--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As if sorrow is the true reality? Without…" description: "\"“As if sorrow is the true reality? Without ever putting his mind to it, he's come to believe that loss is the standard trajectory.”\" — Ben Fountain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/ben-fountain-3198_grief_as-if-sorrow-is-the-true-reality-without_369518.png" --- # As if sorrow is the true reality? Without ever putting his… ![“As if sorrow is the true reality? Without ever putting his mind to it, he's come to believe that loss is the standard trajectory.” quote by Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/ben-fountain-3198_grief_as-if-sorrow-is-the-true-reality-without_369518.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/ben-fountain-3198_grief_as-if-sorrow-is-the-true-reality-without_369518.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e52/ben-fountain-3198_grief_as-if-sorrow-is-the-true-reality-without_369518.png) > ““As if sorrow is the true reality? Without ever putting his mind to it, he's come to believe that loss is the standard trajectory.”” [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects on how grief can become perceived as the normal state of existence when one avoids confronting it directly. **In simple terms:** Avoiding grief makes loss feel normal. Key Takeaway Acknowledge pain to prevent it from defining life. Themes grief perception normalcy Mood reflective somber Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - personal loss - mental health counseling - support groups - creative writing Key Concepts psychology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How does avoidance shape your view of loss? - What steps can you take to confront grief? A Different Perspective If one never examines sorrow, they may accept it uncritically, limiting growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe-loss-1026884/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-true-3373678/) [True reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-reality/) ## Related quotes > [“Without ever exactly putting his mind to it, he's come to believe that loss is standard trajectory. 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Anything we might call God after that is insufficient to the true reality of what God is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-edward-simone/infinity-is-the-true-reality-of-god-anything-we-might-call-god-after/) [Val Edward Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-edward-simone/) > [“Our true reality is not a limited phenomenon, existing only between birth and death. It is eternal life that exists alone, self-existent and self-sufficient,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilchi-lee/our-true-reality-is-not-a-limited-phenomenon-existing-only-between/) [Ilchi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilchi-lee/) > [“we shouldn’t surrender our real world perception to a false reality too much or we may suffer the inevitable consequences of deluded thinking. Technology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-p-neary/we-shouldn-t-surrender-our-real-world-perception-to-a-false-reality/) [M.P. Neary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-p-neary/) ## More by Ben Fountain > [“The singing triggers a soft detonation at his core, molten parts of him are flying everywhere and his ears ring to the tune of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/the-singing-triggers-a-soft-detonation-at-his-core-molten-parts-of/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [“Even harder was describing his sense that Shroom’s death might have ruined him for anything else, because when he died? when I felt his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/even-harder-was-describing-his-sense-that-shroom-s-death-might-have/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [“Without ever exactly putting his mind to it, he's come to believe that loss is standard trajectory. 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I mean, I’d rather have nothing than let this guy use me like his bitch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/i-think-sometimes-nothing-is-better-than-something-i-mean-i-d-rather/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [“No it was my choice. It's what I wanted to do. And I knew they'd probably send me to Iraq. 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He’d like to hang out with Beyonce in a nice way, get to know her by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/he-decides-he-wants-both-more-and-less-he-d-like-to-hang-out-with/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) > [Late bloomer' is another way of saying 'slow learner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fountain/late-bloomer-is-another-way-of-saying-slow-learner/) [Ben Fountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) [Explore all 127 Ben Fountain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fountain/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. 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The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. 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