--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pain and pleasure, like light and…" description: "\"Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.\" — Laurence Sterne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg" --- # Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each… ![“Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg) > “Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Contrasting experiences follow each other, illustrating the cyclical nature of pleasure and pain. **In simple terms:** Pleasure and pain alternate. Key Takeaway Accept life's ups and downs. Themes philosophy human experience balance Mood thoughtful philosophical Type literary reflective When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - creative process Key Concepts dualism acceptance Questions to Reflect On - How do you find equilibrium? - What lessons arise from contrast? A Different Perspective Focusing on one side can cause imbalance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-succeed-2322845/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Light and darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-and-darkness/) [Light Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light-darkness/) [Like Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-light/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain and pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-and-pleasure/) [Pain pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-pleasure/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Pleasure Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure-like-1281243/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) ## Related quotes > [Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other; and he only who knows how to accommodate himself to their returns, and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other-and-he/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other; and he that knows how to accommodate himself to their periodical returns, and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other-and-he-2/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [With Christ, darkness cannot succeed. Darkness will not gain victory over the light of Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dieter-f-uchtdorf/with-christ-darkness-cannot-succeed-darkness-will-not-gain-victory/) [Dieter F. Uchtdorf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dieter-f-uchtdorf/) > [“The worldly life means a factory of pain and pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/the-worldly-life-means-a-factory-of-pain-and-pleasure/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“That's only because what we have is deep. Its pain and pleasure mixed into one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-c-brown/that-s-only-because-what-we-have-is-deep-its-pain-and-pleasure-mixed/) [C.C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-c-brown/) > [Pain may be said to follow pleasure as its shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/pain-may-be-said-to-follow-pleasure-as-its-shadow/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Life is both pain and pleasure. If this is the price you must pay for the hours you enjoy, is it too much?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/life-is-both-pain-and-pleasure-if-this-is-the-price-you-must-pay-for/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [“It is a known fact that pain and pleasure are the two most basic elements of life. But the secret is to simplify that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/it-is-a-known-fact-that-pain-and-pleasure-are-the-two-most-basic/) [Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/) > [“God is a random event, a nexus of pain and pleasure and making and breaking.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/god-is-a-random-event-a-nexus-of-pain-and-pleasure-and-making-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“I’ve learned that the worst pain, fear, and torment I’ve ever experienced has only deepened my ability to experience joy. I feel this even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/i-ve-learned-that-the-worst-pain-fear-and-torment-i-ve-ever/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [“You see, when you're excited, your body has trouble telling the difference between pain and pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherise-sinclair/you-see-when-you-re-excited-your-body-has-trouble-telling-the/) [Cherise Sinclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cherise-sinclair/) > [Sometimes it is harder to deprive oneself of a pain than of a pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/sometimes-it-is-harder-to-deprive-oneself-of-a-pain-than-of-a-pleasure/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/god-whispers-to-us-in-our-pleasures-speaks-to-us-in-our-conscience/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [There is a pleasure that is born of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/there-is-a-pleasure-that-is-born-of-pain/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [Soon is the struggle past, and to the earth, To the eternal sun, I render back These atoms, joined in me for pain and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-schiller/soon-is-the-struggle-past-and-to-the-earth-to-the-eternal-sun-i/) [Friedrich Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-schiller/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 'tis here I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/dear-sensibility-source-inexhausted-of-all-that-s-precious-in-our/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best friends in the world may differ sometimes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-friends-in-the-world-may-differ-sometimes/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Beauty has so many charms, one knows not how to speak against it; and when it happens that a graceful figure is the habitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/beauty-has-so-many-charms-one-knows-not-how-to-speak-against-it-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The best hearts are ever the bravest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-best-hearts-are-ever-the-bravest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Hail! the small courtesies of life, for smooth do ye make the road of it, like grace and beauty, which beget inclinations to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/hail-the-small-courtesies-of-life-for-smooth-do-ye-make-the-road-of/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There are a thousand unnoticed openings, continued my father, which let penetrating eye at once into a man's soul; and I maintain it, added…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-are-a-thousand-unnoticed-openings-continued-my-father-which-let/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [“Button-holes! there is something lively in the very idea of 'em - and trust me, when I get amongst 'em - you gentry with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/button-holes-there-is-something-lively-in-the-very-idea-of-em-and/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Explore all 244 Laurence Sterne quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? The question was soft- tentative. I knew who he meant. I interlaced my fingers through Rhysand's and squeezed tightly.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/what-does-he-look-like-the-question-was-soft-tentative-i-knew-who-he/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [“Life is like coffee, the darker it gets, the more it energizes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankita-singhal/life-is-like-coffee-the-darker-it-gets-the-more-it-energizes/) [Ankita Singhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ankita-singhal/) > [Twinking tears in a sea of black. Soft light in a world of darkness. Tiny wishes in a place of dreams. Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laurence Sterne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b04/laurence-sterne-1405_darkness_pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darknes_1438695.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Pain and pleasure, like light and darkness, succeed each other.” — Laurence Sterne", "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": "Laurence Sterne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Pain and pleasure, like light and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/pain-and-pleasure-like-light-and-darkness-succeed-each-other/#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 } } ] } ```