Suffer Quotes

“What he did was wrong. He doesn't deserve your love. But he does deserve your forgiveness, because otherwise he will grow like a weed in your heart until it's choked and overrun. The only person who suffers, when you squirrel away all that hate, is you.”
― Jodi Picoult, The Storyteller

“Sometimes you suffer for the things that are important to you.”
― Marta Acosta, Dark Companion

“E atat de dificil sa fii si sensibila, si mandra. Ca sa nu suferi trebuie sa fii sau una, sau alta. Nu, in orice caz, si una, si alta.”
― Jeni Acterian, Jurnalul unei fete greu de mulţumit

“I used to read in books how our fathers persecuted mankind. But I never appreciated it. I did not really appreciate the infamies that have been committed in the name of religion, until I saw the iron arguments that Christians used. I saw the Thumbscrew—two little pieces of iron, armed on the inner surfaces with protuberances, to prevent their slipping; through each end a screw uniting the two pieces. And when some man denied the efficacy of baptism, or may be said, 'I do not believe that a fish ever swallowed a man to keep him from drowning,' then they put his thumb between these pieces of iron and in the name of love and universal forgiveness, began to screw these pieces together. When this was done most men said, 'I will recant.' Probably I should have done the same. Probably I would have said: 'Stop; I will admit anything that you wish; I will admit that there is one god or a million, one hell or a billion; suit yourselves; but stop.'

But there was now and then a man who would not swerve the breadth of a hair. There was now and then some sublime heart, willing to die for an intellectual conviction. Had it not been for such men, we would be savages to-night. Had it not been for a few brave, heroic souls in every age, we would have been cannibals, with pictures of wild beasts tattooed upon our flesh, dancing around some dried snake fetich.

Let us thank every good and noble man who stood so grandly, so proudly, in spite of opposition, of hatred and death, for what he believed to be the truth.

Heroism did not excite the respect of our fathers. The man who would not recant was not forgiven. They screwed the thumbscrews down to the last pang, and then threw their victim into some dungeon, where, in the throbbing silence and darkness, he might suffer the agonies of the fabled damned. This was done in the name of love—in the name of mercy, in the name of Christ.

I saw, too, what they called the Collar of Torture. Imagine a circle of iron, and on the inside a hundred points almost as sharp as needles. This argument was fastened about the throat of the sufferer. Then he could not walk, nor sit down, nor stir without the neck being punctured, by these points. In a little while the throat would begin to swell, and suffocation would end the agonies of that man. This man, it may be, had committed the crime of saying, with tears upon his cheeks, 'I do not believe that God, the father of us all, will damn to eternal perdition any of the children of men.'

I saw another instrument, called the Scavenger's Daughter. Think of a pair of shears with handles, not only where they now are, but at the points as well, and just above the pivot that unites the blades, a circle of iron. In the upper handles the hands would be placed; in the lower, the feet; and through the iron ring, at the centre, the head of the victim would be forced. In this condition, he would be thrown prone upon the earth, and the strain upon the muscles produced such agony that insanity would in pity end his pain.

I saw the Rack. This was a box like the bed of a wagon, with a windlass at each end, with levers, and ratchets to prevent slipping; over each windlass went chains; some were fastened to the ankles of the sufferer; others to his wrists. And then priests, clergymen, divines, saints, began turning these windlasses, and kept turning, until the ankles, the knees, the hips, the shoulders, the elbows, the wrists of the victim were all dislocated, and the sufferer was wet with the sweat of agony. And they had standing by a physician to feel his pulse. What for? To save his life? Yes. In mercy? No; simply that they might rack him once again.

This was done, remember, in the name of civilization; in the name of law and order; in the name of mercy; in the name of religion; in the name of Christ.”
― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Liberty Of Man, Woman And Child

“And you might try to hide or protect yourself, or compare the different states of love,
but you must not grow up, must not act wise
when it comes to love.
You must stay foolish and fall
for every heart will beat in different ways together with yours and love is not meant to be compared, only enjoyed, and suffered, and remembered.”
― Charlotte Eriksson

“You have to understand that only the very worst end up here: the ones whose anger made them kill, and who felt no sorrow or guilt after the act; those so obsessed with themselves that they turned their backs on the sufferings of others, and left them in pain; those whose greed meant that others starved and died. Such souls belong here, because they would find no peace elsewhere. In this place, they are understood. In this place, their faults have meaning. In this place, they belong.”
― John Connolly

“The worse the evil, the readier must the Christian be to suffer it; he must let the evil person fall into Jesus' hands.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

“Suffering took hold of me like a magic spell abolishing all differences between friends and strangers.”
― Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper's Wife

“Winter arrived with December, and the world continued to suffer the loss of the Internet and most forms of communication. Supply chains were disrupted. The only mass form of personal communication was the letter, and postal workers were having their worst year ever, as they were actually meeded. Food was becoming scarcer and more expensive, as was fuel for vehicles and heating. Major cities experienced riots on a regular basis, spurred on by religious fervor and want. Civilization was on the brink of collapse.”
― Mark A. Rayner, The Fridgularity

