The more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free.
A. S. ByattRead
Pain hardens, and great pain hardens greatly, whatever the comforters say, and suffering does not ennoble, though it may occasionally lend a certain rigid dignity of manner to the suffering frame.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Pain can make individuals emotionally hardened rather than noble, despite what others might claim.
In this quote, A. S. Byatt reflects on the nature of suffering and its impact on the human condition. She suggests that while pain can create a certain dignified demeanor, it fundamentally does not elevate one's moral character or transform suffering into nobility. Instead, it often leads to emotional desensitization, which challenges the romanticized views of suffering often expressed by those who seek to comfort others.
Themes
PainSufferingHardshipDignityEmotions
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about overcoming personal struggles, one might use this quote to illustrate the harsh reality of pain.
More from A. S. Byatt
All quotes →It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry.
A. S. ByattRead
Why do we take pleasure in gruesome death, neatly packaged as a puzzle to which we may find a satisfactory solution through clues - or if we are not clever enough, have it revealed by the all-powerful tale-teller at the end of the book? It is something to do with being reduced to, and comforted by, playing by the rules.
A. S. ByattRead
Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.
A. S. ByattRead
Only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink.
A. S. ByattRead
I am a creature of my pen. My pen is the best of me.
A. S. ByattRead
Similar quotes
Choosing one path means abandoning others - if you try to follow every possible path you will end up following none.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Many of her thoughts were perfect syllogisms; unluckily they always remained thoughts. Only a few were irrational assumptions; but, unfortunately, they were the ones which most frequently grew into deeds
Thomas HardyRead
Violence is a symptom of impotence.
Anais NinRead
Take motherhood: nobody ever thought of putting it on a moral pedestal until some brash feminists pointed out, about a century ago, that the pay is lousy and the career ladder nonexistent.
Barbara EhrenreichRead
One cannot use an evil action with reference to a good intention.
Thomas AquinasRead
Dear friends, let us not forget the flesh of Christ which is in the flesh of refugees: their flesh is the flesh of Christ. It is also your task to direct all the institutions working in the area of forced migration to new forms of co-responsibility. This phenomenon is unfortunately constantly spreading. Hence your task is increasingly demanding in order to promote tangible responses of closeness, journeying with people, taking into account the different local backgrounds.
Pope FrancisRead