--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To be a human being is to suffer. But…" description: "\"To be a human being is to suffer. But it's the unnecessary suffering, it's the suffering that we visit upon one another, that really should be stopped...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/bill-ayers-1848_human-beings_to-be-a-human-being-is-to-suffer-but-it_309306.jpg" --- # To be a human being is to suffer. But it's the unnecessary… ![“To be a human being is to suffer. But it's the unnecessary suffering, it's the suffering that we visit upon one another, that really should be stopped.” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/bill-ayers-1848_human-beings_to-be-a-human-being-is-to-suffer-but-it_309306.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/bill-ayers-1848_human-beings_to-be-a-human-being-is-to-suffer-but-it_309306.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/bill-ayers-1848_human-beings_to-be-a-human-being-is-to-suffer-but-it_309306.jpg) > “To be a human being is to suffer. But it's the unnecessary suffering, it's the suffering that we visit upon one another, that really should be stopped.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human existence inherently involves suffering; the avoidable suffering we cause each other should be eliminated. **In simple terms:** Life includes pain, but we can stop harming one another. Key Takeaway Reduce unnecessary harm in relationships. Themes ethics humanity compassion philosophy Mood thoughtful inspirational Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace culture - public policy - community building Key Concepts suffering social responsibility empathy Questions to Reflect On - What actions can you take to lessen harm to others? - How does empathy change societal norms? A Different Perspective Changing deep-rooted behaviors is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Human Suffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-suffer-2298420/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Suffer Unnecessary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffer-unnecessary-2937571/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-suffering-314673/) [Unnecessary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnecessary/) [Unnecessary suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnecessary-suffering/) ## Related quotes > [True freedom and the end of suffering is living in such a way as if you had completely chosen whatever you feel or experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/true-freedom-and-the-end-of-suffering-is-living-in-such-a-way-as-if/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [No matter how many people you kill, using a machine gun in battle is not a war crime because it does not cause unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-junger/no-matter-how-many-people-you-kill-using-a-machine-gun-in-battle-is/) [Sebastian Junger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-junger/) > [Whether or not we have personality disturbances, whether or not we have the ability to overcome deficiencies of early environment, is like the answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hospers/whether-or-not-we-have-personality-disturbances-whether-or-not-we/) [John Hospers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hospers/) > [My main life interest and purpose is to bring spiritual awakening into this world, to be a vehicle for the flowering of consciousness, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/my-main-life-interest-and-purpose-is-to-bring-spiritual-awakening/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Suffering cracks open the shell of ego, and then comes a point when it has served its purpose. 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I feel kind of out of place,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-posey/there-are-so-few-stories-being-produced-that-are-human-i-suffer-with/) [Parker Posey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-posey/) > [“It is painfully easy to define human beings. They are beings who, for no good reason at all, create their own unnecessary suffering.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natsume-s-seki/it-is-painfully-easy-to-define-human-beings-they-are-beings-who-for/) [Natsume Sōseki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natsume-s-seki/) > [“One of the main arguments that I make is that although almost everyone accepts that it is morally wrong to inflict “unnecessary” suffering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garylfrancione/one-of-the-main-arguments-that-i-make-is-that-although-almost/) [GaryLFrancione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garylfrancione/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. 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I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Human beings quotes > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. 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