--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you feel that you must suffer, then…" description: "\"If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully -- as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.\" — Edward Abbey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/edward-abbey-254_ancestor_if-you-feel-that-you-must-suffer-then-pl_1945607.png" --- # If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering… ![“If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully -- as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/edward-abbey-254_ancestor_if-you-feel-that-you-must-suffer-then-pl_1945607.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/edward-abbey-254_ancestor_if-you-feel-that-you-must-suffer-then-pl_1945607.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bd/edward-abbey-254_ancestor_if-you-feel-that-you-must-suffer-then-pl_1945607.png) > “If you feel that you must suffer, then plan your suffering carefully -- as you choose your dreams, as you conceive your ancestors.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When suffering seems inevitable, choose it deliberately, as you would choose dreams or honor ancestors. **In simple terms:** Choose suffering intentionally, like choosing goals or heritage. Key Takeaway Approach hardship with purpose, not resignation. Themes suffering choice legacy Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal crisis - activism - grieving process Key Concepts existentialism intentionality psychology Questions to Reflect On - What suffering would you choose to endure for a greater purpose? - How does honoring ancestors shape your view of hardship? A Different Perspective Suffering may be self‑inflicted and harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancestor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancestor/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [You choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-choose/) [Your dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your-dreams/) ## Related quotes > [Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/creativity-has-got-to-start-with-humanity-and-when-you-re-a-human-2/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Creativity has got to start with humanity and when you're a human being, you feel, you suffer. 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Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Going where no man has gone before is more difficult than it sounds. Our cousins and ancestors were no less curious than we are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/going-where-no-man-has-gone-before-is-more-difficult-than-it-sounds/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [Whereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves entitled to participate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-allen/whereas-our-ancestors-not-of-choice-were-the-first-successful/) [Richard Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-allen/) > [Food binds us to our roots as strongly as any song or poem. Many of us have learned more about our ancestors in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-thomas/food-binds-us-to-our-roots-as-strongly-as-any-song-or-poem-many-of-us/) [Anna Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-thomas/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. 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Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Ancestor quotes > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [Food binds us to our roots as strongly as any song or poem. 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Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [“A very long time ago, some 2.5 million years B.C., the mother of human species as we know it, our ultimate ancestor, appeared in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/a-very-long-time-ago-some-2-5-million-years-b-c-the-mother-of-human/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [High birth is an accident, not a virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pietro-metastasio/high-birth-is-an-accident-not-a-virtue/) [Pietro Metastasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pietro-metastasio/) > [Southerners, whose ancestors a hundred years ago knew the horrors of a homeland devastated by war, are particularly determined that war shall never come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/southerners-whose-ancestors-a-hundred-years-ago-knew-the-horrors-of-a/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/two-hundred-years-ago-before-the-advent-of-capitalism-a-man-s-social/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [And I saw for the first time how, despite the isolation of our own lives, we are always connected to our ancestors; our bodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-richman/and-i-saw-for-the-first-time-how-despite-the-isolation-of-our-own/) [Alyson Richman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-richman/) > [There is an ancient Indian saying: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." 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