--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We only see clearly when we have reached…" description: "\"We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe.\" — Ouida" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png" --- # We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe. ![“We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe.” quote by Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png) > “We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe.” [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Clarity emerges only after deep suffering. **In simple terms:** Understanding follows pain. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship for insight. Themes suffering clarity growth Mood somber hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grief - personal loss - creative work - null Key Concepts existential psychology Questions to Reflect On - What have you learned from hardship? - Can clarity arise without pain? A Different Perspective Pain can distort perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affliction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Depths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depths/) [Woe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woe/) ## Related quotes > [The 24% unemployment reached at the depths of the Great Depression was no picnic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-eichengreen/the-24-unemployment-reached-at-the-depths-of-the-great-depression-was/) [Barry Eichengreen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-eichengreen/) > [When God threw me, a pebble, into this wondrous lake, I disturbed its surface with countless circles. But when I reached the depths, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/when-god-threw-me-a-pebble-into-this-wondrous-lake-i-disturbed-its/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“I too tried to look at matter from a more generous perspective: I didn't succeed. but now I've gained courage; I've reached the depths…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-too-tried-to-look-at-matter-from-a-more-generous-perspective-i-didn/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Religion assures us that our afflictions shall have an end; she comforts us, she dries our tears, she promises us another life. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/religion-assures-us-that-our-afflictions-shall-have-an-end-she/) [François-René de Chateaubriand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-ois-ren-de-chateaubriand/) > [As night to stars, woe lustre gives to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/as-night-to-stars-woe-lustre-gives-to-man/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Should pain and suffering, sorrow, and grief, rise up like clouds and overshadow for a time the Sun of Righteousness and hide Him from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhu-sundar-singh/should-pain-and-suffering-sorrow-and-grief-rise-up-like-clouds-and/) [Sadhu Sundar Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhu-sundar-singh/) > [Affliction is the good man's shining scene; prosperity conceals his brightest ray; as night to stars, woe lustre gives to man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-young/affliction-is-the-good-man-s-shining-scene-prosperity-conceals-his/) [Edward Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-young/) > [Such things as anguish, woe, affliction, guilt, feelings of awfulness, and utter wretchedness, the bread and butter of Days of Yore and Russians, sadly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisha-pessl/such-things-as-anguish-woe-affliction-guilt-feelings-of-awfulness-and/) [Marisha Pessl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisha-pessl/) > [There's a certain rhythm to comedy that is almost like you're dancing and you just go on autopilot, so to speak. There's something just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-wolk/there-s-a-certain-rhythm-to-comedy-that-is-almost-like-you-re-dancing/) [James Wolk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-wolk/) > [I've come back from the depths of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kotetsu-t-kaburagi/i-ve-come-back-from-the-depths-of-hell/) Kotetsu T Kaburagi > [In comics, there are depths that don't reveal themselves immediately, and the stuff that you might consider anal about 'Watching the Watchmen' - like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-gibbons/in-comics-there-are-depths-that-don-t-reveal-themselves-immediately/) [Dave Gibbons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-gibbons/) > [“In the depths of the ocean; Dipped in love without expectations, We have stripped off our masks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/in-the-depths-of-the-ocean-dipped-in-love-without-expectations-we/) sir kristian goldmund aumann > [Too often we forget that the great men of faith reached the heights they did only by going through the depths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/os-guinness/too-often-we-forget-that-the-great-men-of-faith-reached-the-heights/) [Os Guinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/os-guinness/) > [If you looked down to the bottom of my soul, you would understand fully the source of my longing and – pity me. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-looked-down-to-the-bottom-of-my-soul-you-would-understand/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [''For the depths 'Of the the ocean ''Show the shrieks Of moulded yellow Vast is the eye that can see and the eye That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/for-the-depths-of-the-the-ocean-show-the-shrieks-of-moulded-yellow/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) ## More by Ouida > [Sport inevitably creates deadness of feeling. No one could take pleasure in it who was sensitive to suffering; and therefore its pursuit by women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/sport-inevitably-creates-deadness-of-feeling-no-one-could-take/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Indifference is the invincible grant of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/indifference-is-the-invincible-grant-of-the-world/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [When you talk yourself, you think how witty, how original, how acute you are; but when another does so, you are very apt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/when-you-talk-yourself-you-think-how-witty-how-original-how-acute-you/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Indifference is the invisible giant of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/indifference-is-the-invisible-giant-of-the-world/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [There