Those who inflict must suffer, for they see
The work of their own hearts, and that must be
read more

Those who inflict must suffer, for they see
The work of their own hearts, and that must be
Our chastisement or recompense.

How little it takes to make life unbearable: a pebble in the shoe, a cockroach in the spaghetti, a woman's read more

How little it takes to make life unbearable: a pebble in the shoe, a cockroach in the spaghetti, a woman's laugh.

And taste
The melancholy joys of evils pass'd,
For he who much has suffer'd, much will know.

And taste
The melancholy joys of evils pass'd,
For he who much has suffer'd, much will know.

He could afford to suffer
With those whom he saw suffer.

He could afford to suffer
With those whom he saw suffer.

In default of inexhaustible happiness, eternal suffering would at least give us a destiny. But we do not even have read more

In default of inexhaustible happiness, eternal suffering would at least give us a destiny. But we do not even have that consolation, and our worst agonies come to an end one day.

We have suffered lightly, if we have suffered what we should weep
for.
[Lat., Levia perpessi sumus
read more

We have suffered lightly, if we have suffered what we should weep
for.
[Lat., Levia perpessi sumus
Si flenda patimur.]

Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be
beneficial.
[Lat., Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi read more

Have patience and endure; this unhappiness will one day be
beneficial.
[Lat., Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim.]

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, read more

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering, one must not love. But then, one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be happy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.

Now it seems to me that love of some kind is the only possible explanation of the extraordinary amount of read more

Now it seems to me that love of some kind is the only possible explanation of the extraordinary amount of suffering that there is in the world.