--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think I should accept other…" description: "\"I don't think I should accept other people's suffering because I suffered. Just the opposite, because I suffered I don't want others to suffer.\" — Elie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/elie-wiesel-341_accepting_i-don-t-think-i-should-accept-other-peop_3154493.png" --- # I don't think I should accept other people's suffering… ![“I don't think I should accept other people's suffering because I suffered. Just the opposite, because I suffered I don't want others to suffer.” quote by Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/elie-wiesel-341_accepting_i-don-t-think-i-should-accept-other-peop_3154493.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/elie-wiesel-341_accepting_i-don-t-think-i-should-accept-other-peop_3154493.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af9/elie-wiesel-341_accepting_i-don-t-think-i-should-accept-other-peop_3154493.png) > “I don't think I should accept other people's suffering because I suffered. Just the opposite, because I suffered I don't want others to suffer.” [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Empathy should not be based on shared pain; suffering should inspire us to alleviate others' pain, not to avoid it. **In simple terms:** Suffering should motivate helping others. Key Takeaway Use personal hardship to foster compassion. Themes compassion empathy responsibility Mood reflective determined Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - counseling - community service - conflict resolution - mental health support Key Concepts moral philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn your own suffering into a source of aid for others? - What barriers prevent you from helping despite empathy? A Different Perspective Personal pain can bias us toward withdrawal rather than action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [When you love someone, you don't want them to suffer at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-gainsbourg/when-you-love-someone-you-don-t-want-them-to-suffer-at-all/) [Charlotte Gainsbourg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-gainsbourg/) > [I want to suffer so that I may love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/i-want-to-suffer-so-that-i-may-love/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [Pleasure puts you to sleep and pain wakes you up. If you don't want to suffer, don't go to sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/pleasure-puts-you-to-sleep-and-pain-wakes-you-up-if-you-don-t-want-to/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [We are suffering. We have suffered. And we are not afraid to suffer in order to win our cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/we-are-suffering-we-have-suffered-and-we-are-not-afraid-to-suffer-in/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [At sixteen, the adolescent knows about suffering because he himself has suffered, but he barely knows that other beings also suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/at-sixteen-the-adolescent-knows-about-suffering-because-he-himself/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [“I'll tell you why the six million matter so much: it is because the Jews are the chosen people. Forget the Cambodians, forget the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teju-cole/i-ll-tell-you-why-the-six-million-matter-so-much-it-is-because-the/) [Teju Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teju-cole/) > [“He was too well accustomed to suffering, and had suffered too much where he was, to bewail the prospect of change very severely.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/he-was-too-well-accustomed-to-suffering-and-had-suffered-too-much/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“I knew it would be hard when I promised you my best," he said, drying my tears in turn. I'd been naive to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-r-w-lee/i-knew-it-would-be-hard-when-i-promised-you-my-best-he-said-drying-my/) [L.R.W. Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-r-w-lee/) > [“You stole five cars. Instead of going into prison or juvenile detention, you endured nothing more than volunteer work. Now that you are paying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-reisz/you-stole-five-cars-instead-of-going-into-prison-or-juvenile/) [Tiffany Reisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-reisz/) > [When someone says Let's just be friends? It's because they don't want to suffer the pain of losing you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-someone-says-let-s-just-be-friends-it-s-because-they-don-t-want/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Young girls like the excess of any quality. Without knowing, they want to suffer, to suffer they must exaggerate; they like to have loud…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/young-girls-like-the-excess-of-any-quality-without-knowing-they-want/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [“Nobody wants to be alone in misery. Cara experienced no shame in admitting that need. Not only did she not want to suffer alone,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christa-parravani/nobody-wants-to-be-alone-in-misery-cara-experienced-no-shame-in/) Christa Parravani > [“Abby wouldn't want you to suffer because of some jerk that kidnapped her. She would want you to go on your trip so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ottilie-weber/abby-wouldn-t-want-you-to-suffer-because-of-some-jerk-that-kidnapped/) [Ottilie Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ottilie-weber/) > [“On our earth we can only love sincerely with suffering and through suffering. We do not know how to love any other way and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/on-our-earth-we-can-only-love-sincerely-with-suffering-and-through/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Just as Jesus called out Peter as being of the devil for tempting him to take an easy way out, I believe such thoughts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-houston/just-as-jesus-called-out-peter-as-being-of-the-devil-for-tempting-him/) [Brian Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-houston/) ## More by Elie Wiesel > [A religious person answers to God, not to the elected or non-elected official.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/a-religious-person-answers-to-god-not-to-the-elected-or-non-elected/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [One more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/one-more-stab-to-the-heart-one-more-reason-to-hate-one-less-reason-to/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“What all these victims need above all is to know that they are not alone; that we are not forgetting them, that when their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/what-all-these-victims-need-above-all-is-to-know-that-they-are-not/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I feel that books, just like people, have a destiny. Some invite sorrow, others joy, some both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-feel-that-books-just-like-people-have-a-destiny-some-invite-sorrow/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [ \[Chinese\] are a huge empire now, you'll soon be - in a few years two billion people in the world. So, you should be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/chinese-are-a-huge-empire-now-you-ll-soon-be-in-a-few-years-two/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Did I write it so as not to go mad or, on the contrary, to go mad in order to understand the nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/did-i-write-it-so-as-not-to-go-mad-or-on-the-contrary-to-go-mad-in/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Take the story of Cain and Abel. Why were we given that story? Scientifically, you may have an explanation for it, but I'm not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/take-the-story-of-cain-and-abel-why-were-we-given-that-story/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/mankind-must-remember-that-peace-is-not-god-s-gift-to-his-creatures/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/the-world-the-world-is-not-interested-in-us-today-everything-is/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-question-possessed-a-power-that-was-lost-in-the-answer/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [His cold eyes stared at me. At last, he said wearily: "I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/his-cold-eyes-stared-at-me-at-last-he-said-wearily-i-have-more-faith/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [As you know, I describe Shirat ha-Yam as part of an epic story that has qualities of history and which also has qualities of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/as-you-know-i-describe-shirat-ha-yam-as-part-of-an-epic-story-that/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Every Jew, somewhere in his being, should set apart a zone of hate -healthy virile hate- for what the German personifies and for what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/every-jew-somewhere-in-his-being-should-set-apart-a-zone-of-hate/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [“Did hope help us to survive, or not? Too many families clung to it all through the war, thus falling into the enemy's trap.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/did-hope-help-us-to-survive-or-not-too-many-families-clung-to-it-all/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) [Explore all 662 Elie Wiesel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't think I should accept other people's suffering because I suffered. 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