“When I think of how much this world has suffered; when I think of how long our fathers were slaves, of how they cringed and crawled at the foot of the throne, and in the dust of the altar, of how they abased themselves, of how abjectly they stood in the presence of superstition robed and crowned, I am amazed.”
― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Liberty Of Man, Woman And Child

“Barbaric is letting the woman suffer to be alone for the rest of her life.”
― Missy Lyons, Alien Promise

“In life, one must (first) last." (“Dans la vie, il faut [d'abord] durer.”)”
― Ernest Hemingway

“Das Nicht-Wissen darf am Wissen nicht verarmen.”
― elias canetti

“I always wondered what it must be like to lose a twin—if somehow Mary felt it like it was happening to her. If she felt physical pain.”
― Francesca Lia Block, Wasteland

“Time and suffering are inseperable. In life, as in physics, both are the common denominator of all experiences.”
― Christopher Dutton

“He would be able to suffer what his son had suffered. He would be able to suffer and his suffering would for an instance displace his grief.”
― Simon Lelic, A Thousand Cuts

“Some People Think That Only The Wounds That Appear On External Parts Of Body Cause Pain
But they Don't Know That When Heart Gets Hurt That Won't Appear To The Outside World Only The Person Who Suffers The Pain Will Know about It !”
― Nithin Kumar

“We all have individually special kingdoms of success in each of us. Obedience is the throne of those kingdoms without which the real person we are is sure to suffer eviction.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

“{Stockton, a playwright who performed plays about Robert Ingersoll, gives the four moments in Ingersoll's life that shaped him, first being the death of his father, who was a reverend}

Despite their opposing religious views, the old revivalist on his deathbed asked Bob to read to him from the black book clutched to his chest. Bob relented, took the book, and was surprised to discover that it wasn't the Bible. It was Plato describing the noble death of the pagan Socrates: a moving gesture of reconciliation between father and son in parting. The second event was Bob’s painful realization that his outspoken agnosticism not only invalidated his own political career but ended his brother Ebon’s career in Congress, as well. Third was the exquisite anguish of seeing his supportive wife Eva and his young daughters made to suffer for his right to speak his own mind. And fourth was the dramatic tension of having to walk out alone on public stages, in a glaring spotlight, time after time with death threats jammed in his tuxedo pocket informing him that some armed bigot in that night’s audience would see to it that he didn't leave the stage alive.”
― Richard F. Stockton

“Could I but acquaint the world with Robert G. Ingersoll's humanity, with his ideas and his sentiments of love, patience and understanding, a renascence would automatically take place that would give life and living on this little earth of ours some semblance of what we call paradise.

And this great and wonderful man had to die!

I do not know the purpose of life, nor do I understand why death should come to all that is; but this I do know -- that when Robert G. Ingersoll died, on July 21, 1899, then you and I, and the whole world, suffered a mortal blow.

When the mighty heart, of his mighty body, that supplied the blood to his mighty brain, burst, never again was there to fall from his eloquent lips the pearls of thought that had been so wondrously formed in his brain.

The mightiest voice in all the world was silenced, forever. No wonder the people wept when they heard that Ingersoll was dead.

He was the greatest of the Great -- the Mightiest of the Mighty. He was 'as constant as the Northern Star whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament.' He was the indistinguishable star whose brilliance never dimmed.

When Robert G. Ingersoll died, his death was 'the ruins of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of time ... When shall we ever see another?'

When Robert G. Ingersoll died, the sky should have been rent asunder, and Nature should have gone into mourning.

When this man died, Nature's masterpiece was destroyed, and hot tears of grief should have fallen from the heavens.

Robert G. Ingersoll no longer belongs to his family;

He no longer belongs to his friends;

He no longer belongs to his country;

Robert G. Ingersoll now belongs to all the world -- the whole universe --

He is immortal and eternal.

Among the galaxies of Nature's masterpieces, none shine with a greater brilliance than the babe who was born in this house 121 years ago today, and named Robert Green Ingersoll.”
― Joseph Lewis, Ingersoll the Magnificent

“For in disease the most voluntary or most special movements, faculties, etc., suffer first and most, that is in an order the exact opposite of evolution. Therefore I call this the principle of Dissolution.”
― John Hughlings Jackson

“Este país iría mucho mejor si la gente aprendiera a sufrir en silencio”
― Neil Gaiman, American Gods

“This doctrine of forgiveness of sin is a premium on crime. 'Forgive us our sins' means "Let us continue in our iniquity." It is one of the most pernicious of doctrines, and one of the most fruitful sources of immorality. It has been the chief cause of making Christian nations the most immoral of nations. In teaching this doctrine Christ committed a sin for which his death did not atone, and which can never be forgiven. There is no forgiveness of sin. Every cause has its effect; every sinner must suffer the consequences of his sins.”
― John E. Remsburg, The Christ

“I had to ask myself why I'm continuing to engage in behavior I knew hurt. What was my payoff? Did it confirm my belief I was not enough? Did I think I needed to suffer? Did I think I could save him? Why not save myself instead? What a miserable realization that I knew all of this yet failed to take action.”
― Paula Heller Garland

“The universe will never force a mindset on you. You have complete free agency to choose fear and suffer unnecessarily if you want to.”
― Kimberly Giles