79 Suffering Quotes To Bring Some Relief In Your Life

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

Here are 79 of the most inspiring suffering quotes I could find. And the goal is simple: to help you get relief from the burden you’re feeling. You’ll discover quotes by Jordan Peterson, Seneca, Epictetus, and more. Enjoy!

Suffering is when we resist the moment. Kamal Ravikant

The greatest suffering is attachment. The greatest joy is understanding. Maxime Lagacé

Suffering is a characteristic of life. You can’t take it personally. Jordan B. Peterson

Our suffering is caused by holding on to how things might have been, should have been, could have been. Stephen Levine

Suffering is your perceptions clashing with reality. Sven Schnieders

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We over do so we don’t have to over feel. Courtney Carver

Desire is suffering. Naval Ravikant

People show off to fill a void. Maxime Lagacé

The wise don’t suffer their sufferings. Maxime Lagacé

A man who does not understand the benefit of suffering does not live a clever and true life. Leo Tolstoy

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Only 3 things can change our life: Dreams, Suffering and Love. Paulo Coelho

We suffer more in imagination than in reality. Seneca

Nothing can survive without food, not even suffering. Thich Nhat Hanh

Whoever fears to suffer, already suffers what he fears. Thibaut

Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning. Viktor E. Frankl (Man’s Search for Meaning, Amazon book)

Related

More Quotes About Suffering

The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for. Bob Marley

There will always be suffering. But we must not suffer over the suffering. Alan Watts

Be grateful in spite of your suffering. Jordan B. Peterson (Source)

The purpose of life, as far as I can tell, is to find a mode of being that’s so meaningful that the fact that life is suffering is no longer relevant. Jordan B. Peterson

I simply want people to know that there is a way out of suffering. Byron Katie

One of the primary causes of suffering is avoidance. Shane Parrish (Source)

Learn to accept discomfort and uncertainty. It will eliminate most of your imagined suffering. Neil Strauss

The events of your past are fixed. The meaning of your past is not. James Clear

You suffer because you expect. Maxime Lagacé

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering. Friedrich Nietzsche

The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame. Mark Manson

You can suffer greatly but still have a great life. You can suffer little and have a meaningless life. Suffering has less to do with it than we think. Mark Manson

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Suffering ends when we stop fearing things that we can’t avoid. Paulo Coelho (Source)

We need to strengthen our foundation of joy and happiness before focusing on our suffering. Thich Nhat Hanh

Problems get easier when you turn them around. Rather than ask what you can do to be happy, avoid all the things that make you miserable. Shane Parrish

When you welcome suffering and no longer hide from it, nothing can take away your peace of mind. No matter what happens to you, you know that you will be able to endure it. Darius Foroux

Man is sometimes extraordinarily, passionately, in love with suffering. Fyodor Dostoevsky

The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves. Elvin Semrad

Suffering is how life tells you that you are resisting or misperceiving what is real and true. Adyashanti

A man will give up almost anything except his suffering. John Cleese

On our earth we can only love sincerely with suffering and through suffering. We do not know how to love any other way and know no other love. Fyodor Dostoevsky

It may look as if the situation is creating the suffering, but ultimately this is not so – your resistance is. Eckhart Tolle

Suffering is great because when you suffer, you’re forced to see the truth for what it is. Naval Ravikant

The most fulfilling human projects appeared inseparable from a degree of torment, the sources of our greatest joys lying awkwardly close to those of our greatest pains. Alain de Botton

It is perhaps when our lives are at their most problematic that we are likely to be most receptive to beautiful things. Alain de Botton

You suffer in the present because you hope for the future. James Pierce (Source)

We may be happy enough with little if little is what we have come to expect, and we may be miserable with much when we have been taught to desire everything. Alain de Botton

Embrace your suffering tenderly. Thich Nhat Hanh

Once you create a distance between you and your body, between you and your mind, that is the end of suffering. Sadhguru

