How many people reading this are in pain, physically or emotionally?
Please do not add to that pain with painful thoughts or shame about past actions or inactions.
As a friend posted on Facebook recently, pain is not a punishment.
If pain is not a punishment, then what is it? Let’s see what wise people have said about pain.
Fear is pain arising from anticipation of evil. — Aristotle
It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. — Julius Caesar
There is no coming to consciousness without pain. — Carl Jung
Pain is never permanent. — Saint Teresa of Avila
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay the most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promises only; pain we obey. — Marcel Proust
The great art of life is sensation, to feel that we exist, even in pain. — Lord Byron
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain. — James Baldwin
Pain reaches the heart with electrical speed, but truth moves to the heart as slowly as a glacier. — Barbara Kingsolver
All of us have ways in which we mask and cover our pain. — Iyania Vanzant
Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain. — Joseph Campbell
Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other. — Laurence Sterne
Pain is the most private experience, but its causes, whether natural or man-made, demand public accounting. — Nancy Gibbs
To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it! — Charlie Chaplin
If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is “art” for? — Ai Weiwei
One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. — Bob Marley
Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends. — Tom Waits
It pains me to leave out some of the great quotes about pain.
This Tom Waits/Cookie Monster mashup helps relieve my pain:
If that doesn’t relieve your pain, here‘s some Bob Marley:
I always take pains to thank those who help me write these posts and — of course! — YOU.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 
You’ve got it covered, Ann.
Very comforting, Mark.
I hope you are not in pain, Ann. (((Hug)))
I am, from my fall last week, but hugs help reduce the pain, Maureen!
If I may add another quote, this one is from Captain Kirk, as played by William Shatner: “You know that pain and guilt can’t be taken away with the wave of a magic wand. They’re the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don’t want my pain taken away! I need my pain!”
That’s from Star Trek V, the only one Shatner directed. In his book Get A Life he shares a story about how he went undercover at a Star Trek convention and had the slightly painful experience of hearing a fan call that movie terrible, but it was balanced by learning how much joy Star Trek brought to peoples’ lives.
I hope you know how much joy you bring into my life, Chris.
I love that quote, Christopher. And it comes in handy for the thing I am writing right now. Thanks
There is nothing more to add! Thank you!
Thank YOU, Cecilia!
Wow, hold that thought of Tom Waits and Sesame Street in the same video! painless.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lisa!
I suppose if I hadn’t had such a sporting life my knees would not be protesting now – but, hey, it would have been such a pain not to have done.
Thanks for sharing your pain and your sporting life, Derrick.
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So sorry you’ve been hurting Ann. May the joy inside your heart help to soothe the pain 💕
Thanks for increasing the joy inside my heart, Val!
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