--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Surely if we knew what bitterness fate…" description: "\"Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life pass us by untasted.\" — Jacqueline Carey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png" --- # Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we… ![“Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life pass us by untasted.” quote by Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png) > “Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life pass us by untasted.” [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If we knew future suffering, we would avoid life, missing its full experience. **In simple terms:** Fear of pain stops us from living fully. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty and live boldly. Themes courage uncertainty life experience Mood anxious determined Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career decisions - relationships - adventure sports - creative pursuits Key Concepts Existentialism risk taking Questions to Reflect On - What risks are you avoiding? - How might facing fear enrich your life? A Different Perspective Overestimates fear's power to paralyze. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) [Bitterness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/let-us-not-seek-to-satisfy-our-thirst-for-freedom-by-drinking-from/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Stir not the bitterness in the cup that I mixed for myself,' said Denethor. 'Have I not tasted it now many nights upon my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stir-not-the-bitterness-in-the-cup-that-i-mixed-for-myself-said/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/in-the-process-of-gaining-our-rightful-place-we-must-not-be-guilty-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We are meant to taste of life ... and drink the cup of it to the dregs, bitter and sweet alike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/we-are-meant-to-taste-of-life-and-drink-the-cup-of-it-to-the-dregs/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Not forgiving prolongs hurt and anger and leads to smoldering resentment, which will make us miserable until it kills us. Resentment destroys the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-walters/not-forgiving-prolongs-hurt-and-anger-and-leads-to-smoldering/) Richard Walters > [It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-horne/it-s-not-the-load-that-breaks-you-down-it-s-the-way-you-carry-it/) [Lena Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-horne/) > [You cannot be inspired if you are surrounded with negativity, open the door and step into the inspirational garden of nature. Do not let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/you-cannot-be-inspired-if-you-are-surrounded-with-negativity-open-the/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [Forgiving someone who've done you wrong or didn't treat you right could mean that you are allowing yourself to end up away from bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-t-pascua/forgiving-someone-who-ve-done-you-wrong-or-didn-t-treat-you-right/) [April T Pascua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-t-pascua/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose’s scent is bitterness To him that loved the rose. —Francis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-rule/the-fairest-things-have-fleetest-end-their-scent-survives-their-close/) [Ann Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-rule/) > [“What?" I ask. I try not to get snappy with her. She hasn't really done anything wrong. Falling in love with Turner isn't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/what-i-ask-i-try-not-to-get-snappy-with-her-she-hasn-t-really-done/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [If Japanese tea 'stands,' it acquires a coarse bitterness and an unwholesome astringency. Milk and sugar are not used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-bird/if-japanese-tea-stands-it-acquires-a-coarse-bitterness-and-an/) [Isabella Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-bird/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More by Jacqueline Carey > [“A pretty sight; it would have surprised me, if my capacity for surprise wasn't flattened.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/a-pretty-sight-it-would-have-surprised-me-if-my-capacity-for-surprise/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [“Never before had I used my service to escape any woes that troubled me, but I did that day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/never-before-had-i-used-my-service-to-escape-any-woes-that-troubled/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [“Young men," Melisande murmured after they had left, smiling faintly. "Such a sense of honor. Is he a little bit in love with you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/young-men-melisande-murmured-after-they-had-left-smiling-faintly-such/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [For this too I learned, that a storyteller's tale may end, but history goes on always. These events, so distant in legend, play a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/for-this-too-i-learned-that-a-storyteller-s-tale-may-end-but-history/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [“for the keeping of secrets from adults is oft the only power a child may hope to possess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/for-the-keeping-of-secrets-from-adults-is-oft-the-only-power-a-child/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Happiness is the highest form of wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/happiness-is-the-highest-form-of-wisdom/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [“If I have one pride in my calling, it is that I have never judged a patron wrongly - and I have never failed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/if-i-have-one-pride-in-my-calling-it-is-that-i-have-never-judged-a/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [A little truth seasons a lie like salt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/a-little-truth-seasons-a-lie-like-salt/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [I had begun to think my ripening body would wither untasted on the vine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/i-had-begun-to-think-my-ripening-body-would-wither-untasted-on-the/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Garner knowledge, by any means possible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/garner-knowledge-by-any-means-possible/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Pain obliterates everything else. In pain, there is only the eternal present.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/pain-obliterates-everything-else-in-pain-there-is-only-the-eternal/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [I would that I could have stopped time and preserved that day forever. It was a perfect day. There was the shadow of sorrow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/i-would-that-i-could-have-stopped-time-and-preserved-that-day-forever/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [To recongnize that the treachery of one member of a house does not taint all born within it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/to-recongnize-that-the-treachery-of-one-member-of-a-house-does-not/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Grief heals ... unshed tears fester like a canker in the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/grief-heals-unshed-tears-fester-like-a-canker-in-the-soul/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Are you a minor character in my tale, or am I a lesser figure in yours?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/are-you-a-minor-character-in-my-tale-or-am-i-a-lesser-figure-in-yours/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) [Explore all 188 Jacqueline Carey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) ## More Anger quotes > [“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 receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [“Medical studies have shown that cursing reduces levels of stress and pain. Repressing your anger is not healthy. It's much better to verbalize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-markus-malloy/medical-studies-have-shown-that-cursing-reduces-levels-of-stress-and/) [Oliver Markus Malloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-markus-malloy/) > [My care will be in the heart n not in words My anger will be in Words n not in the Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/my-care-will-be-in-the-heart-n-not-in-words-my-anger-will-be-in-words/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-a-negro-in-this-country-and-to-be-relatively-conscious-is-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect was already in the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bergson/the-present-contains-nothing-more-than-the-past-and-what-is-found-in/) [Henri Bergson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bergson/) > [Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/depression-is-merely-anger-without-enthusiasm/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [I always fight better when my opponent's angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-haye/i-always-fight-better-when-my-opponent-s-angry/) [David Haye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-haye/) > [ “Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. As long as anger-pride-deceit-greed exist; one is a sansaari \[living a worldly life\] regardless of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/where-there-are-kashays-anger-pride-deceit-greed-there-is-worldly/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) [Browse all 7,469 Anger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life pass us by untasted.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jacqueline Carey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-held-in-store-we-would-shrink/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anger" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-held-in-store-we-would-shrink/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/28c/jacqueline-carey-1938_anger_surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-h_1353407.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Surely if we knew what bitterness fate held in store, we would shrink back in fear and let the cup of life…” — Jacqueline Carey", "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": "Jacqueline Carey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Surely if we knew what bitterness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-held-in-store-we-would-shrink/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/surely-if-we-knew-what-bitterness-fate-held-in-store-we-would-shrink/#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 } } ] } ```