--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We often move away from pain, which is…" description: "\"We often move away from pain, which is helpful only before being hurt. Once in pain, it seems the only way out is through. Like someone falling off a b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/mark-nepo-1670_accepting_we-often-move-away-from-pain-which-is-he_1681200.png" --- # We often move away from pain, which is helpful only before… ![“We often move away from pain, which is helpful only before being hurt. Once in pain, it seems the only way out is through. Like someone falling off a boat, struggling to stay above the water only makes things worse. We must accept we are there and settle enough so we can be carried by the deep…” quote by Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/mark-nepo-1670_accepting_we-often-move-away-from-pain-which-is-he_1681200.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/mark-nepo-1670_accepting_we-often-move-away-from-pain-which-is-he_1681200.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ea/mark-nepo-1670_accepting_we-often-move-away-from-pain-which-is-he_1681200.png) > “We often move away from pain, which is helpful only before being hurt. Once in pain, it seems the only way out is through. Like someone falling off a boat, struggling to stay above the water only makes things worse. We must accept we are there and settle enough so we can be carried by the deep. The willingness to do this is the genesis of faith, the giving over to currents larger than us. Even fallen leaves float in lakes, demonstrating how surrender can hold us up.” [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain must be embraced rather than avoided; surrendering to it opens the path to faith and inner peace. **In simple terms:** Accept pain to find peace. Key Takeaway Accept discomfort and let it guide you. Themes acceptance faith letting go Mood thoughtful hopeful Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - grief counseling - therapy sessions - personal crises - spiritual retreats Key Concepts surrender spiritual growth resilience Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform suffering into growth? - What does surrender mean to you? A Different Perspective Some may view surrender as passive rather than empowering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Being hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-hurt/) [Boat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boat/) [Currents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/currents/) [Demonstrating Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demonstrating-surrender-959337/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall/) [Fallen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallen/) [Fallen leaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fallen-leaves/) [Genesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genesis/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful/) [Helpful Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helpful-hurt-959338/) [Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt/) [Hurt pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurt-pain/) [Lakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lakes/) [Moving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moving/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Helpful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-helpful-959336/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Settling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/settling/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/) ## Related quotes > [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [“Near the center of the village, on some of those fallen leaves, are trickles of blood. 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A broom of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/it-was-one-of-those-autumn-mornings-which-are-devoid-of-melancholy/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [The stripped and shapely Maple grieves The ghosts of her Departed leaves. The ground is hard, As hard as stone. The year is old,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-stripped-and-shapely-maple-grieves-the-ghosts-of-her-departed/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/love-that-s-it-the-cashless-commerce-the-blanket-always-too-short-the/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“I listen to the rain talk to the leaves. She tells a story of love and leaving (isn’t that always the story? Isn’t that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emm-roy/i-listen-to-the-rain-talk-to-the-leaves-she-tells-a-story-of-love-and/) [Emm Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emm-roy/) > [“Glib tongues frill up their hash of knowledge for mankind in polished speeches that are no more than vaporous winds rustling the fallen leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goethe/glib-tongues-frill-up-their-hash-of-knowledge-for-mankind-in-polished/) [Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goethe/) > [O maternal earth which rocks the fallen leaf to sleep!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-lee-masters/o-maternal-earth-which-rocks-the-fallen-leaf-to-sleep/) [Edgar Lee Masters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-lee-masters/) > [“look to the fallen leaves of this season as flowers and remember that we are here on borrowed time, that it is never too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savannah-page/look-to-the-fallen-leaves-of-this-season-as-flowers-and-remember-that/) [Savannah Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savannah-page/) > [“If I've learned anything at all from the river it's to let jarring events come and go, that such tiny disruptions have no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-himmer/if-i-ve-learned-anything-at-all-from-the-river-it-s-to-let-jarring/) [Steve Himmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-himmer/) ## More by Mark Nepo > [“Often we find it easier to think our way around things rather than to feel our way through them:”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/often-we-find-it-easier-to-think-our-way-around-things-rather-than-to/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [When we don't get what we want, there's a legitimate grieving, and then the spiritual journey truly begins, because not getting what we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/when-we-don-t-get-what-we-want-there-s-a-legitimate-grieving-and-then/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Each soul on earth is complete unto itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/each-soul-on-earth-is-complete-unto-itself/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“a living symbol that can call into my moment of sadness a deeper sense of plenitude and generosity that is always there, but not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/a-living-symbol-that-can-call-into-my-moment-of-sadness-a-deeper/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“COMING OUT While there is much to do we are not here to do.   Under the want to problem-solve is the need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/coming-out-while-there-is-much-to-do-we-are-not-here-to-do-under-the/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [The greatest thing we can do to be closer to our own lives and to the freshness of living is to open up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-greatest-thing-we-can-do-to-be-closer-to-our-own-lives-and-to-the/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [For though we stubbornly cling, believing in our moment of hunger that there is no other possibility of love, we only have to let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/for-though-we-stubbornly-cling-believing-in-our-moment-of-hunger-that/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Perhaps the hardest thing I've learned, and still struggle with, is that I don't have to be finished in order to be whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/perhaps-the-hardest-thing-i-ve-learned-and-still-struggle-with-is/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [A successful creative expression is one in which the person who has expressed it was transformed for having encountered it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/a-successful-creative-expression-is-one-in-which-the-person-who-has/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [No amount of thinking can stop thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/no-amount-of-thinking-can-stop-thinking/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [“Yet beneath all the talk of tragedy and grace, I have come to believe that we are destined to be opened by the living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/yet-beneath-all-the-talk-of-tragedy-and-grace-i-have-come-to-believe/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible. Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-glassblower-knows-while-in-the-heat-of-beginning-any-shape-is/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [We work so hard to get somewhere, to realize a dream, to arrive at some destination, that we often forget that though some satisfaction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/we-work-so-hard-to-get-somewhere-to-realize-a-dream-to-arrive-at-some/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Our job is not to expose the mystery but to participate in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/our-job-is-not-to-expose-the-mystery-but-to-participate-in-it/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [Pursue the obstacle It will set you free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/pursue-the-obstacle-it-will-set-you-free/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) [Explore all 217 Mark Nepo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We often move away from pain, which is helpful only before being hurt. Once in pain, it seems the only way out is through. Like someone falling off a boat, struggling to stay above the water only makes things worse. We must accept we are there and settle enough so we can be carried by the deep. The willingness to do this is the genesis of faith, the giving over to currents larger than us. 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