--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we knew the value of suffering, we…" description: "\"If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it.\" — Mary Ruefle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png" --- # If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it. ![“If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it.” quote by Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png) > “If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it.” [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Understanding suffering’s worth would make us seek it intentionally. **In simple terms:** Know suffering’s value, seek it. Key Takeaway Seek purposeful hardship. Themes suffering meaning intentionality Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - spiritual practice - artistic creation - personal growth Key Concepts philosophy existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Why might we desire hardship? - How can we find meaning without pain? A Different Perspective Seeking suffering can be harmful if misapplied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [At our peak, no one knew how to value Digg.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rose/at-our-peak-no-one-knew-how-to-value-digg/) [Kevin Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rose/) > [“If you ask people who don’t believe in God why they don’t, the number one reason will be suffering. 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There is only value, said Derek, to overcoming suffering and seeking to spare others the suffering one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-there-is-no-value-to-suffering-there-is-only-value-said-derek-to/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [“Some day, we will know the value of suffering, but then we will no longer be able to suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-maria-faustina-kowalska/some-day-we-will-know-the-value-of-suffering-but-then-we-will-no/) Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska > [“It was not pastoral teaching, or small group fellowship, or worship services, or books of theology — rather, they mentioned suffering. “People said they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-yancey/it-was-not-pastoral-teaching-or-small-group-fellowship-or-worship/) [Philip Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-yancey/) ## More by Mary Ruefle > [Now I will give you a piece of advice. I will tell you something that I absolutely believe you should do, and if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/now-i-will-give-you-a-piece-of-advice-i-will-tell-you-something-that/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [I hated childhood / I hate adulthood / And I love being alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-hated-childhood-i-hate-adulthood-and-i-love-being-alive/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [The industrial world destroys nature not because it doesn’t love it but because it is not afraid of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-industrial-world-destroys-nature-not-because-it-doesn-t-love-it/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Every time it starts to snow, I would like to have sex.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/every-time-it-starts-to-snow-i-would-like-to-have-sex/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [I remember I was a child, and when I grew up I was a poet. 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Memory, what can I make of it now that might please you-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/i-have-become-an-orchid-washed-in-on-the-salt-white-beach-memory-what/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [Irreverence is a way of playing hooky and remaining present at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/irreverence-is-a-way-of-playing-hooky-and-remaining-present-at-the/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [In the end I would rather wonder than know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/in-the-end-i-would-rather-wonder-than-know/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [The origins of poetry are clearly rooted in obscurity, in secretiveness, in incantation, in spells that must at once invoke and protect, tell the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-origins-of-poetry-are-clearly-rooted-in-obscurity-in/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [There is a world which poets cannot seem to enter. It is the world everybody else lives in. And the only thing poets seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/there-is-a-world-which-poets-cannot-seem-to-enter-it-is-the-world/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) > [the wasting of time is the most personal, most private, most intimate form of conversation with oneself, as well as with another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/the-wasting-of-time-is-the-most-personal-most-private-most-intimate/) [Mary Ruefle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) [Explore all 52 Mary Ruefle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/) ## More Asks quotes > [If you ask an introvert a question, wait until she thinks about it. Introverts think before speaking, not through speaking. 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It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [Why did Erich von Stronheim leave Germany? Why did Hitchcock leave England? If you were a director you'd like to work in Hollywood too.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-polanski/why-did-erich-von-stronheim-leave-germany-why-did-hitchcock-leave/) [Roman Polanski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-polanski/) > [There is nothing more I ask of this life than this moment, exactly so. And suddenly forever seems like too short a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-andreas/there-is-nothing-more-i-ask-of-this-life-than-this-moment-exactly-so/) [Brian Andreas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-andreas/) > [Success will come when the societal attitude changes and not a single woman in America asks herself the question 'What did I do?'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-biden/success-will-come-when-the-societal-attitude-changes-and-not-a-single/) [Joe Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-biden/) > [The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-most-fundamental-question-we-can-ever-ask-ourselves-is-whether-or/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The rich people are apparently leaving America. They're giving up their citizenship. These great lovers of America who made their money in this country-when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-rich-people-are-apparently-leaving-america-they-re-giving-up/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) > [For someone to ask 'Who did you play for' and to be able to answer a single name 'Liverpool' that would be brilliant...I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-carragher/for-someone-to-ask-who-did-you-play-for-and-to-be-able-to-answer-a/) [Jamie Carragher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-carragher/) > [I have no hesitation in saying that although the American woman never leaves her domestic sphere and is in some respects very dependent within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-have-no-hesitation-in-saying-that-although-the-american-woman-never/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Ask God for temp'rance. That's th' appliance only Which your disease requires.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/ask-god-for-temp-rance-that-s-th-appliance-only-which-your-disease/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I don't know how to say it exactly. Only...I want to die as myself. Does that make any sense?' he asks. I shake my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-don-t-know-how-to-say-it-exactly-only-i-want-to-die-as-myself-does/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) Browse all 7,138 Asks quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ruefle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-would-ask-for-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Asks" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-would-ask-for-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/052/mary-ruefle-12875_asks_if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-wou_2514460.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we knew the value of suffering, we would ask for it.” — Mary Ruefle", "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": "Mary Ruefle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ruefle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If we knew the value of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-would-ask-for-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ruefle/if-we-knew-the-value-of-suffering-we-would-ask-for-it/#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 } } ] } ```