--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Without the threat of suffering, we can’t…" description: "\"“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness”\" — Neal Shusterman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/neal-shusterman-412_joy_without-the-threat-of-suffering-we-can-t_3208977.png" --- # Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true… ![“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness” quote by Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/neal-shusterman-412_joy_without-the-threat-of-suffering-we-can-t_3208977.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/neal-shusterman-412_joy_without-the-threat-of-suffering-we-can-t_3208977.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14c/neal-shusterman-412_joy_without-the-threat-of-suffering-we-can-t_3208977.png) > ““Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. The best we get is pleasantness”” [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering gives depth to joy; without hardship, pleasure is shallow and less meaningful. **In simple terms:** Pain makes joy richer. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges to value joy. Themes suffering joy meaning contrast Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - adversity training - creative writing - spiritual practice - education Key Concepts philosophical resilience emotional depth Questions to Reflect On - How have hardships deepened your appreciation of joy? - Can joy exist without any pain? A Different Perspective Excessive suffering can overwhelm and diminish joy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best Pleasantness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-pleasantness-5988174/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Page-244](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/page-244-139047/) [Pleasantness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasantness/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Suffering Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering-experience-637337/) [Threat Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/threat-suffering-4950516/) [True joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-joy/) ## Related quotes > [“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/without-the-threat-of-suffering-we-can-t-experience-true-joy/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“Nobody gets anybody else, not really. We're all stuck inside ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nobody-gets-anybody-else-not-really-we-re-all-stuck-inside-ourselves/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [All violence consists in some people forcing others, under threat of suffering or death, to do what they do not want to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/all-violence-consists-in-some-people-forcing-others-under-threat-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I don't carol, said Simon. I'm Jewish. I only know the dreidel song.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-don-t-carol-said-simon-i-m-jewish-i-only-know-the-dreidel-song/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The reward of suffering is experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman-2/the-reward-of-suffering-is-experience/) [Harry S Truman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-s-truman-2/) > [“What ages you faster, suffering or experience?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila-aboulela/what-ages-you-faster-suffering-or-experience/) [Leila Aboulela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leila-aboulela/) > [I am still suffering from my experience in Rwanda, I never know when I'm going to drive my car off a bridge, or just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rom-o-dallaire/i-am-still-suffering-from-my-experience-in-rwanda-i-never-know-when-i/) [Roméo Dallaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rom-o-dallaire/) > [Through every trial we grow. 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If it weren’t for the suffering, we wouldn’t cherish the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-contreras/if-it-weren-t-for-love-the-suffering-we-experience-wouldn-t-be-worth/) [Claire Contreras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-contreras/) > [No matter the severity of suffering we experience in this life, it will always be less that what we have deserved for our sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-mahaney/no-matter-the-severity-of-suffering-we-experience-in-this-life-it/) [C. J. Mahaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-mahaney/) > [“There was a pleasantness to the air and a spirit about the town that did not come from its color, but from some inner,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-carriger/there-was-a-pleasantness-to-the-air-and-a-spirit-about-the-town-that/) [gail carriger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-carriger/) > [“...the pleasantness of an employment does not always evince its propriety.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/the-pleasantness-of-an-employment-does-not-always-evince-its-propriety/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) ## More by Neal Shusterman > [“Picking locks was not a skill he had ever cultivated, but he persisted day after day, turning the tip of his talon into different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/picking-locks-was-not-a-skill-he-had-ever-cultivated-but-he-persisted/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“If you come anywhere near my daughter, I will see to it that you are taken apart piece by bloody piece. Do I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/if-you-come-anywhere-near-my-daughter-i-will-see-to-it-that-you-are/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Dead kids are put on pedestals, but mentally ill kids get hidden under the rug.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/dead-kids-are-put-on-pedestals-but-mentally-ill-kids-get-hidden-under/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“The fear of not living is a deep, abiding dread of watching your own potential decompose into irredeemable disappointment when “should be” gets crushed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/the-fear-of-not-living-is-a-deep-abiding-dread-of-watching-your-own/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [That's wisdom you can take to the grave, and dig up when you need it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/that-s-wisdom-you-can-take-to-the-grave-and-dig-up-when-you-need-it/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“And you know the darkness beyond despair, just as intimately as you know the soaring heights. 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Picasso had to prove to the world he can paint the right way, before he goes putting both eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/it-s-like-art-you-know-picasso-had-to-prove-to-the-world-he-can-paint/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [The way I see it, the impossible happens all the time; but we're so good at taking it for granted, we forget it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/the-way-i-see-it-the-impossible-happens-all-the-time-but-we-re-so/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“a true leader never puts his ego ahead of his assets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/a-true-leader-never-puts-his-ego-ahead-of-his-assets/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [If you have to ask then you don't deserve an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/if-you-have-to-ask-then-you-don-t-deserve-an-answer/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“There was never anything wrong with my life. Perhaps that was the problem... The crack in my life was the fact that I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/there-was-never-anything-wrong-with-my-life-perhaps-that-was-the/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“But fate is a freak when it comes to messing with your future in ways you don't see coming.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/but-fate-is-a-freak-when-it-comes-to-messing-with-your-future-in-ways/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [“The sad truth about humanity, Risa was quick to realize, is that people believe what they are told. 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The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Of everything I have done, 'The Archers' always gets the most excitement; there's a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/of-everything-i-have-done-the-archers-always-gets-the-most-excitement/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [Safin, in his way, is very talented. It is a joy to watch them play; it is tennis of a very high quality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-krajicek/safin-in-his-way-is-very-talented-it-is-a-joy-to-watch-them-play-it/) [Richard Krajicek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-krajicek/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) [Daniel K Judd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-k-judd/) > [“Start the daily practice of joyful living.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/start-the-daily-practice-of-joyful-living/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I have touched with a sense of art some people-they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-cassatt/i-have-touched-with-a-sense-of-art-some-people-they-felt-the-love-and/) [Mary Cassatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-cassatt/) > [“Reverend Veronica Goines sums this up as, “Peace is joy at rest, and joy is peace on its feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/reverend-veronica-goines-sums-this-up-as-peace-is-joy-at-rest-and-joy/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Be in a state of gratitude for everything that shows up in your life. Be thankful for the storms as well as the smooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/be-in-a-state-of-gratitude-for-everything-that-shows-up-in-your-life/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. Joy is of the essence of life;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnivesh/spiritually-life-is-a-festival-a-celebration-joy-is-of-the-essence-of/) [Agnivesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnivesh/) [Browse all 15,003 Joy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Without the threat of suffering, we can’t experience true joy. 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