--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have not healed so much as learned to…" description: "\"“I have not healed so much as learned to sit still and wait while pain does its dancing work, trying not to panic or twist in ways that make the blades..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/lauren-slater-11238_healed_i-have-not-healed-so-much-as-learned-to_2768888.png" --- # I have not healed so much as learned to sit still and wait… ![“I have not healed so much as learned to sit still and wait while pain does its dancing work, trying not to panic or twist in ways that make the blades tear deeper, finally infecting the wounds.” quote by Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/lauren-slater-11238_healed_i-have-not-healed-so-much-as-learned-to_2768888.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/lauren-slater-11238_healed_i-have-not-healed-so-much-as-learned-to_2768888.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/lauren-slater-11238_healed_i-have-not-healed-so-much-as-learned-to_2768888.png) > ““I have not healed so much as learned to sit still and wait while pain does its dancing work, trying not to panic or twist in ways that make the blades tear deeper, finally infecting the wounds.”” [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Healing often involves sitting with discomfort, allowing it to transform without resistance. **In simple terms:** Sit with pain, let it pass. Key Takeaway Practice patient observation of suffering. Themes acceptance patience transformation Mood somber reflective Type therapeutic philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - chronic illness coping - stress management Key Concepts psychology mind‑body connection Questions to Reflect On - What discomfort are you avoiding? - How can you observe without reacting? A Different Perspective Avoiding pain can stall growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Wounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wounds/) ## Related quotes > [I Miss yOu its Undeniable.I Can Try To AvOid it as Much as I WanT But I Cant Help Aching To HAve yOu Back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i-miss-you/i-miss-you-its-undeniable-i-can-try-to-avoid-it-as-much-as-i-want-but/) I Miss YOu > [I miss you. it's undeniable. I can try to avoid it as much as I want, but I can't help aching to want you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamika-leeigh/i-miss-you-it-s-undeniable-i-can-try-to-avoid-it-as-much-as-i-want/) [Tamika-leeigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamika-leeigh/) > [One has to learn to say, 'Wait, there is a pain that is not logical. 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Believe that,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dee-henderson/by-his-wounds-you-have-been-healed-because-you-have-been-believe-that/) [Dee Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dee-henderson/) > [Pain does not create a long-lasting memory, but the memory of luxury exerts itself for ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-theroux/pain-does-not-create-a-long-lasting-memory-but-the-memory-of-luxury/) [Paul Theroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-theroux/) > [Pain does two things: It teaches you, tells you that you're alive. Then it passes away and leaves you changed. It leaves you wiser,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/pain-does-two-things-it-teaches-you-tells-you-that-you-re-alive-then/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) ## More by Lauren Slater > [“When you die, there’s that much less breath to the world, and across continents someone supposedly separate gasps for air. When Marie, Joseph, peter,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/when-you-die-there-s-that-much-less-breath-to-the-world-and-across/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“When I was a girl I loved fevers and flus and the muzzy feeling of a head cold, all these states carrying with them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/when-i-was-a-girl-i-loved-fevers-and-flus-and-the-muzzy-feeling-of-a/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“Why doesn't passionate love last? how is it possible to see a person as beautiful on Monday, and 364 days later, on another Monday,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/why-doesn-t-passionate-love-last-how-is-it-possible-to-see-a-person/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“... instead of spelling stories you spread silence, which was outside the alphabet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/instead-of-spelling-stories-you-spread-silence-which-was-outside-the/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“Finally the dawn came, the sky fringed with pink, and the sun bright as a coin in a spill of rising red.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/finally-the-dawn-came-the-sky-fringed-with-pink-and-the-sun-bright-as/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“How do you describe emptiness? 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For while I recall with clarity the terror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/i-believe-my-strength-has-something-to-do-with-memory-with-that/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“I couldn’t reach her. I was never able to reach her. Maybe she moved at a pace too fast. Maybe she was too sad.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/i-couldn-t-reach-her-i-was-never-able-to-reach-her-maybe-she-moved-at/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [“They cleared swiftly, dramatically, like a stage set or a movie; we went from black to stunning blue, the day emerging at once wet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/they-cleared-swiftly-dramatically-like-a-stage-set-or-a-movie-we-went/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [Depression is a death within, a knowledge - terrifying - that you cannot resurrect yourself. Depression is loss of the vision that lets leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/depression-is-a-death-within-a-knowledge-terrifying-that-you-cannot/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) > [I was born from nothing and to nothing I will return. And yet, when i say the word nothing, when i admit, at last,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-slater/i-was-born-from-nothing-and-to-nothing-i-will-return-and-yet-when-i/) [Lauren Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) [Explore all 60 Lauren Slater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-slater/) ## More Healed quotes > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Funny how internal scars never healed. They were the souvenirs of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/funny-how-internal-scars-never-healed-they-were-the-souvenirs-of-the/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“You got me, Sam. You own my soul, baby. You got me…and you healed me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-zolendz/you-got-me-sam-you-own-my-soul-baby-you-got-me-and-you-healed-me/) [Christine Zolendz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-zolendz/) > [The country is so wounded, bleeding, and hurt right now. The country needs to be healed-it's not going to be healed from the top,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/the-country-is-so-wounded-bleeding-and-hurt-right-now-the-country/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [Healing is impossible in loneliness; it is the opposite of loneliness. Conviviality is healing. To be healed we must come with all the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/healing-is-impossible-in-loneliness-it-is-the-opposite-of-loneliness/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“And still others heard: dreeeple zoonnnnnnggggggg ummmmmtwrrrdssss Calling from the beyond Whatever it was, it touched E.T.'s healing finger, and caused it to glow.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kotzwinkle/and-still-others-heard-dreeeple-zoonnnnnnggggggg-ummmmmtwrrrdssss/) [William Kotzwinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kotzwinkle/) > [I was drunk: Christian and drunk. They just don't go together. But that's what happened. And the next day, obviously God had honored those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hamilton/i-was-drunk-christian-and-drunk-they-just-don-t-go-together-but-that/) [Jim Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hamilton/) > [That which is denied cannot be healed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brennan-manning/that-which-is-denied-cannot-be-healed/) [Brennan Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brennan-manning/) > [The recovery of spiritual sight and the healing of physical blindness have much in common. Some of those whose bodily eyes were blind received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/the-recovery-of-spiritual-sight-and-the-healing-of-physical-blindness/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [I'm washed, I'm forgiven, I'm whole, and I'm healed. I'm cleansed and I'm glory bound. I am only a sojourner on the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myles-munroe/i-m-washed-i-m-forgiven-i-m-whole-and-i-m-healed-i-m-cleansed-and-i-m/) [Myles Munroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myles-munroe/) > [That which He has not assumed He has not healed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-of-nazianzus/that-which-he-has-not-assumed-he-has-not-healed/) [Gregory of Nazianzus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-of-nazianzus/) > [“We can't detroy anymore because we haven't healed what we have detroyed”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coralstar/we-can-t-detroy-anymore-because-we-haven-t-healed-what-we-have/) CoralStar > [“Facing and accepting what needs to be healed can be challenging. 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