Janet Fitch Quotes

Threescore years and ten is enough; if a man can't suffer all the misery he wants in that time, he must be numb.

We can stand only a certain amount of unhappiness; anything beyond that annihilates us or passes us by, leaving us apathethetic.

The greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to feel the pain.

I'm a great admirer of Primo Levi's work. It's always mind-boggling, the idea of how much pain people can endure and still come back from the edge with a sense of humor, with this tremendous animal desire we have to get on with life.

People are too durable, that's their main trouble. They can do too much to themselves, they last too long.

And, as long as you can make yourself go on choosing the pain over the relief, you can keep going.

Love's the only house big enough for all the pain in the world.

There are those who suffer and grow strong; there are those who suffer and grow weak. This mystery of pain is still for me the saddest of earth's disabilities.

All damaged people are dangerous. Survival makes them so.' 'Why?' 'Because they have no pity. They know what others can survive, as they did.

Man can only endure a certain degree of unhappiness; what is beyond that either annihilates him or passes by him and leaves him apathetic

Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain.

You know, he told me once, completely exasperated, you've got one glass of water inside your head, with all the tears for a lifetime. If you waste them over nothing, then you won't be able to cry for real when you need to.

No happy person can be quite so impervious to pain (Gail Wynand to Dominique Francon)

No single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable.

Don’t worry about me handling the pain," I say. "I’ve had a lot of practice.

It's necessary to use suffering. Otherwise, one is used by it.

A human being can stand any amount of pain.

What a vast fraternity it is,--that of 'Hearts that Ache.' For the last three months it has seemed to me as though all society were coming to me, to drop its mask for a moment and initiate me into the mystery. How we do suffer! And we go on laughing; for, as a practical joke at our expense, life is a success.

Lord, may the pain be ours, And the weakness that it brings, But at least give us the strength, Of not showing it to anyone!

It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry

Self carries grief as a pack mule carries the side bags, being careful between the trees to leave extra room.

Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw back.

Cries of despair, misery, sobbing grief are a kind of wealth.

The world is full of horrible things that will eventually get you and everything you care about. Laughter is a universal way to lift your head up and say: 'Not today, you bastards.'

All pain is the same.