--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's one thing to see the suffering and…" description: "\"It's one thing to see the suffering and dying on the television screen and quite another to be there and experience it. You cannot look into the eyes o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/basil-hume-20553_children_it-s-one-thing-to-see-the-suffering-and_1496483.png" --- # It's one thing to see the suffering and dying on the… ![“It's one thing to see the suffering and dying on the television screen and quite another to be there and experience it. You cannot look into the eyes of a starving child and yourself remain the same.” quote by Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/basil-hume-20553_children_it-s-one-thing-to-see-the-suffering-and_1496483.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/basil-hume-20553_children_it-s-one-thing-to-see-the-suffering-and_1496483.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/689/basil-hume-20553_children_it-s-one-thing-to-see-the-suffering-and_1496483.png) > “It's one thing to see the suffering and dying on the television screen and quite another to be there and experience it. You cannot look into the eyes of a starving child and yourself remain the same.” [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing suffering from afar leaves you detached; direct exposure forces personal transformation. **In simple terms:** Seeing suffering in person changes you. Key Takeaway Engage personally with hardship. Themes empathy humanity awareness Mood reflective somber Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - volunteering - humanitarian work - journalism - education Key Concepts psychology moral development Questions to Reflect On - How does direct exposure reshape your values? - Can empathy be cultivated without firsthand experience? A Different Perspective Personal change may be limited without sustained action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Eyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes/) [Eyes Starving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eyes-starving-5476004/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/see/) [Starving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starving/) [Starving Child](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starving-child-1416505/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Dying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-dying-1983183/) ## Related quotes > [A starving child is a frightful sight. A starving vampire, even worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/a-starving-child-is-a-frightful-sight-a-starving-vampire-even-worse/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [Undernourished, intelligence becomes like the bloated belly of a starving child: swollen, filled with nothing the body can use.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/undernourished-intelligence-becomes-like-the-bloated-belly-of-a/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [“Has all this suffering, this dying around us, a meaning? For, if not, then ultimately there is no meaning to survival; for a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/has-all-this-suffering-this-dying-around-us-a-meaning-for-if-not-then/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [I sometimes feel ashamed that I am devoting myself to artistic pursuits while so many of our people are suffering and dying for us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/i-sometimes-feel-ashamed-that-i-am-devoting-myself-to-artistic/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [The soldiers in Iraq are fighting, suffering and dying . . . anonymously and pointlessly, while the rest of us are free to buckle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-herbert/the-soldiers-in-iraq-are-fighting-suffering-and-dying-anonymously-and/) [Bob Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-herbert/) > [When you're sick, you're not thinking 24 hours a day about your suffering, about dying. You want to talk and laugh and think about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-watanabe/when-you-re-sick-you-re-not-thinking-24-hours-a-day-about-your/) [Ken Watanabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-watanabe/) > [My plea to the Body of Christ is while we must do all we can to meet the needs of the suffering and dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-p-yohannan/my-plea-to-the-body-of-christ-is-while-we-must-do-all-we-can-to-meet/) [K.P. Yohannan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-p-yohannan/) > [What's the point anyway — Of suffering, dying? It teaches us to live, boy. A man who does not struggle does not live, he survives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/what-s-the-point-anyway-of-suffering-dying-it-teaches-us-to-live-boy/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [There are children suffering, even dying from being bullied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenya-moore/there-are-children-suffering-even-dying-from-being-bullied/) [Kenya Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenya-moore/) > [When you see people suffering and dying and hungry, this job gives you the ability to do something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-r-wolf/when-you-see-people-suffering-and-dying-and-hungry-this-job-gives-you/) [Frank R. Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-r-wolf/) > [You wind up creating from silence, like painting a picture on a blank canvas that could bring tears to somebody's eyes. As songwriters, our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-atkins/you-wind-up-creating-from-silence-like-painting-a-picture-on-a-blank/) [Rodney Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-atkins/) > [It is useless to talk virtue to a starving girl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-howard-shaw/it-is-useless-to-talk-virtue-to-a-starving-girl/) [Anna Howard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-howard-shaw/) > [If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/if-you-followed-the-media-you-d-think-that-everybody-in-africa-was/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“She writes like she’s starving and reads like she’s feasting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-larson/she-writes-like-she-s-starving-and-reads-like-she-s-feasting/) [R.D. Larson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-d-larson/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More by Basil Hume > [On the whole, monks do not become famous - and that is a good thing - but monasteries do - and that is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/on-the-whole-monks-do-not-become-famous-and-that-is-a-good-thing-but/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [It is healthy to say, 'Yes, I am a sinner,' and to recognise that this should lead us to turn to God full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/it-is-healthy-to-say-yes-i-am-a-sinner-and-to-recognise-that-this/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Christ shared our experience; he suffered as we suffer; he died as we shall die, and for forty days in the desert he underwent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/christ-shared-our-experience-he-suffered-as-we-suffer-he-died-as-we/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Know how to 'cling' to him in prayer, and then you will see the face of Christ more clearly in those whom you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/know-how-to-cling-to-him-in-prayer-and-then-you-will-see-the-face-of/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Our response, our attitude, depends on our realisation of God's attitude toward us. If I experience love or have experienced it, this is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/our-response-our-attitude-depends-on-our-realisation-of-god-s/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Even though you find yourself in an intolerable position, one in which you think you have no right to be, accept it here and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/even-though-you-find-yourself-in-an-intolerable-position-one-in-which/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Let us remind ourselves that if we are to be our Lord's disciples, we must take up his Cross and follow him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/let-us-remind-ourselves-that-if-we-are-to-be-our-lord-s-disciples-we/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Moral choices do not depend on personal preference and private decision but on right reason and, I would add, divine order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/moral-choices-do-not-depend-on-personal-preference-and-private/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [It is not because we are drawn to prayer that we first begin to pray; more often, we have to begin prayer, and then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/it-is-not-because-we-are-drawn-to-prayer-that-we-first-begin-to-pray/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [In my opinion, it is a mistake to expect in prayer a response from God. Often, God's response is outside prayer. And often, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/in-my-opinion-it-is-a-mistake-to-expect-in-prayer-a-response-from-god/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [Deep down, we remain human, very human and have all the desires to love and be loved by one person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/deep-down-we-remain-human-very-human-and-have-all-the-desires-to-love/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [The experience of prayer when there is no awareness of God and no apparent response from ourselves should not lead us to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/the-experience-of-prayer-when-there-is-no-awareness-of-god-and-no/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [What did our Lord do by his Passion, Death, and Resurrection? He bridged that gulf which exists between God and man, a gulf which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/basil-hume/what-did-our-lord-do-by-his-passion-death-and-resurrection-he-bridged/) [Basil Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/basil-hume/) > [From aquaintances we conceal our real selves. 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I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. 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