--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human suffering, while it is asleep, is…" description: "\"Human suffering, while it is asleep, is shapeless. If it is wakened it takes the form of the waker.\" — Antonio Porchia" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/antonio-porchia-3066_adversity_human-suffering-while-it-is-asleep-is-sh_1852437.png" --- # Human suffering, while it is asleep, is shapeless. If it… ![“Human suffering, while it is asleep, is shapeless. If it is wakened it takes the form of the waker.” quote by Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/antonio-porchia-3066_adversity_human-suffering-while-it-is-asleep-is-sh_1852437.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/antonio-porchia-3066_adversity_human-suffering-while-it-is-asleep-is-sh_1852437.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b46/antonio-porchia-3066_adversity_human-suffering-while-it-is-asleep-is-sh_1852437.png) > “Human suffering, while it is asleep, is shapeless. If it is wakened it takes the form of the waker.” [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unawakened suffering is vague; once recognized, it becomes shaped by the one who perceives it. **In simple terms:** Suffering becomes defined when we notice it. Key Takeaway Observe pain without projecting onto it. Themes suffering consciousness perception identity awakening Mood somber introspective Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - therapy sessions - meditation retreats - creative writing - spiritual counseling Key Concepts existentialism mindfulness psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does noticing pain change its impact? - Can detachment reduce its shape? A Different Perspective Awareness can also intensify distress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Human suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-suffering/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. —BRUCE LEE”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-jurek/empty-your-mind-be-formless-shapeless-like-water-bruce-lee/) [Scott Jurek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-jurek/) > [Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/empty-your-mind-be-formless-shapeless-like-water/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [Different development itself runs the threat of making life shapeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-may/different-development-itself-runs-the-threat-of-making-life-shapeless/) [Todd May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-may/) > [You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/you-must-be-shapeless-formless-like-water-when-you-pour-water-in-a-2/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. Be water, my friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/empty-your-mind-be-formless-shapeless-like-water-be-water-my-friend/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [If you hunger for certain types of clothes, for which you have little use, put yourself on a diet. Just as you resist too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/if-you-hunger-for-certain-types-of-clothes-for-which-you-have-little/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [Wearing that? Wouldn't you fancy a shapeless cardigan instead? You rock a shapeless cardigan, honey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/wearing-that-wouldn-t-you-fancy-a-shapeless-cardigan-instead-you-rock/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [“the last several years my life had begun to feel shapeless, like underwear with the elastic gone, the days down around my ankles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-thomas/the-last-several-years-my-life-had-begun-to-feel-shapeless-like/) [Abigail Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-thomas/) > [We are all patchwork, and so shapeless and diverse in composition that each bit, each moment, plays its own game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/we-are-all-patchwork-and-so-shapeless-and-diverse-in-composition-that-2/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [Fantasy is like jam. . . . You have to spread it on a solid piece of bread. If not, it remains a shapeless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/fantasy-is-like-jam-you-have-to-spread-it-on-a-solid-piece-of-bread/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [He was beautiful, that was always affirmed, but his beauty was hard to fix or to see, for he was always glimmering, flickering, melting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/he-was-beautiful-that-was-always-affirmed-but-his-beauty-was-hard-to/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [Art without technique is invertebrate, shapeless, characterless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignacy-jan-paderewski/art-without-technique-is-invertebrate-shapeless-characterless/) [Ignacy Jan Paderewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignacy-jan-paderewski/) > [Grief, first take on shape! what is shapeless causes fear and torment but when the enemy materializes, half the victory is won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/grief-first-take-on-shape-what-is-shapeless-causes-fear-and-torment/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [“Art was, for Poe, the only method by which one could penetrate the shapeless empirical world in the search for order, and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/art-was-for-poe-the-only-method-by-which-one-could-penetrate-the/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I think the things that are most intimate are nameless and shapeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/i-think-the-things-that-are-most-intimate-are-nameless-and-shapeless/) [Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/) ## More by Antonio Porchia > [It's been a long time since I asked anything of heaven, and my arms still haven't come down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/it-s-been-a-long-time-since-i-asked-anything-of-heaven-and-my-arms/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [You do not see the river of mourning because it lacks one tear of your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/you-do-not-see-the-river-of-mourning-because-it-lacks-one-tear-of/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [If you are good to this one and that one, this one and that one will say that you are good. If you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/if-you-are-good-to-this-one-and-that-one-this-one-and-that-one-will/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Man goes nowhere. Everything comes to man, like tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/man-goes-nowhere-everything-comes-to-man-like-tomorrow/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Certainties are arrived at only on foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/certainties-are-arrived-at-only-on-foot/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [I have been my own disciple and my own master. And I have been a good disciple but a bad master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/i-have-been-my-own-disciple-and-my-own-master-and-i-have-been-a-good/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Situated in some nebulous distance I do what I do so that the universal balance of which I am a part may remain a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/situated-in-some-nebulous-distance-i-do-what-i-do-so-that-the/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Man, when he does not grieve, hardly exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/man-when-he-does-not-grieve-hardly-exists/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Yes I will try to be. Because I believe that not being is arrogant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/yes-i-will-try-to-be-because-i-believe-that-not-being-is-arrogant/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [He who holds me by a thread is not strong; the thread is strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/he-who-holds-me-by-a-thread-is-not-strong-the-thread-is-strong/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Without this ridiculous vanity that takes the form of self-display, and is part of everything and everyone, we would see nothing, and nothing would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/without-this-ridiculous-vanity-that-takes-the-form-of-self-display/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [What we pay for with our lives never costs too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/what-we-pay-for-with-our-lives-never-costs-too-much/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [My bits of time play with eternity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/my-bits-of-time-play-with-eternity/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [We become aware of the void as we fill it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/we-become-aware-of-the-void-as-we-fill-it/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [A large heart can be filled with very little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/a-large-heart-can-be-filled-with-very-little/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) [Explore all 130 Antonio Porchia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) ## More Adversity quotes > [We love playing together and we love adversity. You know, back-to-back, the two best teams in the East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/we-love-playing-together-and-we-love-adversity-you-know-back-to-back/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [When we have public success we also have private struggles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deion-sanders/when-we-have-public-success-we-also-have-private-struggles/) [Deion Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deion-sanders/) > [“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/the-threats-that-resurfaced-in-the-past-10-years-were-not-an/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“Friction is necessary. Ease of life leads to complacency and the atrophy of the human will and spirit. Within our struggles lives our strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/friction-is-necessary-ease-of-life-leads-to-complacency-and-the/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Every adversity is just another opportunity to excel a little more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-templet/every-adversity-is-just-another-opportunity-to-excel-a-little-more/) [Michel Templet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-templet/) > [“Just because she doesn't talk about it, doesn't mean she isn't feeling it. She hurts, but she won't wear it on her sleeve. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/just-because-she-doesn-t-talk-about-it-doesn-t-mean-she-isn-t-feeling/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) James Buckham Kennedy > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Struggles are not associated to a particular people or creed, everyone struggles, not for the same reasons, but each has a personal struggle at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/struggles-are-not-associated-to-a-particular-people-or-creed-everyone/) [Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/) > [“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/watch-a-man-in-times-of-adversity-to-discover-what-kind-of-man-he-is/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [God often hides His blessing in trouble or trial, which makes it all the sweeter when it comes our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/god-often-hides-his-blessing-in-trouble-or-trial-which-makes-it-all/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Life is not about less mistakes but about more trials”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-sever/life-is-not-about-less-mistakes-but-about-more-trials/) S.E. SEVER > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,001 Adversity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Human suffering, while it is asleep, is shapeless. 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