--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pain is an event ... Suffering, on the…" description: "\"Pain is an event ... Suffering, on the other hand, is the nightmare reliving of unscrutinized and unmetabolized pain.\" — Audre Lorde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/545/audre-lorde-758_events_pain-is-an-event-suffering-on-the-other_2937175.jpg" --- # Pain is an event ... Suffering, on the other hand, is the… ![“Pain is an event ... Suffering, on the other hand, is the nightmare reliving of unscrutinized and unmetabolized pain.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/545/audre-lorde-758_events_pain-is-an-event-suffering-on-the-other_2937175.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/545/audre-lorde-758_events_pain-is-an-event-suffering-on-the-other_2937175.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/545/audre-lorde-758_events_pain-is-an-event-suffering-on-the-other_2937175.jpg) > “Pain is an event ... Suffering, on the other hand, is the nightmare reliving of unscrutinized and unmetabolized pain.” [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain is a fleeting event, while suffering is the ongoing reliving of unresolved pain. **In simple terms:** Pain passes; suffering endures when unprocessed. Key Takeaway Address pain before it becomes suffering. Themes pain uffering mental health Mood somber introspective Type philosophical therapeutic When to use this quote - counseling - mindfulness - healthcare - personal growth Key Concepts psychology trauma Questions to Reflect On - What unresolved pain are you reliving? - How can you transform pain into healing? A Different Perspective Suffering may persist despite attempts to process it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Pain is an event. It happens to you, and you deal with it in whatever way you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-laurie/pain-is-an-event-it-happens-to-you-and-you-deal-with-it-in-whatever/) [Hugh Laurie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-laurie/) > [“Bliss and suffering, it seems, always go hand in hand.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kentetsu-takamori/bliss-and-suffering-it-seems-always-go-hand-in-hand/) [Kentetsu Takamori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kentetsu-takamori/) > [Your afflictions may only prove that you are more immediately under the Father's hand. There is no time that the patient is such an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-murray-m-cheyne/your-afflictions-may-only-prove-that-you-are-more-immediately-under/) [Robert Murray M'Cheyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-murray-m-cheyne/) > [I've seen suffering first-hand, and we have to make sure we relieve people's suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-gomez/i-ve-seen-suffering-first-hand-and-we-have-to-make-sure-we-relieve/) [Jimmy Gomez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-gomez/) > [Whenever I go back to London, I have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen, and I won't be able to get back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-andrews/whenever-i-go-back-to-london-i-have-this-horrible-feeling-that/) [Naveen Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-andrews/) > [he was the monster that stalked nightmare and they both knew it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/he-was-the-monster-that-stalked-nightmare-and-they-both-knew-it/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [I'm not a fan of musicals at all, but I do think 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' is a very good. 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Then, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/my-nightmare-scenario-is-that-the-government-saves-citibank-once/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [And yet, I do believe there is ultimately meaning in the chaos, and also in the doldrums. What I resist is not the truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/and-yet-i-do-believe-there-is-ultimately-meaning-in-the-chaos-and/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [Whenever you define family as anything other than a man and a woman married together, you have just introduced an ethical nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/whenever-you-define-family-as-anything-other-than-a-man-and-a-woman/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) ## More by Audre Lorde > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. 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As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) [Explore all 377 Audre Lorde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## More Events quotes > [History is, in its essentials, the science of change. 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