--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is…" description: "\"“Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is, the more value it has.\" Is that true, Hazel? The grief does not change you, Hazel. It leaves you exposed.”\" ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/john-green-12_grief_pain-is-like-a-cloth-the-stronger-it-is_1048499.jpg" --- # Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is, the more value… ![“Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is, the more value it has." Is that true, Hazel? The grief does not change you, Hazel. It leaves you exposed.” quote by John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/john-green-12_grief_pain-is-like-a-cloth-the-stronger-it-is_1048499.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/john-green-12_grief_pain-is-like-a-cloth-the-stronger-it-is_1048499.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/john-green-12_grief_pain-is-like-a-cloth-the-stronger-it-is_1048499.jpg) > ““Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is, the more value it has." Is that true, Hazel? The grief does not change you, Hazel. It leaves you exposed.”” [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. Pain’s strength is measured by its durability; suffering exposes vulnerability, not change. **In simple terms:** Pain reveals value through endurance. Key Takeaway Accept pain as a teacher, not a transformer. Themes suffering strength exposure Mood empathetic thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - personal growth - creative writing - support groups Key Concepts psychology philosophy resilience Questions to Reflect On - How can we honor pain without romanticizing it? - What practices help transform exposure into strength? A Different Perspective Pain can be glorified, ignoring its harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) ## Related quotes > [Grief does not change you. It reveals you. And herein lies the gift that cannot die. It changes the course of your life forever.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/grief-does-not-change-you-it-reveals-you-and-herein-lies-the-gift/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I was insufferable long before we lost her. Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-was-insufferable-long-before-we-lost-her-grief-does-not-change-you/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Pain is like fabric: The stronger it is, the more it’s worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/pain-is-like-fabric-the-stronger-it-is-the-more-it-s-worth/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“That goes for old wounds, too, you know. I really wish we'd had the chance to talk before this," he says, cracking the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-wiess/that-goes-for-old-wounds-too-you-know-i-really-wish-we-d-had-the/) [Laura Wiess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-wiess/) > [Speech is like cloth of Arras opened and put abroad, whereby the imagery doth appear in figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/speech-is-like-cloth-of-arras-opened-and-put-abroad-whereby-the/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [“And just like that,the cloth was torn. was it the days, weeks of the same argument was it the months without affection, or was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-swanson/and-just-like-that-the-cloth-was-torn-was-it-the-days-weeks-of-the/) Brittany Swanson > [A good friend is like a cloth, it doesn't matter how old it is but how good you when you are in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/crosby-kwaw/a-good-friend-is-like-a-cloth-it-doesn-t-matter-how-old-it-is-but-how/) [Crosby Kwaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/crosby-kwaw/) > [True,don't judge about how they look like,their cloth,if they are poor or rich.These things don't matter in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-don-t-judge-about-how-they-look-like-their-cloth-if-they-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“An unfaithful wife is like a cloth in an open marketplace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdulazeez-henry-musa/an-unfaithful-wife-is-like-a-cloth-in-an-open-marketplace/) [Abdulazeez Henry Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdulazeez-henry-musa/) > [“Imagine the universe is like this cloth.” Philippos said, lifting up an old rag off the ground. “There are thousands of tiny threads woven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-m-enslin/imagine-the-universe-is-like-this-cloth-philippos-said-lifting-up-an/) D.M. Enslin > [“When you see someone you love in pain like that, it makes you want to lash out at the thing that hurt them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trish-cook/when-you-see-someone-you-love-in-pain-like-that-it-makes-you-want-to/) [Trish Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trish-cook/) > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Pain is a pesky part of been human,iv learned it feels like a stab wound to the heart,something I wish we could all do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahmiiz-abader/pain-is-a-pesky-part-of-been-human-iv-learned-it-feels-like-a-stab/) [Tahmiiz Abader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahmiiz-abader/) > [There is no pain like the first time you get your heart broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ne-yo/there-is-no-pain-like-the-first-time-you-get-your-heart-broken/) [Ne-Yo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ne-yo/) > [“There is no grief like the grief that does not speak. —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-force/there-is-no-grief-like-the-grief-that-does-not-speak-henry-wadsworth/) [Marie Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-force/) ## More by John Green > [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. 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 Grief quotes > [“...they had lived, they'd lived intensely. But no matter how deeply you live, it comes to this in the end: one of you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-morton/they-had-lived-they-d-lived-intensely-but-no-matter-how-deeply-you/) [Brian Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-morton/) > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [You felt a deep sorrow, the kind of melancholy you feel when you're in a beautiful place and the sun is going down](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thrity-umrigar/you-felt-a-deep-sorrow-the-kind-of-melancholy-you-feel-when-you-re-in/) [Thrity Umrigar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thrity-umrigar/) > [... how much of our inner substance is it good for us to give to public griefs? 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. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. 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": "“Pain is like a cloth: the stronger it is, the more value it has.\" Is that true, Hazel? The grief does not change you, Hazel. 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