--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In early times some sufferer had to sit…" description: "\"In early times some sufferer had to sit up with a toothache, and he put in the time inventing the German language.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/mark-twain-22_awful_in-early-times-some-sufferer-had-to-sit_901205.png" --- # In early times some sufferer had to sit up with a… ![“In early times some sufferer had to sit up with a toothache, and he put in the time inventing the German language.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/mark-twain-22_awful_in-early-times-some-sufferer-had-to-sit_901205.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/mark-twain-22_awful_in-early-times-some-sufferer-had-to-sit_901205.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/23d/mark-twain-22_awful_in-early-times-some-sufferer-had-to-sit_901205.png) > “In early times some sufferer had to sit up with a toothache, and he put in the time inventing the German language.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Painful experiences can inspire creative breakthroughs. **In simple terms:** Suffering can spark invention. Key Takeaway Channel hardship into innovation. Themes creativity adversity innovation Mood inspirational determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - writing - scientific research - personal growth - problem solving Key Concepts psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What challenges have you turned into ideas? - When does pain hinder rather than help? A Different Perspective Not all pain leads to invention; some is merely destructive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awful/) [German language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/german-language/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) [Inventing German](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing-german-1244107/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Sit Toothache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sit-toothache-1244108/) [Sufferers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sufferers/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-inventing-1244110/) [Toothache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toothache/) [Toothache Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toothache-time-1244109/) ## Related quotes > [“One of the things that confuses me is never really knowing when something comes up from my past, whether it really happened that way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/one-of-the-things-that-confuses-me-is-never-really-knowing-when/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [It is not like studying German, where you mull along, in a groping, uncertain way, for thirty years; and at last, just as you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-not-like-studying-german-where-you-mull-along-in-a-groping/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“A dog is "der Hund"; a woman is "die Frau"; a horse is "das Pferd"; now you put that dog in the genitive case,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-dog-is-der-hund-a-woman-is-die-frau-a-horse-is-das-pferd-now-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“I was gradually coming to have a mysterious and shuddery reverence for this girl; nowadays whenever she pulled out from the station and got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-was-gradually-coming-to-have-a-mysterious-and-shuddery-reverence/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How charmed I am when I overhear a German word which I understand!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/how-charmed-i-am-when-i-overhear-a-german-word-which-i-understand/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I don't believe there is anything in the whole earth that you can't learn in Berlin except the German language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-don-t-believe-there-is-anything-in-the-whole-earth-that-you-can-t/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/my-philological-studies-have-satisfied-me-that-a-gifted-person-ought/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-gifted-person-ought-to-learn-english-barring-spelling-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's awful undermining to the intellect, German is; you want to take it in small doses, or first you know your brains all run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-awful-undermining-to-the-intellect-german-is-you-want-to-take-it/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“it was borne in upon me that I was standing in the awful presence of the Mother of the German Language.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-was-borne-in-upon-me-that-i-was-standing-in-the-awful-presence-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I always take Scotch whiskey at night as a preventive of toothache. 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Leave it to the Germans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-ozick/the-germans-are-sentimental-their-word-heimweh-the-english-say/) [Cynthia Ozick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-ozick/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. 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Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. 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