--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think that it's a universal urge to…" description: "\"I think that it's a universal urge to have our pain not be felt alone and to have our joys not be felt alone.\" — John Green" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/john-green-12_felt_i-think-that-it-s-a-universal-urge-to-ha_1637412.jpg" --- # I think that it's a universal urge to have our pain not be… ![“I think that it's a universal urge to have our pain not be felt alone and to have our joys not be felt alone.” quote by John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/john-green-12_felt_i-think-that-it-s-a-universal-urge-to-ha_1637412.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/john-green-12_felt_i-think-that-it-s-a-universal-urge-to-ha_1637412.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af0/john-green-12_felt_i-think-that-it-s-a-universal-urge-to-ha_1637412.jpg) > “I think that it's a universal urge to have our pain not be felt alone and to have our joys not be felt alone.” [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings universally desire shared pain and joy, seeking connection so that neither suffering nor happiness is experienced alone. **In simple terms:** We want to share both pain and joy. Key Takeaway Cultivate deep, empathetic relationships. Themes connection empathy shared experience humanity Mood reflective warm Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - friendship - support groups - family gatherings Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can you better support someone in pain? - What moments of shared joy have impacted you? A Different Perspective People may also value solitude. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [There is a universal urge to rethink our spirituality in order to give us a new sense of security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-llosa/there-is-a-universal-urge-to-rethink-our-spirituality-in-order-to/) [Claudia Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-llosa/) > [“I have felt the highest of Joys and I have felt the true pit of sorrow – all in just thirteen hours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-david-murphy/i-have-felt-the-highest-of-joys-and-i-have-felt-the-true-pit-of/) C. David Murphy > [Writing, or at least good writing, is an outgrowth of that urge to use language to communicate complex ideas and experiences between people. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/writing-or-at-least-good-writing-is-an-outgrowth-of-that-urge-to-use/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [According to Maslow, I was stuck on the second level of the pyramid, unable to feel secure in my health and therefore unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/according-to-maslow-i-was-stuck-on-the-second-level-of-the-pyramid/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I never really understood that massive collaboration involving hundreds of people is what makes movies possible, and it's also why I would agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-never-really-understood-that-massive-collaboration-involving/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/the-urge-to-make-art-or-contemplate-philosophy-does-not-go-away-when/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I dislike the phrase ‘Internet friends,’ because it implies that people you know online aren’t really your friends, that somehow the friendship is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-dislike-the-phrase-internet-friends-because-it-implies-that-people/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-he-would/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Nature has placed in the front part of man, as he moves, all those parts which when struck cause him to feel pain; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/nature-has-placed-in-the-front-part-of-man-as-he-moves-all-those/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Before this trip and all that she'd learned about the three of them, she would have gotten angry or changed the subject. Anything to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/before-this-trip-and-all-that-she-d-learned-about-the-three-of-them/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) > [In places where a loved one has died, time stops for eternity. 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I take that same pain and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-lewis/some-people-take-certain-things-and-they-try-to-forget-what-that-pain/) [Ray Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-lewis/) > [“Until you have stood in another woman’s stilettos, you will never begin to know the year of pain she felt breaking them in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/until-you-have-stood-in-another-woman-s-stilettos-you-will-never/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) ## More by John Green > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. 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I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [A Margo for each of us--and each more mirror than window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/a-margo-for-each-of-us-and-each-more-mirror-than-window/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/no-one-ever-says-good-bye-unless-they-want-to-see-you-again/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/traffic-s-not-too-bad-on-sheridan-and-i-m-cornering-the-car-like-it-s/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“Praise God for good nurses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/praise-god-for-good-nurses/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nothing has ever looked like that ever in all of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-has-ever-looked-like-that-ever-in-all-of-human-history/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“said to him quietly, as if I couldn’t hear or something. Dad was about to respond but I interrupted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/said-to-him-quietly-as-if-i-couldn-t-hear-or-something-dad-was-about/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) [Explore all 3,614 John Green quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) ## More Felt quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-horgan/hackney-gets-a-bit-of-a-bad-rap-but-it-s-the-only-place-i-ve-ever/) [Sharon Horgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-horgan/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [The more I read about feeding times, sleep times and waking-up times, the more inadequate and miserable I felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-porter/the-more-i-read-about-feeding-times-sleep-times-and-waking-up-times/) [Gail Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-porter/) > [I have touched with a sense of art some people-they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cassatt/i-have-touched-with-a-sense-of-art-some-people-they-felt-the-love-and/) [Mary Cassatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cassatt/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [When I made it, I still didn't wave the flag and say, Yeah go Asian people. I do want people to know that about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chad-hugo/when-i-made-it-i-still-didn-t-wave-the-flag-and-say-yeah-go-asian/) [Chad Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chad-hugo/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) > [My life was incoherent to me. I felt it quivering, spitting out broken teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-fox/my-life-was-incoherent-to-me-i-felt-it-quivering-spitting-out-broken/) [Paula Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-fox/) > [I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. 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