is nothing that you may not get people to believe in if you will only tell it them loud enough and often enough,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/there-is-nothing-that-you-may-not-get-people-to-believe-in-if-you/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [To vice, innocence must always seem only a superior kind of chicanery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/to-vice-innocence-must-always-seem-only-a-superior-kind-of-chicanery/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [An easy-going husband is the one indispensable comfort of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/an-easy-going-husband-is-the-one-indispensable-comfort-of-life/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Christianity has ever been the enemy of human love; it has forever cursed and expelled and crucified the one passion which sweetens and smiles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/christianity-has-ever-been-the-enemy-of-human-love-it-has-forever/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Genius scorns the power of gold: it is wrong. Gold is the war-scythe on its chariot, which mows down the millions of its foes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/genius-scorns-the-power-of-gold-it-is-wrong-gold-is-the-war-scythe-on/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [There is a self-evident axiom, that she who is born a beauty is half married.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/there-is-a-self-evident-axiom-that-she-who-is-born-a-beauty-is-half/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [No great talker ever did any great thing yet, in this world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/no-great-talker-ever-did-any-great-thing-yet-in-this-world/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [The philosopher stands at his desk in the lecture hall, and demonstrates away the soul of man, and with exact thought measures out his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/the-philosopher-stands-at-his-desk-in-the-lecture-hall-and/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [The song that we hear with our ears is only the song that is sung in our hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/the-song-that-we-hear-with-our-ears-is-only-the-song-that-is-sung-in/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [It is a kind of blindness--poverty. We can only grope through life when we are poor, hitting and maiming ourselves against every angle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/it-is-a-kind-of-blindness-poverty-we-can-only-grope-through-life-when/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [A just chastisement may benefit a man, though it seldom does; but an unjust one changes all his blood to gall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/a-just-chastisement-may-benefit-a-man-though-it-seldom-does-but-an/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) [Explore all 125 Ouida quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) ## More Affliction quotes > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [Every man will have his own criterion in forming his judgment of others. I depend very much on the effect of affliction. I consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cecil/every-man-will-have-his-own-criterion-in-forming-his-judgment-of/) [Richard Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cecil/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-is-nothing-in-afflictions-which-ought-to-disturb-our-joy/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/come-then-affliction-if-my-father-wills-and-be-my-frowning-friend-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Henceforth, I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself, 'Enough, enough, and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/henceforth-i-ll-bear-affliction-till-it-do-cry-out-itself-enough/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Aimee Parkison offers a distinct new voice to contemporary fiction. Her seductive stories explore childhood as a realm of sorrows, and reveal the afflictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/aimee-parkison-offers-a-distinct-new-voice-to-contemporary-fiction/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [May I strike my heart's keys clearly, and may none fail because of slack, uncertain, or fraying strings. May the tears that stream down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/may-i-strike-my-heart-s-keys-clearly-and-may-none-fail-because-of/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We are infinitely more than our limitations and afflictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/we-are-infinitely-more-than-our-limitations-and-afflictions/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [God measures out affliction to our need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/god-measures-out-affliction-to-our-need/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/afflictions-make-the-heart-more-deep-more-experimental-more-knowing/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/religion-prescribes-to-every-miserable-man-the-means-of-bettering-his/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Short-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/short-term-amnesia-is-not-the-worst-affliction-if-you-have-an-irish/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Revolution will free society of its afflictions, while science will free the individual of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/revolution-will-free-society-of-its-afflictions-while-science-will/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Browse all 598 Affliction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ouida" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached-the-depths-of-woe/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affliction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached-the-depths-of-woe/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2b/ouida-3651_affliction_we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached_2713535.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We only see clearly when we have reached the depths of woe.” — Ouida", "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": "Ouida", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We only see clearly when we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached-the-depths-of-woe/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/we-only-see-clearly-when-we-have-reached-the-depths-of-woe/#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 } } ] } ```