--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we…" description: "\"Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for others.\" — Emile Gaboriau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg" --- # Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for… ![“Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for others.” quote by Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg) > “Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for others.” [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering personal hardship can foster empathy for others' pain **In simple terms:** Personal pain can increase compassion Key Takeaway Reflect on own struggles to help others Themes empathy personal growth psychology Mood reflective somber Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - counseling sessions - support groups - community service Key Concepts self‑awareness compassion training volunteering Questions to Reflect On - How does personal loss shape your view of others? - Can suffering be a reliable source of empathy? A Different Perspective Empathy may be limited if suffering is not processed ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas/) [Alas Suffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas-suffer-1594982/) [Empathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empathy/) [Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Suffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffer/) [Suffer Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffer-feel-677401/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes there is clash between our normal life and love life. In which we have to suffer and feel the pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/sometimes-there-is-clash-between-our-normal-life-and-love-life-in/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [It's difficult to admit to ourselves that we suffer. We feel humiliated, like we should have been able to control our pain. If someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/it-s-difficult-to-admit-to-ourselves-that-we-suffer-we-feel/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [We suffer because we feel we are giving more than we receive. We suffer because our love is going unrecognized. We suffer because we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-suffer-because-we-feel-we-are-giving-more-than-we-receive-we/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [If you suffer it is because of you, if you feel blissful it is because of you. Nobody else is responsible - only you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/if-you-suffer-it-is-because-of-you-if-you-feel-blissful-it-is-because/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [To suffer because of anything you see, feel or experience here in the world of moment to moment is a mistake. It is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/to-suffer-because-of-anything-you-see-feel-or-experience-here-in-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I wish I could just end this feeling I have inside.. My thoughts are just eating me from inside. Forcing me to suffer. Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lostintears/i-wish-i-could-just-end-this-feeling-i-have-inside-my-thoughts-are/) [LostInTears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lostintears/) > [Why does Israel always have to suffer for others to feel bad for it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zubin-mehta/why-does-israel-always-have-to-suffer-for-others-to-feel-bad-for-it/) [Zubin Mehta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zubin-mehta/) > [Imaginary pains are by far the most real we suffer, since we feel a constant need for them and invent them because there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/imaginary-pains-are-by-far-the-most-real-we-suffer-since-we-feel-a/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [It's what great artists do. They suffer and feel more within the human condition than others. They're not better for that, just more sensitive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-patinkin/it-s-what-great-artists-do-they-suffer-and-feel-more-within-the-human/) [Mandy Patinkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-patinkin/) > [To perceive is to suffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/to-perceive-is-to-suffer/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [He who causes suffering shall suffer. There is no escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/he-who-causes-suffering-shall-suffer-there-is-no-escape/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [I unfortunately do suffer for my art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/i-unfortunately-do-suffer-for-my-art/) [Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/) > [And remember, you shall suffer all things and again suffer: until you have sufficient sufferance to accept all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-osman-spare/and-remember-you-shall-suffer-all-things-and-again-suffer-until-you/) [Austin Osman Spare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-osman-spare/) > [As long as one can suffer, one is living…live and suffer until life is gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-smith/as-long-as-one-can-suffer-one-is-living-live-and-suffer-until-life-is/) [Betty Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-smith/) > [You must suffer me to go my own dark way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/you-must-suffer-me-to-go-my-own-dark-way/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) ## More by Emile Gaboriau > [“I have watched him as only a woman can watch a man upon whom her fate depends, but it has always been in vain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/i-have-watched-him-as-only-a-woman-can-watch-a-man-upon-whom-her-fate/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [Women never confess and even when they seemingly resign themselves to such a course they are not sincere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/women-never-confess-and-even-when-they-seemingly-resign-themselves-to/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“You say she loves him? No one but a coward would be defrauded of the woman he loved and who loved him. Ah, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/you-say-she-loves-him-no-one-but-a-coward-would-be-defrauded-of-the/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“It is at the family fireside, often under the shelter of the law itself, that the real tragedies of life are acted; in these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/it-is-at-the-family-fireside-often-under-the-shelter-of-the-law/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [Woman submits to her fate; man makes his](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/woman-submits-to-her-fate-man-makes-his/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“Excessive suffering brings with it a kind of dull insensibility and stupor…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/excessive-suffering-brings-with-it-a-kind-of-dull-insensibility-and/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“As to acknowledging that he was about to obtain a triumph with the ideas of another man, he never thought of such a