--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forget your personal tragedy. We are all…" description: "\"Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ernest-hemingway-83_personal-tragedy_forget-your-personal-tragedy-we-are-all_654218.jpg" --- # Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the… ![“Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it-don't cheat with it.” quote by Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ernest-hemingway-83_personal-tragedy_forget-your-personal-tragedy-we-are-all_654218.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ernest-hemingway-83_personal-tragedy_forget-your-personal-tragedy-we-are-all_654218.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/ernest-hemingway-83_personal-tragedy_forget-your-personal-tragedy-we-are-all_654218.jpg) > “Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it-don't cheat with it.” [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain and hardship are prerequisites for authentic writing; embrace suffering without exploiting it. **In simple terms:** Suffering fuels serious writing. Key Takeaway Channel hurt into honest work. Themes writing authenticity pain Mood intense reflective Type literary motivational When to use this quote - novel writing - journalism - personal essays Key Concepts Existentialism creative process Questions to Reflect On - Can you write without pain? - How to balance vulnerability and craft? A Different Perspective Pain can impair health and clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell-write-1921580/) [Personal tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-tragedy/) [Tragedy Bitched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy-bitched-5224983/) [Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write/) [Write Seriously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-seriously-3773152/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“And no matter how much I want to encourage the man or woman trying for the first time to write seriously, I can’t lie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/and-no-matter-how-much-i-want-to-encourage-the-man-or-woman-trying/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“I just hope there’s a Daily Hell I can write for. 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I take my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bj-ward/i-d-reconstruct-heaven-or-usurp-hell-write-till-i-swing-open-like-a/) [BJ Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bj-ward/) > [Being made redundant is a personal tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyles-brandreth/being-made-redundant-is-a-personal-tragedy/) [Gyles Brandreth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyles-brandreth/) > [Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/most-important-however-is-the-third-avenue-to-meaning-in-life-even/) [Viktor E. 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The people we love seemingly are only endings that we prefer before the curtain falls on its own accord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-chouette/we-are-our-own-tragedies-the-people-we-love-seemingly-are-only/) [Laura Chouette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-chouette/) > [“Not since the Kennedy's of Massachusetts has an American family publicly suffered personal tragedy after personal tragedy like the Von Erichs of Denton County,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-g-mullinax/not-since-the-kennedy-s-of-massachusetts-has-an-american-family/) [Ron G. Mullinax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-g-mullinax/) > [For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/for-me-it-is-a-deep-personal-tragedy-i-know-that-the-world-shares-the/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## More by Ernest Hemingway > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“There was no wind, and, outside now of the warm air of the cave, heavy with smoke of both tobacco and charcoal, with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-was-no-wind-and-outside-now-of-the-warm-air-of-the-cave-heavy/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“It was not brilliant bull-fighting. It was only perfect bull-fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/it-was-not-brilliant-bull-fighting-it-was-only-perfect-bull-fighting/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [One cat just leads to another. The place is so damned big it doesn't really seem as though there were many cats until you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/one-cat-just-leads-to-another-the-place-is-so-damned-big-it-doesn-t/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Creation's probably overrated. 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There was the green of the headlands, the white, red-roofed villas, patches of forest, and the ocean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/we-drove-out-along-the-coast-road-there-was-the-green-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [As a Nobel Prize winner I cannot but regret that the award was never given to Mark Twain, nor to Henry James, speaking only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/as-a-nobel-prize-winner-i-cannot-but-regret-that-the-award-was-never/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Oh, darling, I've been so miserable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/oh-darling-i-ve-been-so-miserable/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write, and then I remember that it was always difficult,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-read-my-own-books-sometimes-to-cheer-me-when-it-is-hard-to-write/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“You find everything on earth at Harry's." "Yes, my Colonel. Except, possibly, happiness." "I'll damn well find happiness, too," the Colonel assured him. "Happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/you-find-everything-on-earth-at-harry-s-yes-my-colonel-except/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“No. It's bad for me. Cole Porter wrote the words and the music. This knowledge that you're going mad for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/no-it-s-bad-for-me-cole-porter-wrote-the-words-and-the-music-this/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. The boy keeps me alive, he thought. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/everything-kills-everything-else-in-some-way-fishing-kills-me-exactly/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) [Explore all 1,464 Ernest Hemingway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More Personal tragedy quotes > [For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/for-me-it-is-a-deep-personal-tragedy-i-know-that-the-world-shares-the/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [“Not since the Kennedy's of Massachusetts has an American family publicly suffered personal tragedy after personal tragedy like the Von Erichs of Denton County,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-g-mullinax/not-since-the-kennedy-s-of-massachusetts-has-an-american-family/) [Ron G. Mullinax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-g-mullinax/) > [“We are our own tragedies. The people we love seemingly are only endings that we prefer before the curtain falls on its own accord.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-chouette/we-are-our-own-tragedies-the-people-we-love-seemingly-are-only/) [Laura Chouette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-chouette/) > [It is an unfortunate personal tragedy. However, when compared to the vast ocean of the collective tragedy faced by my people, my illness is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-an-unfortunate-personal-tragedy-however-when-compared-to-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-what-then-matters-is-to-bear-witness-to-the-uniquely-human/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/most-important-however-is-the-third-avenue-to-meaning-in-life-even/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [Being made redundant is a personal tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyles-brandreth/being-made-redundant-is-a-personal-tragedy/) [Gyles Brandreth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyles-brandreth/) > [“While we haunt ourselves, we become part of others. With all our broken pieces, we are gathered in mosaics— reflecting every careless smile, echoing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-chouette/while-we-haunt-ourselves-we-become-part-of-others-with-all-our-broken/) [Laura Chouette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-chouette/) > [The abrupt and sudden death of my wife has taken a severe emotional and psychic toll on me. On top of that, some people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shashi-tharoor/the-abrupt-and-sudden-death-of-my-wife-has-taken-a-severe-emotional/) [Shashi Tharoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shashi-tharoor/) > [“I have no idea why one person can be handed a tragic past and become healthy and selfless while another amplifies their pain into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/i-have-no-idea-why-one-person-can-be-handed-a-tragic-past-and-become/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [Humanity can be divided into madmen and cowards. My personal tragedy is in being born into a world where sanity is held to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/humanity-can-be-divided-into-madmen-and-cowards-my-personal-tragedy/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [Running has made my life worthwhile. I used to be more dead than alive after the personal tragedy in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fauja-singh/running-has-made-my-life-worthwhile-i-used-to-be-more-dead-than-alive/) [Fauja Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fauja-singh/) > [But it's a stigmatized problem, and it's a silent problem. This has to end. 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