--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God said, Let there be pain. And there…" description: "\"“God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry. Eventually.”\" — Ian McEwan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png" --- # God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry… ![“God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry. Eventually.” quote by Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png) > ““God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry. Eventually.”” [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain is a catalyst that births poetry, turning suffering into artistic expression. **In simple terms:** Pain creates poetry. Key Takeaway Embrace pain as creative fuel. Themes art pain creativity Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - writing - painting - music composition - therapy sessions Key Concepts existentialism aesthetics Questions to Reflect On - Can you find beauty without pain? - Is all art born from suffering? A Different Perspective Art may romanticize suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [God Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-said/) [Let Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/let-pain/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-poetry-272538/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Eventually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-eventually-4322549/) ## Related quotes > [“Adversity forced awareness on us, and it works, it bites us when we go too near the fire, when we love too hard. Those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/adversity-forced-awareness-on-us-and-it-works-it-bites-us-when-we-go/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Without pain, poetry is not possible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seerat/without-pain-poetry-is-not-possible/) [seerat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seerat/) > [“No pain, no poetry.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/no-pain-no-poetry/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“1. You must let the pain visit. 2. You must allow it teach you 3. You must not allow it overstay. (Three routes to healing)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ijeoma-umebinyuo/1-you-must-let-the-pain-visit-2-you-must-allow-it-teach-you-3-you/) [Ijeoma Umebinyuo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ijeoma-umebinyuo/) > [Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-soft-do-not-let-the-world-make-you-hard-do-not-let-pain-make-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Facing the darkness, admitting the pain, allowing the pain to be pain, is never easy. This is why courage - big-heartedness - is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-fox/facing-the-darkness-admitting-the-pain-allowing-the-pain-to-be-pain/) [Matthew Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-fox/) > [Never let the pain from your past punish your present and paralyze your future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-let-the-pain-from-your-past-punish-your-present-and-paralyze/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you've had a break up, learn from it. Let the pain make you stronger. There's someone out there that isn't like the rest.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haley-knight/if-you-ve-had-a-break-up-learn-from-it-let-the-pain-make-you-stronger/) [Haley Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haley-knight/) > [“Let go of the pain. But never forget the past lessons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/let-go-of-the-pain-but-never-forget-the-past-lessons/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Happiness is when you let the pain out of your life, moving forward and start anew.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-is-when-you-let-the-pain-out-of-your-life-moving-forward/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The problem however is that many of us choose to cling to our hurts. We let the pain linger longer than they should.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-soriano/the-problem-however-is-that-many-of-us-choose-to-cling-to-our-hurts/) [Jocelyn Soriano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-soriano/) > [“This isn’t your fault. It never was. There is nothing to hold on to. Let it go. The pain that drew it to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-royce/this-isn-t-your-fault-it-never-was-there-is-nothing-to-hold-on-to-let/) [Rebecca Royce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-royce/) > [I just let the pain take over, allowing it to numb the pain of being left behind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-sorensen/i-just-let-the-pain-take-over-allowing-it-to-numb-the-pain-of-being/) [Jessica Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-sorensen/) > [“Let go of the pain If it doesn't motivate Kindness and goodness to others”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debby-feo/let-go-of-the-pain-if-it-doesn-t-motivate-kindness-and-goodness-to/) [Debby Feo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debby-feo/) > [“Trust me dear I understand I understand how painful life can be Pain can drive you into the darkest place I have been there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kabashe-pillay/trust-me-dear-i-understand-i-understand-how-painful-life-can-be-pain/) [Kabashe Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kabashe-pillay/) ## More by Ian McEwan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. Like a spode dinner plate. Or a single cell. Or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/perhaps-it-s-one-of-those-cases-of-a-microcosm-giving-you-the-whole/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Who you get, and how it works out- there's so much luck involved, as well as the million branching consequences of your conscious choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/who-you-get-and-how-it-works-out-there-s-so-much-luck-involved-as/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“On Chesil Beach he could have called out to Florence, he could have gone after her. He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. And it is a terrifying prospect and actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-would-rather-be-physically-disabled-obviously-than-mentally-i-would/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Words, as I'm beginning to appreciate, can make things true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/words-as-i-m-beginning-to-appreciate-can-make-things-true/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I couldn't think about novels at all. It seemed the only writing that was appropriate to that horrendous event was journalism, reportage. And, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-couldn-t-think-about-novels-at-all-it-seemed-the-only-writing-that/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I did not kill my father, but I sometimes felt I had helped him on his way. And but for the fact that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-did-not-kill-my-father-but-i-sometimes-felt-i-had-helped-him-on-his/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) [Explore all 496 Ian McEwan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## More Pain quotes > [Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they're wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/pain-is-meant-to-wake-us-up-people-try-to-hide-their-pain-but-they-re/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [“If I let myself think of it the pain and anger were still fresh, adrenalin racing down my limbs to pool, hot and itchy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kylie-ladd/if-i-let-myself-think-of-it-the-pain-and-anger-were-still-fresh/) [Kylie Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kylie-ladd/) > [“I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-crandall/i-locked-the-door-and-turned-on-the-water-to-fill-the-tub-i-made-it/) [Susan Crandall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-crandall/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I want people to hear my lyrics and my melodies and say, 'That dude's in pain.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-moody/i-want-people-to-hear-my-lyrics-and-my-melodies-and-say-that-dude-s/) [Ivan Moody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-moody/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [It hurts wanting the best for someone you love, even if they feel the best isn't you. That's real love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-hurts-wanting-the-best-for-someone-you-love-even-if-they-feel-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tryna hide this pain with these pain killers, she said the storms only will last a little while but shit it got me feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myself/tryna-hide-this-pain-with-these-pain-killers-she-said-the-storms-only/) [Myself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myself/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [Many Republicans have always reminded me of professional WWF wrestlers. They come into the ring all pumped up and acting like they're invincible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/many-republicans-have-always-reminded-me-of-professional-wwf/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [“What is there, in the mention of Time To Come, that is so quick to wrench at the heart, to inflict a pain in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-llewellyn/what-is-there-in-the-mention-of-time-to-come-that-is-so-quick-to/) [Richard Llewellyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-llewellyn/) > [“Where there is doubt (shanka), there is misery. The moment one begins to doubt the knowledge that, 'I am Chandubhai,' misery arises. Once one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-is-doubt-shanka-there-is-misery-the-moment-one-begins-to/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [There's only so much for a man to take...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gilchrist/there-s-only-so-much-for-a-man-to-take/) [Kirsten Gilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gilchrist/) > [Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-pain-is-the-breaking-of-the-shell-that-encloses-your/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) [Browse all 17,919 Pain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry. Eventually.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ian McEwan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was-poetry-eventually/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Pain" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was-poetry-eventually/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59d/ian-mcewan-494_pain_god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was_2931303.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“God said, Let there be pain. And there was poetry. Eventually.” — Ian McEwan", "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": "Ian McEwan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“God said, Let there be pain....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was-poetry-eventually/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/god-said-let-there-be-pain-and-there-was-poetry-eventually/#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 } } ] } ```