Pain and Despair

Excess of grief for the dead is madness; for it is an injury to the living, and the dead know it not.

Despair often breeds disease.

There is some pleasure even in words, when they bring forgetfulness of present miseries.

If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.

From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.

Death is not the worst that can happen to men.

Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance.

The sword the body wounds, sharp words the mind.

Riches cover a multitude of woes.

The vine bears three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of intoxication, the third of disgust.

Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.

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

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.

He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.

I do see that there is an argument against suicide: the grief of the worshipers left behind, the awful famine in their hearts, these are too costly terms for the release.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles... by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

The man who isn't a pessimist is a damned fool.

Seasickness: at first you are so sick you are afraid you will die, and then you are so sick you are afraid you won't die.

Comparison is the death of joy.

The inability to forget is far more devastating than the inability to remember.

Gradually the healing took place, seeming as it always does that it wasn't taking place.

If you evade suffering you also evade the chance of joy. Pleasure you may get, or pleasures, but you will not be fulfilled. You will not know what it is to come home.

A profound love between two people involves, after all, the power and chance of doing profound hurt.