--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: all were suffering; that whatever way one…" description: "\"“all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg" --- # all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this… ![“all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg) > ““all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.”” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognizes universal suffering and urges compassionate action to ease others' burdens, warning against self‑absorbed sorrow that hinders help. **In simple terms:** Everyone suffers; we should help others and not dwell in self‑pity. Key Takeaway Act with empathy, avoid excessive self‑focus. Themes compassion responsibility humanity empathy interconnectedness Mood reflective serious hopeful Type ethical philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal crisis - volunteering - mental health support - conflict resolution Key Concepts Existentialism ethical duty social responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How can you recognize when your own sorrow blocks helping others? - What small act can you do today to lighten someone’s load? A Different Perspective Self‑pity can paralyze us, making it hard to assist others. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Remember Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-suffering-1422995/) [State Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/state-sorrow-2847007/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Content](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-content-2644200/) [Suffering Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-way-646836/) ## Related quotes > [“all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one-took-in-this-world-one-must/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/that-his-current-state-of-sorrow-was-not-uniquely-his-not-at-all-but/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Positive thoughts emanate when we are in a sate of joy and negative thoughts come when we are in a state of sorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girdhar-joshi/positive-thoughts-emanate-when-we-are-in-a-sate-of-joy-and-negative/) [Girdhar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girdhar-joshi/) > [“Remember that suffering will change you, but not necessarily for the better. You must choose to grow better not bitter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-cordeiro/remember-that-suffering-will-change-you-but-not-necessarily-for-the/) [Wayne Cordeiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-cordeiro/) > [When I stepped up a division I can remember suffering the worst fatigue I had ever felt. I noticed it massively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-hatton/when-i-stepped-up-a-division-i-can-remember-suffering-the-worst/) [Ricky Hatton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-hatton/) > [There are sufferings that have lost their memory and do not remember why they are suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/there-are-sufferings-that-have-lost-their-memory-and-do-not-remember/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Remember this: all suffering comes to an end. And whatever you suffer authentically, God has suffered from it first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/remember-this-all-suffering-comes-to-an-end-and-whatever-you-suffer/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [When you look upon your miseries and hardships..always remember,others out there might be suffering more than you do. And yet...the beautiful things about them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-look-upon-your-miseries-and-hardships-always-remember-others/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I remember the suffering of my childhood and youth, it could make me sad. 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Think you Jesus came to remove our pains? Wherever did you get that notion?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-lawhead/we-are-closest-to-christ-when-sharing-the-world-s-misery-think-you/) [Stephen R. Lawhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-lawhead/) > [I would rather die than ever see you suffering this way. I don't want you or any child I ever have or any woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/i-would-rather-die-than-ever-see-you-suffering-this-way-i-don-t-want/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [Her face is puffy and red, while painful tears stream down her sad face. She cries out loudly, hoping someone will hear her silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/her-face-is-puffy-and-red-while-painful-tears-stream-down-her-sad/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by George Saunders > [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? Well,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/wow-wow-wow-is-all-i-can-say-remember-how-i-always-buy-lunchtime/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“None of it was real; nothing was real. Everything was real; inconceivably real, infinitely dear. 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Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/a-clinton-staffer-tells-me-his-theory-think-about-frank-sinatra-he/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-try-we-fail-we-posture-we-aspire-we-pontificate-and-then-we-age/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. 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It's good for us to hear someone speak the irrational truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-good-the-prophet-in-the-wilderness-may-do-is-incremental-and/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [You don't want to be that parent - the one who dresses his kid in a cloth sack when all the other kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-don-t-want-to-be-that-parent-the-one-who-dresses-his-kid-in-a/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) [Explore all 690 George Saunders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## More Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. 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The whole modern tendency to agonize over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/how-much-of-our-inner-substance-is-it-good-for-us-to-give-to-public/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [That Woman is in love with her own grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/that-woman-is-in-love-with-her-own-grief/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/short-time-seems-long-in-sorrow-s-sharp-sustaining/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [These days grief seems like walking on a frozen river; most of the time he feels safe enough, but there is always that danger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/these-days-grief-seems-like-walking-on-a-frozen-river-most-of-the/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [“You've been my beacon of light in my storm of grief, and I don't know if I could live without you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-ashley/you-ve-been-my-beacon-of-light-in-my-storm-of-grief-and-i-don-t-know/) [Katie Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-ashley/) > [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. 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The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) [Browse all 8,012 Grief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were suffering (none content; all wronged, neglected, overlooked, misunderstood), and therefore one must do what one could to lighten the load of those with whom one came into contact; that his current state of sorrow was not uniquely his, not at all, but, rather, its like had been felt, would yet be felt, by scores of others, in all times, in every time, and must not be prolonged or exaggerated, because, in this state, he could be of no help to anyone and, given that his position in the world situated him to be either of great help or great harm, it would not do to stay low, if he could help it.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Saunders" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one-took-in-this-world-one-must-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Grief" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one-took-in-this-world-one-must-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/586/george-saunders-317_grief_all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one_1094605.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“all were suffering; that whatever way one took in this world, one must try to remember that all were…” — George Saunders", "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": "George Saunders", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“all were suffering; that whatever way...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one-took-in-this-world-one-must-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/all-were-suffering-that-whatever-way-one-took-in-this-world-one-must-2/#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 } } ] } ```