--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: the size of a misfortune is not…" description: "\"the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png" --- # the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an… ![“the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affected by it.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png) > “the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affected by it.” [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. The impact of a misfortune is measured by the victim's personal experience, not by external standards. **In simple terms:** Misfortune's size is personal. Key Takeaway Respect others' subjective pain. Themes subjectivity empathy perception Mood compassionate thoughtful Type philosophical empathetic When to use this quote - counseling - conflict resolution - personal loss - legal judgments Key Concepts relativism psychology personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - How do you gauge another's pain? - What can you do to honor personal perspectives? A Different Perspective External metrics can oversimplify complex suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Measurement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measurement/) [Measurements Applied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measurements-applied-5832284/) [Misfortune Determinable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortune-determinable-5832283/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Outsider Measurement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsider-measurement-5832282/) [Outsiders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outsiders/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Size](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size/) [Size Misfortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/size-misfortune-5832285/) ## Related quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Can a physicist visualize an electron? The electron is materially inconceivable and yet, it is so perfectly known through its effects that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wernher-von-braun/can-a-physicist-visualize-an-electron-the-electron-is-materially/) [Wernher von Braun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wernher-von-braun/) > [As regards the quietude of the sage, he is not quiet because quietness is said to be good. He is quiet because the multitude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zhuangzi/as-regards-the-quietude-of-the-sage-he-is-not-quiet-because-quietness/) [Zhuangzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zhuangzi/) > [While love is common, true love is rare, and I believe that few people are fortunate enough to experience it. The roads of regular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-buss/while-love-is-common-true-love-is-rare-and-i-believe-that-few-people/) [David Buss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-buss/) > [Man up and add a tux to your wardrobe. 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Spaces between deaths.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/each-of-us-has-our-own-unit-of-measurement-our-own-relativity-spaces/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [Golf is not, on the whole, a game for realists. By its exactitudes of measurements it invites the attention of perfectionists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heywood-hale-broun/golf-is-not-on-the-whole-a-game-for-realists-by-its-exactitudes-of/) [Heywood Hale Broun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heywood-hale-broun/) > [As I'm getting older, I'm moving away from calculations and measurement. I'm trying to be more open to vulnerability and mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-lexier/as-i-m-getting-older-i-m-moving-away-from-calculations-and/) [Micah Lexier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-lexier/) ## 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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Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. 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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And on virtually any measurement you wish to look at, Michigan has moved up and improved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-engler/all-50-states-had-the-same-national-economy-and-on-virtually-any/) [John Engler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-engler/) > [“The measure of who you are will always exceed measurement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/the-measure-of-who-you-are-will-always-exceed-measurement/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-boulestin/cookery-is-not-chemistry-it-is-an-art-it-requires-instinct-and-taste/) [Marcel Boulestin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-boulestin/) > [There was but one question he left unasked, and it vibrated between his lines: if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/there-was-but-one-question-he-left-unasked-and-it-vibrated-between/) [Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/) > [Measurement of life should be proportioned rather to the intensity of the experience than to its actual length.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/measurement-of-life-should-be-proportioned-rather-to-the-intensity-of/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Learning is the measurement of knowledge before and after.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eben-pagan/learning-is-the-measurement-of-knowledge-before-and-after/) [Eben Pagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eben-pagan/) > [It is much easier to make measurements than to know exactly what you are measuring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-w-n-sullivan/it-is-much-easier-to-make-measurements-than-to-know-exactly-what-you/) [J. W. N. Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-w-n-sullivan/) > [Man up and add a tux to your wardrobe. Just find one you like and get it well-tailored to your own measurements.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feig/man-up-and-add-a-tux-to-your-wardrobe-just-find-one-you-like-and-get/) [Paul Feig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feig/) > [While love is common, true love is rare, and I believe that few people are fortunate enough to experience it. The roads of regular…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-buss/while-love-is-common-true-love-is-rare-and-i-believe-that-few-people/) [David Buss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-buss/) > [As regards the quietude of the sage, he is not quiet because quietness is said to be good. 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I'm trying to be more open to vulnerability and mistakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micah-lexier/as-i-m-getting-older-i-m-moving-away-from-calculations-and/) [Micah Lexier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micah-lexier/) [Browse all 362 Measurement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measurement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements applied to it by the person specially affected by it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determinable-by-an-outsider-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Measurement" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determinable-by-an-outsider-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/342/mark-twain-22_measurement_the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determin_2369853.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“the size of a misfortune is not determinable by an outsider’s measurement of it but only by the measurements…” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "the size of a misfortune is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determinable-by-an-outsider-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-size-of-a-misfortune-is-not-determinable-by-an-outsider-s/#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 } } ] } ```