--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the first time since her return, she…" description: "\"For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it was worth feeling.\" — Ayn Rand" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg" --- # For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a… ![“For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it was worth feeling.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg) > “For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it was worth feeling.” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain can be a sign of being truly alive, as it shows we are engaged with meaningful experiences. **In simple terms:** Pain shows we are alive. Key Takeaway Embrace discomfort as evidence of living fully. Themes existence pain authenticity Mood introspective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative pursuits - relationships - personal growth - health challenges Key Concepts existentialism human experience Questions to Reflect On - What painful experiences have taught you the most? - How can you balance pain with self‑care? A Different Perspective Pain can also be harmful if ignored or mismanaged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Felt Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-pain-298223/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-feel-252957/) [Pain Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-violent-1211657/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Violent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent/) [Violent Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violent-pain-5270104/) [Worth Feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worth-feeling-3303372/) ## Related quotes > [For pain is perhaps but a violent pleasure? Who could determine the point where pleasure becomes pain, where pain is still a pleasure? Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/for-pain-is-perhaps-but-a-violent-pleasure-who-could-determine-the/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The creation of this object that I have in my hand and the gift that we've been given to induce such violent pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suicide-silence/the-creation-of-this-object-that-i-have-in-my-hand-and-the-gift-that/) [Suicide Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suicide-silence/) > [Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/ease-would-recant-vows-made-in-pain-as-violent-and-void/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [If it's worth feeling bad about, it's worthy of amnesia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bandler/if-it-s-worth-feeling-bad-about-it-s-worthy-of-amnesia/) [Richard Bandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bandler/) > [Everyday I thank god for making me a woman with this most sensitive heart thats worth feeling the pain of others too and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/everyday-i-thank-god-for-making-me-a-woman-with-this-most-sensitive/) [Senoraroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senoraroy/) > [“You might think you have a really good reason, but nothing could be worth this. Nothing could be worth feeling this way. I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-albert/you-might-think-you-have-a-really-good-reason-but-nothing-could-be/) [Melissa Albert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-albert/) > [Was it worth it? Feeling better for a minute or two, knowing that the cold would still be out there waiting?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/was-it-worth-it-feeling-better-for-a-minute-or-two-knowing-that-the/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [Nobody is worth feeling small for, no matter how large you become in the moments they make you happier, nobody is worth the shrink.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nobody-is-worth-feeling-small-for-no-matter-how-large-you-become-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Did I feel a physical desire for him? I did. Was I moved by a passion of my body? I was. Have I experienced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/did-i-feel-a-physical-desire-for-him-i-did-was-i-moved-by-a-passion/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Who never felt pain , never felt happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amine-johnny/who-never-felt-pain-never-felt-happiness/) [Amine Johnny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amine-johnny/) > [“Why are you doing this?" I asked as I turned and looked at her. "Because I can lay here and no one will know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandi-lynn/why-are-you-doing-this-i-asked-as-i-turned-and-looked-at-her-because/) [Sandi Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandi-lynn/) > [Because he KNEW he was doing wrong. He felt the PAIN of his actions'-- 'But he did not amen them,' shows the Sky. 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/because-he-knew-he-was-doing-wrong-he-felt-the-pain-of-his-actions/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [If you think for one second no one knows what you've been going through; be accepting of the fact that you are wrong, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-koyczan/if-you-think-for-one-second-no-one-knows-what-you-ve-been-going/) [Shane Koyczan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-koyczan/) > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I've never felt a pain that didn't bear a blessing. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-knudsen-hoffman/i-ve-never-felt-a-pain-that-didn-t-bear-a-blessing/) [Gene Knudsen Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-knudsen-hoffman/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) [Adam Ant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-ant/) > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it was worth feeling.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ayn Rand" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she-felt-pain-a-violent-pain-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she-felt-pain-a-violent-pain-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c97/ayn-rand-59_alive_for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she_3093280.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For the first time since her return, she felt pain, a violent pain, but it made her feel alive, because it…” — Ayn Rand", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ayn Rand", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For the first time since her...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she-felt-pain-a-violent-pain-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/for-the-first-time-since-her-return-she-felt-pain-a-violent-pain-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```