--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I felt as though the vessel if my…" description: "\"“I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the ability to suffer.”\" — Osamu Dazai" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/osamu-dazai-2813_apathy_i-felt-as-though-the-vessel-if-my-suffer_780908.jpg" --- # I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become… ![“I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the ability to suffer.” quote by Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/osamu-dazai-2813_apathy_i-felt-as-though-the-vessel-if-my-suffer_780908.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/osamu-dazai-2813_apathy_i-felt-as-though-the-vessel-if-my-suffer_780908.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/osamu-dazai-2813_apathy_i-felt-as-though-the-vessel-if-my-suffer_780908.jpg) > ““I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. I had lost even the ability to suffer.”” [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Profound emptiness can strip one of the capacity to feel, even pain, leading to existential numbness. **In simple terms:** Loss of suffering can mean loss of feeling altogether. Key Takeaway Address emotional numbness before it deepens. Themes existential psychology despair Mood melancholic introspective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - therapy - creative writing - mindfulness practice Key Concepts nihilism emotional void mental health Questions to Reflect On - What reawakens your sense of feeling? - Can art help restore emotional depth? A Different Perspective Numbness may be a symptom of deeper trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apathy/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Melancholia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/melancholia/) [Mourning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mourning/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [There is not much sense in suffering, since drugs can be given for pain, itching, and other discomforts. The belief has long died that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-kubler-ross/there-is-not-much-sense-in-suffering-since-drugs-can-be-given-for/) [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-kubler-ross/) > [Who can attain to anything great if he does not feel in himself the force and will to inflict great pain? The ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/who-can-attain-to-anything-great-if-he-does-not-feel-in-himself-the-2/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It often takes suffering and lost in order to remind us of how precious life is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-bell/it-often-takes-suffering-and-lost-in-order-to-remind-us-of-how/) [Rob Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-bell/) > [“Bound for your distant home" Bound for your distant home you were leaving alien lands. In an hour as sad as I’ve known I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-sergeyevich-pushkin/bound-for-your-distant-home-bound-for-your-distant-home-you-were/) Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin > [The ability to suffer is a small matter - weak women and even slaves can acheive virtuosity in that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-ability-to-suffer-is-a-small-matter-weak-women-and-even-slaves/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [With the ability to dump someone, you'll have to have the ability to suffer being dumped!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/with-the-ability-to-dump-someone-you-ll-have-to-have-the-ability-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A person who is insane has no sense of their place; they've lost that ability, which our friend don Juan describes as the tonal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-person-who-is-insane-has-no-sense-of-their-place-they-ve-lost-that/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [I got interested in the emotions after studying patients who had lost the ability to emote and feel under certain circumstances. Many of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/i-got-interested-in-the-emotions-after-studying-patients-who-had-lost/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [“We've lost our ability to live with the secrets of the world. And yet there they are before us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/we-ve-lost-our-ability-to-live-with-the-secrets-of-the-world-and-yet/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“He explained how once we began to chime the hour, we lost the ability to be satisfied. There was always a quest for more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-explained-how-once-we-began-to-chime-the-hour-we-lost-the-ability/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [once we began to chime the hour, we lost the ability to be satisfied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/once-we-began-to-chime-the-hour-we-lost-the-ability-to-be-satisfied/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [“It was herself she was exhausted by. She had lost the ability to keep her discrete worlds discrete—a skill that many consider to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-was-herself-she-was-exhausted-by-she-had-lost-the-ability-to-keep/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“I had been feeling permanently on the cusp of a flu, feeling at that point where I just wanted to borrow somebody else's coat-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-had-been-feeling-permanently-on-the-cusp-of-a-flu-feeling-at-that/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Davos has become the emblem of a global elite that has lost its ability to listen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-luce/davos-has-become-the-emblem-of-a-global-elite-that-has-lost-its/) [Edward Luce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-luce/) > [This is a nation that has lost the ability to be self-critical, and that makes a lie out of the freedoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/this-is-a-nation-that-has-lost-the-ability-to-be-self-critical-and/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) ## More by Osamu Dazai > [I want to spend my time with people who don't look to be respected. But such good people won't want to spend their time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-want-to-spend-my-time-with-people-who-don-t-look-to-be-respected/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Disqualified as a human being. I had now ceased utterly to be a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being-i-had-now-ceased-utterly-to-be-a-human/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I was afraid to board a streetcar because of the conductor; I was afraid to enter the Kabuki Theater for fear of the usherettes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-was-afraid-to-board-a-streetcar-because-of-the-conductor-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Tomorrow will probably be another day like today. Happiness will never come my way. I know that. But it's probably best to go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/tomorrow-will-probably-be-another-day-like-today-happiness-will-never/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“When I pretended to be precocious, people started the rumor that I was precocious. When I acted like an idler, rumor had it I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/when-i-pretended-to-be-precocious-people-started-the-rumor-that-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [One day, I went to a soba restaurant outside town, and while I was waiting for the zarusoba I opened an old graph magazine.