--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The ability to suffer is a small matter…" description: "\"The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg" --- # The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and… ![“The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg) > “The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even the weak can achieve moral excellence through suffering, showing that virtue is not limited to the strong. **In simple terms:** Suffering can produce virtue. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges to grow morally. Themes virtue strength through adversity human potential Mood serious inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal hardship - social injustice - physical training Key Concepts existentialism ethics resilience Questions to Reflect On - Can hardship always be transformed? - What role does intent play? A Different Perspective Suffering may not always lead to virtue. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Virtuosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuosity/) [Weak women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weak-women/) ## Related quotes > [Who can attain to anything great if he does not feel in himself the force and will to inflict great pain? The ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/who-can-attain-to-anything-great-if-he-does-not-feel-in-himself-the-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [When the guy says go, you start to suffer - or you might as well not be out there. It's a small piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-cox/when-the-guy-says-go-you-start-to-suffer-or-you-might-as-well-not-be/) Aaron Cox > [“I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-felt-as-though-the-vessel-if-my-suffering-had-become-empty-as-if/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [With the ability to dump someone, you'll have to have the ability to suffer being dumped!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-the-ability-to-dump-someone-you-ll-have-to-have-the-ability-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Treat the women and slaves kindly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-holy-prophet/treat-the-women-and-slaves-kindly/) The Holy Prophet > [“At Lowell, a Female Labor Reform Association put out a series of “Factory Tracts.” The first was entitled “Factory Life as It Is By…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/at-lowell-a-female-labor-reform-association-put-out-a-series-of/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Women are slaves to their beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/women-are-slaves-to-their-beauty/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [There exists in the minds of men a tone of feeling toward women as toward slaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/there-exists-in-the-minds-of-men-a-tone-of-feeling-toward-women-as/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [Nature intended women to be our slaves. They are our property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/nature-intended-women-to-be-our-slaves-they-are-our-property/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [“She had made the observation several years before to a startled Waldo Emerson that “women are Slaves.” Married women in particular—and that meant most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-marshall/she-had-made-the-observation-several-years-before-to-a-startled-waldo/) [Megan Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-marshall/) > [So long as women are slaves, men will be knaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/so-long-as-women-are-slaves-men-will-be-knaves/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [“In the Greek Olympics, women, slaves, and foreigners never took part. Not in Greek democracy either.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/in-the-greek-olympics-women-slaves-and-foreigners-never-took-part-not/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [“Surely there can be but one rule of right, if morality has an eternal foundation, and whoever sacrifices virtue, strictly so called, to present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/surely-there-can-be-but-one-rule-of-right-if-morality-has-an-eternal/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [River Song? Amy Pond? Hardly weak women. It's the exact opposite. You could accuse me of having a fetish for powerful, sexy women who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-moffat/river-song-amy-pond-hardly-weak-women-it-s-the-exact-opposite-you/) [Steven Moffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-moffat/) > [Mothers who are strong people, who can pursue a life of their own when it is time to let their children go, empower their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pittman/mothers-who-are-strong-people-who-can-pursue-a-life-of-their-own-when/) [Frank Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pittman/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. 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I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter-weak-women-and-even-slaves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ability" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter-weak-women-and-even-slaves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c86/friedrich-nietzsche-15_ability_the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter_3211390.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.” — Friedrich Nietzsche", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich Nietzsche", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The ability to suffer is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter-weak-women-and-even-slaves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter-weak-women-and-even-slaves/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```