANDALL JARRELL (1985). “Randall Jarrell’s letters: an autobiographical and literary selection”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
“Sooner or later, even the sharpest pain became flattened.”
ANNE TYLER (2012). “The Beach Book Bundle: 3 Novels for Summer Reading: Breathing Lessons, The Alphabet Sisters, Firefly Summer”, p.176, Ballantine Books
“Pain may be said to follow pleasure as its shadow.”
CHARLES CALEB COLTON (1824). “Lacon, Or, Many Things in a Few Words: Addressed to Those who Think”, p.83
“Truly, a life in constant pain is the life of the damned.”
CHRISTOPHER PIKE (2012). “Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, Red Dice”, p.211, Simon and Schuster
“And die of nothing but a rage to live.”
ALEXANDER POPE (1822). “The poems of Alexander Pope”, p.91
“When a person tells you that you hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you didn’t.”
LOUIS C.K., “Fictional character: Louie”. “Louie/ Cop Story”, 2015.
“Beginners are many; finishers are few.”
STEPHEN M. R. COVEY (2008). “The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything”, p.122, Simon and Schuster
“Be patient. Relax and trust. Let go. Then, let go some more.”
MELODY BEATTIE (1990). “The Language of Letting Go”, p.254, Hazelden Publishing
“Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
HELEN KELLER (2000). “To Love this Life: Quotations”, p.25, American Foundation for the Blind
“Suffering is unbearable if you aren’t certain that God is for you and with you.”
TIMOTHY KELLER (2013). “Walking with God through Pain and Suffering”, p.46, Penguin
“There is a quiet at the heart of love, And I have pierced the pain and come to peace.”
SARA TEASDALE (1911). “Helen of Troy, and Other Poems”
“All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.”
HAVELOCK ELLIS (1973). “Affirmations”, Milford House Publishing Company
“One must always maintain one’s connection to the past and yet ceaselessly pull away from it.”
GASTON BACHELARD, “Fragments of a Poetics of Fire (A Retrospective Glance at the Lifework of a Master of Books)”. Book by Gaston Bachelard edited by Suzanne Bachelard, 1988.
“If you’re not failing, you’re probably not really moving forward.”
JOHN C. MAXWELL (2012). “The Complete 101 Collection”, p.47, Harper Collins
“Pain is no longer pain when it is past.”
MARGARET JUNKIN PRESTON (1870). “Old Song and New”, p.260
“It seemed to me a matter of course that we should all take our share of the burden of pain which lies upon the world.”
ALBERT SCHWEITZER (2014). “Out of My Life and Thought: An Autobiography”, p.244, Henry Holt and Company
“Your pain is an opportunity for you to learn about yourself.”
GARY ZUKAV, “On Guilt: Gary Zukav Tells How To Work Through Feeling Guilty”. October 16, 2012.
“If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds.”
JESSE JACKSON, “Q&A: The Rev Jesse Jackson”. Interview with Rosanna Greenstreet, April 13, 2012.
If you liked our selection of 140 Most Relatable Quotes About Pain, then perhaps you would also enjoy our collection of 250 Quotes To Make You Happy.
