--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the…" description: "\"Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most? That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost? That the mark of ran..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/john-milton-191_anguish_is-it-true-o-christ-in-heaven-that-the-h_832656.png" --- # Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer… ![“Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most? That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost? That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain? That the anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain?” quote by John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/john-milton-191_anguish_is-it-true-o-christ-in-heaven-that-the-h_832656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/john-milton-191_anguish_is-it-true-o-christ-in-heaven-that-the-h_832656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3fa/john-milton-191_anguish_is-it-true-o-christ-in-heaven-that-the-h_832656.png) > “Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most? That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost? That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain? That the anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain?” [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that those with greatest power or virtue experience the deepest suffering, and that pain can intensify artistic expression. **In simple terms:** Great power brings great pain, and suffering can deepen art. Key Takeaway Embrace empathy for those who seem strong. Themes suffering power art humanity pain Mood melancholic reflective Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - grief counseling - leadership stress - creative workshops - spiritual retreats Key Concepts existentialism theodicy aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - How does pain shape your creativity? - Can strength be measured without suffering? A Different Perspective Suffering may also be a sign of weakness, not just strength. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christ/) [Heaven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heaven/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Singers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singers/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Sweetness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweetness/) ## Related quotes > [“You're just setting yourself up for pain and anguish if you do something like that." But pain and anguish were everywhere anyway. Might as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-shihab-nye/you-re-just-setting-yourself-up-for-pain-and-anguish-if-you-do/) [Naomi Shihab Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-shihab-nye/) > [Silence Only tears As I press the blade Against my pale skin Red The blood flows From the wounds Echoing my inner pain Satisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/silence-only-tears-as-i-press-the-blade-against-my-pale-skin-red-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [So great was the extremity of his pain and anguish, that he did not only sigh but roar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-henry/so-great-was-the-extremity-of-his-pain-and-anguish-that-he-did-not/) [Matthew Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-henry/) > [Under every burden, …God will slip His hand. Every gulf of sorrow, …His great love has spanned, Into every heart-ache, …God will our His…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-j-roberts/under-every-burden-god-will-slip-his-hand-every-gulf-of-sorrow-his/) [Frances J Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-j-roberts/) > [O woman! in our hours of ease Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, And variable as the shade By the light quivering aspen made;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/o-woman-in-our-hours-of-ease-uncertain-coy-and-hard-to-please-and/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [“Pain anguish and suffering in human life are always in proportion to the strength with which a man is endowed. We will not pretend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/pain-anguish-and-suffering-in-human-life-are-always-in-proportion-to/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [we do not die of anguish, we live on. We continue to suffer. We drink the cup drop by drop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sand/we-do-not-die-of-anguish-we-live-on-we-continue-to-suffer-we-drink/) [George Sand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sand/) > [Emily suffers no more from pain or weakness now. She will never suffer more in this world. She is gone after a hard, short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/emily-suffers-no-more-from-pain-or-weakness-now-she-will-never-suffer/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“{ Stockton, a playwright who performed plays about Robert Ingersoll , gives the four moments in Ingersoll 's life that shaped him, first being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-f-stockton/stockton-a-playwright-who-performed-plays-about-robert-ingersoll/) Richard F. Stockton > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [And storied windows richly dight, Casting a dim religious light. There let the pealing organ blow, To the full-voiced choir below, In service high,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-storied-windows-richly-dight-casting-a-dim-religious-light-there/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) ## More by John Milton > [Love-quarrels oft in pleasing concord end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/love-quarrels-oft-in-pleasing-concord-end/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [What better can we do than prostrate fall before Him reverent, and there confess humbly our faults, and pardon beg with tears watering the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/what-better-can-we-do-than-prostrate-fall-before-him-reverent-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-when-night-darkens-the-streets-then-wander-forth-the-sons-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, consult how we may henceforth most offend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-re-assembling-our-afflicted-powers-consult-how-we-may-henceforth/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Yet hold it more humane, more heav'nly, first, By winning words to conquer willing hearts, And make persuasion do the work of fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/yet-hold-it-more-humane-more-heav-nly-first-by-winning-words-to/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [O nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray Warblest at eve, when all the woods are still; Thou with fresh hope the lover's heart dost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/o-nightingale-that-on-yon-bloomy-spray-warblest-at-eve-when-all-the/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome, still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still receivd, And understood not that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/the-debt-immense-of-endless-gratitude-so-burthensome-still-paying/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Knowledge forbidden? Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord Envy them that? Can it be sin to know, Can it be death? And do they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/knowledge-forbidden-suspicious-reasonless-why-should-their-lord-envy/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [There is no truth sure enough to justify persecution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/there-is-no-truth-sure-enough-to-justify-persecution/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ Large.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/new-presbyter-is-but-old-priest-writ-large/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [And what is faith, love, virtue unassayed Alone, without exterior help sustained?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-what-is-faith-love-virtue-unassayed-alone-without-exterior-help/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [This is servitude, To serve th'unwise, or him who hath rebelled Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, Thyself not free, but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/this-is-servitude-to-serve-th-unwise-or-him-who-hath-rebelled-against/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/let-us-seek-death-or-he-not-found-supply-with-our-own-hands-his/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [They are the troublers, they are the dividers of unity, who neglect and don't permit others to unite those dissevered pieces which are yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/they-are-the-troublers-they-are-the-dividers-of-unity-who-neglect-and/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) [Explore all 966 John Milton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most? That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost? That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain? 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