Don’t look forward
to the day you stop suffering,
because when it comes
you’ll know you’re dead.

Observer, January 26, 1958

Although the world is very full of suffering,

it is also full of the overcoming of it.

Pain is the most individualizing thing on earth. It is true that it is the great common bond as well, but that realization comes only when it is over. To suffer is to be alone; to watch another suffer is to know that barrier that shuts each of us away by himself. Only individuals can suffer.

The Greek Way

If you suffer, thank God!—it is a sure sign that you are alive.

“Child Slavery”

If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully—as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.