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth. Fyodor Dostoevsky

Whenever I see a person suffering from nervousness, I think, well, what can he expect? If he had not set his sights on things outside man’s control, his nervousness would end at once. Epictetus

My advice to the person suffering from lack of time and from apathy is this: Seek out each day as many as possible of the small joys. Hermann Hesse

It’s often the desire for certainty that causes us to suffer more than the uncertainty itself. Mark Manson

This is suffering’s lesson: pay attention. The important part might come in a form you do not recognize. Sarah Manguso

The ego could be defined simply in this way: a dysfunctional relationship with the present moment. Eckhart Tolle

We are bathing in mystery and confusion on many subjects, and I think that will always be our destiny. The universe will always be much richer than our ability to understand it. Carl Sagan

One of the deepest habitual patterns that we have is to feel that now is not good enough. Pema Chödrön

The root of suffering is attachment. Buddha

All problems are personal, which simply means, you create your own suffering. Brian Thompson

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Alan Watts

The things that you consider to be “yours” own you far more than you own them. James Pierce

You don’t need to unwind so much as you need to discover why you are “wound” in the first place. James Pierce

Anonymity is bliss. Identity is suffering. James Pierce

Intellectuals are those who understand and can speak about a topic at multiple levels of granularity. Andrew Huberman (Source)

All wanting comes from need, therefore from lack, therefore from suffering. Arthur Schopenhauer

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending. Thich Nhat Hanh

Recognizing the futility of happiness, the wise man drops the search. In dropping the search, life loses the power to make him miserable. James Pierce

The more voluntary suffering you build into your life, the less involuntary suffering will affect your life. Tim Ferriss

Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth. Anthony de Mello

Your suffering is never caused by the person you are blaming. Byron Katie

You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation… and that is called loving. Well, then, love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else. Herman Hesse

Suffering is nothing but experience enslaved to ignorance. 14th Dalai Lama

Reports of suffering are upsetting, but it’s a mistake to think we can do nothing about it. Many problems we face are of our own making. Since we are social animals who need friends, the least we can do is smile and respond to others warm-heartedly — that will make a difference. 14th Dalai Lama

What we wish to be true clouds our perception of what is true. Suffering is that moment when we can no longer deny reality. Naval Ravikant

People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don’t suffer anymore. Thich Nhat Hanh

You suffer because your mind is attached to something. Maxime Lagacé

Common humanity: recognizing that all human beings suffer and are imperfect. Kristen Neff

The main affliction of our modern civilization is that we don’t know how to handle the suffering inside us and we try to cover it up with all kinds of consumption. Thich Nhat Hanh (No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering, Amazon book)

Without suffering, there’s no happiness. So we shouldn’t discriminate against the mud. We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness. Thich Nhat Hanh

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

Whatever you are seeking, all becomes suffering. It is better to have nothing further to seek. Rinzai

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. Kahlil Gibran

The longer you avoid voluntary discomfort, the longer you’ll have to endure mandatory suffering. Ed Latimore (edlatimore.com)

Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering. Paulo Coelho

When you recognize who you are, suffering and struggle will be gone, and fear and negativity will dissolve. The mind will quiet. You will be filled with joy, positivity, fulfillment, a sense of abundance, and an imperturbable peace. Rhonda Byrne (Source)

Suffering is a moment of clarity, when you can no longer deny the truth of a situation and are forced into uncomfortable change. Inside suffering is the seed of change. Naval Ravikant

Most of the gains in life come from suffering in the short term, so you can get paid in the long term. Naval Ravikant

Conclusion

All greatness comes from suffering. Naval Ravikant

Key Takeaways

Want to stop suffering? Stop resisting the moment. Accept.
Remember: Attachment leads to suffering. Let go.
Suffering only exists in your mind. There’s no concept of suffering in nature.
Instead of overdoing and overthinking, learn to face reality calmly.
From an evolutionary standpoint, wanting more (power, control, stuff) makes sense. But it can also lead you to misery.