thing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/as-to-acknowledging-that-he-was-about-to-obtain-a-triumph-with-the/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“...chance is sometimes a wonderful accomplice in crime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/chance-is-sometimes-a-wonderful-accomplice-in-crime/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [Revenge is a luscious fruit which you must leave to ripen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/revenge-is-a-luscious-fruit-which-you-must-leave-to-ripen/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“Vengeance is a delicious fruit, which must be allowed to ripen in order that it may be fully enjoyed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/vengeance-is-a-delicious-fruit-which-must-be-allowed-to-ripen-in/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [A father is the one friend upon whom we can always rely. In the hour of need, when all else fails, we remember him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/a-father-is-the-one-friend-upon-whom-we-can-always-rely-in-the-hour/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [He was as yet not sufficiently experienced in ruffianism to know that one villain always sacrifices another to advance his own project; he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/he-was-as-yet-not-sufficiently-experienced-in-ruffianism-to-know-that/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [“Like those imperceptible insects which, having once penetrated the root of a tree devour it in a single night, suspicion, when it invades our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/like-those-imperceptible-insects-which-having-once-penetrated-the/) [Émile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [Women never confess; even when they seemingly resign themselves to such a course, they are never sincere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/women-never-confess-even-when-they-seemingly-resign-themselves-to/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) > [A woman scoffs at evidence. Show her the sun, tell her it is daylight, at once she will close her eyes and say to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/a-woman-scoffs-at-evidence-show-her-the-sun-tell-her-it-is-daylight/) [Emile Gaboriau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) [Explore all 18 Emile Gaboriau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/) ## More Alas quotes > [“Muchos de los ángeles de Dios no tienen alas...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/muchos-de-los-ngeles-de-dios-no-tienen-alas/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [We are all potentially such sick men. The sanest and best of us are of one clay with lunatics and prison-inmates. And whenever we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/we-are-all-potentially-such-sick-men-the-sanest-and-best-of-us-are-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [Alas, you don't need monsters for monstrous deeds to be accomplished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/alas-you-don-t-need-monsters-for-monstrous-deeds-to-be-accomplished/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Time, time - that is our greatest master! Alas, like Ugolino, time devours its own children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hector-berlioz/time-time-that-is-our-greatest-master-alas-like-ugolino-time-devours/) [Hector Berlioz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hector-berlioz/) > [Removing prejudices is, alas! too often removing the boundary of a delightful near prospect in order to let in a shockingly extensive one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-fulke-greville/removing-prejudices-is-alas-too-often-removing-the-boundary-of-a/) [Sir Fulke Greville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sir-fulke-greville/) > [Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-pharcellus-church/yes-virginia-there-is-a-santa-claus-he-exists-as-certainly-as-love/) [Francis Pharcellus Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-pharcellus-church/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [The flesh is sad, alas, and I have read all the books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-phane-mallarm/the-flesh-is-sad-alas-and-i-have-read-all-the-books/) [Stephane Mallarme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-phane-mallarm/) > [Alas! all music jars when the soul's out of tune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/alas-all-music-jars-when-the-soul-s-out-of-tune/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity, or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half, I still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-welsh-carlyle/in-spite-of-the-honestest-efforts-to-annihilate-my-i-ity-or-merge-it/) [Jane Welsh Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-welsh-carlyle/) > [The dumpling is indeed of more ancient institution, and of foreign origin; but alas, what were those dumplings? Nothing but a few lentils sodden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-arbuthnot/the-dumpling-is-indeed-of-more-ancient-institution-and-of-foreign/) [John Arbuthnot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-arbuthnot/) > [“World is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-f-moonzajer/world-is-so-beautiful-but-alas-there-are-so-many-assholes/) [M.F. Moonzajer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-f-moonzajer/) > [Ideally a painter (and, generally, an artist) should not become conscious of his insights: without taking the detour through his reflective processes, and incomprehensibly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/ideally-a-painter-and-generally-an-artist-should-not-become-conscious/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [Alas! we makeA ladder of our thoughts, where angels step,But sleep ourselves at the foot: our high resolvesLook down upon our slumbering acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-elizabeth-landon/alas-we-makea-ladder-of-our-thoughts-where-angels-step-but-sleep/) [Letitia Elizabeth Landon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-elizabeth-landon/) [Browse all 453 Alas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alas/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for others.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emile Gaboriau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we-can-feel-for-others/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alas" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we-can-feel-for-others/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/872/mile-gaboriau-29402_empathy_alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we_1749592.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Alas! we must suffer ourselves before we can feel for others.” — Emile Gaboriau", "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": "Emile Gaboriau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mile-gaboriau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Alas! we must suffer ourselves before...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we-can-feel-for-others/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mile-gaboriau/alas-we-must-suffer-ourselves-before-we-can-feel-for-others/#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 } } ] } ```