--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The suppression of suffering? Can I…" description: "\"“The suppression of suffering? Can I really have believed it, have believed that death merely strikes out what exists, and leaves everything else in it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/marcel-proust-114_death_the-suppression-of-suffering-can-i-reall_1659119.jpg" --- # The suppression of suffering? Can I really have believed… ![“The suppression of suffering? Can I really have believed it, have believed that death merely strikes out what exists, and leaves everything else in its place, that it removes the pain from the heart of him for whom the other’s existence has ceased to be anything but a source of pain, that it…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/marcel-proust-114_death_the-suppression-of-suffering-can-i-reall_1659119.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/marcel-proust-114_death_the-suppression-of-suffering-can-i-reall_1659119.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/079/marcel-proust-114_death_the-suppression-of-suffering-can-i-reall_1659119.jpg) > ““The suppression of suffering? Can I really have believed it, have believed that death merely strikes out what exists, and leaves everything else in its place, that it removes the pain from the heart of him for whom the other’s existence has ceased to be anything but a source of pain, that it removes the pain and puts nothing in its place? The suppression of pain!”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator questions whether death truly ends suffering or merely replaces it with emptiness, reflecting on the paradox of seeking relief through death. **In simple terms:** Death may not end pain, just change its form. Key Takeaway Consider how you confront loss. Themes mortality philosophy ufferinguffering existentialism Mood melancholic contemplative Type literary existential When to use this quote - grief counseling - end‑of‑life care - personal reflection - spiritual practice Key Concepts nihilism absurdism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does it mean to “suppress” pain? - Can loss ever be a relief? A Different Perspective Death does not guarantee peace; other may persist in memory. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“If ignorance about the nature of pain is widespread, ignorance about the way pain-killing drugs is even more so. What is not generally understood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-cousins/if-ignorance-about-the-nature-of-pain-is-widespread-ignorance-about/) [Norman Cousins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-cousins/) > [“I hear my silence talked of in every lane; The suppression of a cry is itself a cry of pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darshan-singh/i-hear-my-silence-talked-of-in-every-lane-the-suppression-of-a-cry-is/) Darshan Singh > [If there is no enjoyment in this world, there would not be so much suffering. As suffering really is the frustration of our attempts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/if-there-is-no-enjoyment-in-this-world-there-would-not-be-so-much/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [I have two children of my own. Crying is not evidence of pain or any real suffering. It's really just the way children communicate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-greenberg/i-have-two-children-of-my-own-crying-is-not-evidence-of-pain-or-any/) [Jill Greenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-greenberg/) > [Sometimes when you're suffering really intensely, you can't pray for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-graham-lotz/sometimes-when-you-re-suffering-really-intensely-you-can-t-pray-for/) [Anne Graham Lotz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-graham-lotz/) > [For one thing, I don't think art needs to be about suffering; sometimes it really seems like it's only the art about pain that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-forney/for-one-thing-i-don-t-think-art-needs-to-be-about-suffering-sometimes/) [Ellen Forney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-forney/) > [“Only here is suffering really suffering. 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And because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/man-alone-mesures-time-and-because-of-this-man-alone-suffers-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. 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