--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How indeed is it possible for one human…" description: "\"“How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry for all the sadness that meets him on the face of the earth, for the pain that is endured no..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75f/e-m-forster-2-1148_nature_how-indeed-is-it-possible-for-one-human_3015478.jpg" --- # How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry… ![“How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry for all the sadness that meets him on the face of the earth, for the pain that is endured not only by men, but by animals and plants, and perhaps by the stones?” quote by E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75f/e-m-forster-2-1148_nature_how-indeed-is-it-possible-for-one-human_3015478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75f/e-m-forster-2-1148_nature_how-indeed-is-it-possible-for-one-human_3015478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/75f/e-m-forster-2-1148_nature_how-indeed-is-it-possible-for-one-human_3015478.jpg) > ““How indeed is it possible for one human being to be sorry for all the sadness that meets him on the face of the earth, for the pain that is endured not only by men, but by animals and plants, and perhaps by the stones?”” [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We feel sorrow for all suffering in the world, extending even to non‑human life and inanimate objects. **In simple terms:** Empathy for universal suffering Key Takeaway Recognize shared pain across species and matter Themes compassion universality existentialism Mood melancholy thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - activism - environmental work - philosophical reflection Key Concepts Ethics Anthropocentrism Ecology Questions to Reflect On - What limits our empathy? - How can we act on this broad compassion? A Different Perspective Skeptics may argue that feeling for stones is absurd ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Sadness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sadness/) ## Related quotes > [I make mistakes, I hurt people, I'm only a human sorry I'm not perfect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-ramkran/i-make-mistakes-i-hurt-people-i-m-only-a-human-sorry-i-m-not-perfect/) [Christine Ramkran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-ramkran/) > [The time has come to listen to the frightened moans of our fellow brothers and sisters and indeed the earth itself is in pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlo-morgan/the-time-has-come-to-listen-to-the-frightened-moans-of-our-fellow/) [Marlo Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlo-morgan/) > [Mother Earth is in pain and ailing because of global warming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-glover/mother-earth-is-in-pain-and-ailing-because-of-global-warming/) [Danny Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-glover/) > [Is there evil but on earth? Or pain in every people sphere? Well, be grateful for the sounding watchword "Evolution" here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/is-there-evil-but-on-earth-or-pain-in-every-people-sphere-well-be/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [Then she opened her eyes, Veronika did not think 'this must be heaven'. Heaven would never use a fluorescent tube to light a room,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/then-she-opened-her-eyes-veronika-did-not-think-this-must-be-heaven/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When the years are dying in the arms of your life, the earth is in pain moving around the sun.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/munia-khan/when-the-years-are-dying-in-the-arms-of-your-life-the-earth-is-in/) [Munia Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/munia-khan/) > [I have felt pain, I have endured hardship, I have suffered loss of loved ones and I have memories I want to forget. However,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-have-felt-pain-i-have-endured-hardship-i-have-suffered-loss-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pain can be endured and defeated only if it is embraced. Denied or feared, it grows in perception if not in reality. The best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/pain-can-be-endured-and-defeated-only-if-it-is-embraced-denied-or-2/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [Good pain is pain in the service of a purpose. Bad pain is pain endured because we are resisting a needed growth step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/good-pain-is-pain-in-the-service-of-a-purpose-bad-pain-is-pain/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [When the course of experience made me see that there is no saviour and no special grace, no remission beyond the human, that pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/when-the-course-of-experience-made-me-see-that-there-is-no-saviour/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [The pride in finishing a marathon is much greater than all the pain endured during the marathon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-higdon/the-pride-in-finishing-a-marathon-is-much-greater-than-all-the-pain/) [Hal Higdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-higdon/) > [Sometimes I wonder if we don't see Christ's love as much in the people he tolerated as in the pain he endured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/sometimes-i-wonder-if-we-don-t-see-christ-s-love-as-much-in-the/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Pain can be endured and defeated only if it is embraced. Denied or feared, it grows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/pain-can-be-endured-and-defeated-only-if-it-is-embraced-denied-or/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [...What torments of pain have you endured that haven't as yet arrived? and may never!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-torments-of-pain-have-you-endured-that-haven-t-as-yet-arrived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Pain is to be endured. It ends or it does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/pain-is-to-be-endured-it-ends-or-it-does-not/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) ## More by E.M. Forster > [“She gave up trying to understand herself, and the vast armies of the benighted, who follow neither the heart nor the brain, and march…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/she-gave-up-trying-to-understand-herself-and-the-vast-armies-of-the/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“They had tried to reproduce their own attitude to life upon the stage, and to dress up as the middle-class English people they actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/they-had-tried-to-reproduce-their-own-attitude-to-life-upon-the-stage/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“I believe in aristocracy, though -- if that is the right word, and if a democrat may use it. Not an aristocracy of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/i-believe-in-aristocracy-though-if-that-is-the-right-word-and-if-a/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Oh, what's the use of your fairmindedness if you never decide for yourself? Anyone gets hold of you and makes you do what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/oh-what-s-the-use-of-your-fairmindedness-if-you-never-decide-for/) [E.M. 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Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-had-said-it-bravely-and-that-is-why-one-can-trust-beethoven-when/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He whispered: ‘Is it this? Is this possible? I’ll put a marvel to you. That your cousin has always hoped. That from the very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-whispered-is-it-this-is-this-possible-i-ll-put-a-marvel-to-you/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Perhaps anything that he did would have pleased Lucy, but his awkwardness went straight to her heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/perhaps-anything-that-he-did-would-have-pleased-lucy-but-his/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“Because a thing is going strong now, it need not go strong for ever,' she said. 'This craze for motion has only set in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/because-a-thing-is-going-strong-now-it-need-not-go-strong-for-ever/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“England was alive, throbbing through all her estuaries, crying for joy through the mouths of all her gulls, and the north wind, with contrary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/england-was-alive-throbbing-through-all-her-estuaries-crying-for-joy/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“But the poetry of that kiss, the wonder of it, the magic that there was in life for hours after it--who can describe that?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-the-poetry-of-that-kiss-the-wonder-of-it-the-magic-that-there-was/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“But that some sonatas of Beethoven are written tragic no one can gainsay; yet they can triumph or despair as the player decides, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/but-that-some-sonatas-of-beethoven-are-written-tragic-no-one-can/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [“He chanced to be in a lucid critical mood, and would not sympathize with exaltation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-forster-2/he-chanced-to-be-in-a-lucid-critical-mood-and-would-not-sympathize/) [E.M. Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) [Explore all 274 E.M. Forster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) ## More Nature quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [Remember that your natural state is joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/remember-that-your-natural-state-is-joy/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/borrow-trouble-for-yourself-if-that-s-your-nature-but-don-t-lend-it/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [“Men mistook measurement for understanding. And they always had to put themselves at the center of everything. That was their greatest conceit. The earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-harris/men-mistook-measurement-for-understanding-and-they-always-had-to-put/) [Robert Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-harris/) > [“She was, he knew- and had known very early, he supposed- one of those rare and always lovely humans whose moral nature was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/she-was-he-knew-and-had-known-very-early-he-supposed-one-of-those/) [John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/) > [“When the water covers the earth the sun will vanish the darkess and the cold will come.When the last dragon and the last Elf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silvana-de-mari/when-the-water-covers-the-earth-the-sun-will-vanish-the-darkess-and/) [Silvana de Mari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silvana-de-mari/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... 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