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/one-day-i-went-to-a-soba-restaurant-outside-town-and-while-i-was/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“I feel so unhappy.” I am sure that this one phrase whispered to me would arouse my sympathy more than the longest, most painstaking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-feel-so-unhappy-i-am-sure-that-this-one-phrase-whispered-to-me/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I soon came to understand that drink, tobacco and prostitutes were all great means if dissipating (even for a few moments) my dread for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-soon-came-to-understand-that-drink-tobacco-and-prostitutes-were-all/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Of late a gloomy rain has been falling almost incessantly. Whatever I do depresses me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/of-late-a-gloomy-rain-has-been-falling-almost-incessantly-whatever-i/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“All I feel are the assaults of apprehension and terror at the thought that I am the only one who is entirely unlike the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/all-i-feel-are-the-assaults-of-apprehension-and-terror-at-the-thought/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [Last year nothing happened The year before nothing happened And the year before that nothing happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/last-year-nothing-happened-the-year-before-nothing-happened-and-the/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Disqualified as a human being.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/disqualified-as-a-human-being/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [“Logic, inevitably, is the love of logic. It is not the love for living human beings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/logic-inevitably-is-the-love-of-logic-it-is-not-the-love-for-living/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [I like roses best. But they bloom in all four seasons. I wonder if people who like roses best have to die four times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/i-like-roses-best-but-they-bloom-in-all-four-seasons-i-wonder-if/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) > [But happiness is being able to hope, however faintly, for happiness. So, at least, we must believe if we are to live in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/osamu-dazai/but-happiness-is-being-able-to-hope-however-faintly-for-happiness-so/) [Osamu Dazai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) [Explore all 135 Osamu Dazai quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/osamu-dazai/) ## More Apathy quotes > [If possible, I want to hear POLITICS defined without either sympathy or apathy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mark/if-possible-i-want-to-hear-politics-defined-without-either-sympathy/) [Terry Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mark/) > [One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-graham/one-response-was-given-by-the-innkeeper-when-mary-and-joseph-wanted/) [Billy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-graham/) > [Try to greet troubles with apathy. Hello's are never what they used to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-swellers/try-to-greet-troubles-with-apathy-hello-s-are-never-what-they-used-to/) [The Swellers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-swellers/) > [Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-j-toynbee/apathy-can-be-overcome-by-enthusiasm/) [Arnold J. Toynbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-j-toynbee/) > [Indifference must be a crime in us, to be ranked but one degree below treachery; for deserting the commonwealth is next to betraying it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/indifference-must-be-a-crime-in-us-to-be-ranked-but-one-degree-below/) [Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-st-john-1st-viscount-bolingbroke/) > [Insect politics, indifferent universe. Bang your head against the wall, but apathy is worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-henley/insect-politics-indifferent-universe-bang-your-head-against-the-wall/) [Don Henley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-henley/) > [“And there's a freedom in apathy, a wild, dizzying liberation on which you can almost get drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/and-there-s-a-freedom-in-apathy-a-wild-dizzying-liberation-on-which/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) > [For he who is not deaf, half a silence is enough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-malfatti/for-he-who-is-not-deaf-half-a-silence-is-enough/) [Jean-Paul Malfatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-malfatti/) > [“Just because a person is silent doesn’t mean there’s no message.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/just-because-a-person-is-silent-doesn-t-mean-there-s-no-message/) [Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/) > [“If someone with a high level of authority were to ask me, "Suzy, how can we make people so incredibly stupid and apathetic, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/if-someone-with-a-high-level-of-authority-were-to-ask-me-suzy-how-can/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [“It takes more than one kick in the pants to reverse a lifetime of unplanned apathy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-neilan/it-takes-more-than-one-kick-in-the-pants-to-reverse-a-lifetime-of/) [Paul Neilan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-neilan/) > [“Use the apathy of your logic to solve your problems and then the passion of your soul to enjoy life after that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelos-michalopoulos/use-the-apathy-of-your-logic-to-solve-your-problems-and-then-the/) [Angelos Michalopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelos-michalopoulos/) > [“The fundamental basis by which the court’s decision might be made is, in itself, imperfect and subject to contradictions. There is very little consideration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashim-shanker/the-fundamental-basis-by-which-the-court-s-decision-might-be-made-is/) [Ashim Shanker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashim-shanker/) > [“The young woman had read a good many novels, and she had seen a good many films; this education by newspaper, serial and film…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-renard/the-young-woman-had-read-a-good-many-novels-and-she-had-seen-a-good/) [Maurice Renard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-renard/) > [Mourn not the dead that in the cool earth lie... But rather mourn the apathetic throng - The cowed and the meek - Who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-chaplin/mourn-not-the-dead-that-in-the-cool-earth-lie-but-rather-mourn-the/) [Ralph Chaplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-chaplin/) [Browse all 619 Apathy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apathy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I felt as though the vessel if my suffering had become empty, as if nothing could interest me now. 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