--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Affliction is not sent in vain, young…" description: "\"Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good God, who chastens whom he loves.\" — Robert Southey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png" --- # Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good… ![“Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good God, who chastens whom he loves.” quote by Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png) > “Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good God, who chastens whom he loves.” [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Suffering is a divine lesson from a loving God who disciplines those He cares for. **In simple terms:** Pain is a loving teacher. Key Takeaway Embrace hardship as growth. Themes spirituality discipline growth Mood solemn hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal loss - health challenges - career setbacks - spiritual practice Key Concepts theodicy faith resilience Questions to Reflect On - How do you find meaning in pain? - What practices help you cope with hardship? A Different Perspective Not all suffering feels purposeful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affliction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) [Affliction Sent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction-sent-1994095/) [Chastens Loves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chastens-loves-1994096/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [God Chastens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-chastens-1994094/) [Good god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-god/) [Vain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vain/) [Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young/) [Young man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-man/) ## Related quotes > [We know that Heaven chastens those whom it loves best; being pleased by repeated trials, to make . . . pure spirits more pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/we-know-that-heaven-chastens-those-whom-it-loves-best-being-pleased/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Deuteronomy 8:5-6 NKJV) You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. {6}…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goddey-wilson/deuteronomy-8-5-6-nkjv-you-should-know-in-your-heart-that-as-a-man/) [GODDEY WILSON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goddey-wilson/) > [God never allows pain without a purpose in the lives of His children. He never allows Satan, nor circumstances, nor any ill-intending person to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/god-never-allows-pain-without-a-purpose-in-the-lives-of-his-children/) [Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/) > [O! useful may it be to have shewn, that, though the vicious can sometimes pour affliction upon the good, their power is transient and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/o-useful-may-it-be-to-have-shewn-that-though-the-vicious-can/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [Personal size and mental sorrow have certainly no necessary proportions. A large bulky figure has a good a right to be in deep affliction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/personal-size-and-mental-sorrow-have-certainly-no-necessary/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [There is healing in the bitter cup.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/there-is-healing-in-the-bitter-cup/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [When I wake up every morning I think about how good God has been to me. It always motivates me to strive to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-i-wake-up-every-morning-i-think-about-how-good-god-has-been-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We act like God's only good when the outcome is good. We say, 'We've got a good God because I've got a good job.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/we-act-like-god-s-only-good-when-the-outcome-is-good-we-say-we-ve-got/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) > [Good God, man, what is that smell?" He eyed with disgust the doctor's filthy cloak. "Life," answered the doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/good-god-man-what-is-that-smell-he-eyed-with-disgust-the-doctor-s/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [I think a lot of the writing, you know, I write is just kind of like that where, you know. I write exactly how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-camp/i-think-a-lot-of-the-writing-you-know-i-write-is-just-kind-of-like/) [Jeremy Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-camp/) > [ “\[...\] I talk to the dead although I don't believe in ghosts. But it makes me feel good to speak with them. Maybe that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-jin-lee/i-talk-to-the-dead-although-i-don-t-believe-in-ghosts-but-it-makes-me/) [Min Jin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-jin-lee/) > [God is good. God is great. We need to stop what we are doing. And thank him each day. AMEN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-vickers/god-is-good-god-is-great-we-need-to-stop-what-we-are-doing-and-thank/) [Jennifer Vickers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-vickers/) > [I do know this... I seem to reach a lot of previously unchurched people. So many people have told me they never went to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/i-do-know-this-i-seem-to-reach-a-lot-of-previously-unchurched-people/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [“take free food or tea from anyone talking about God and find Heaven its gotta be out there for there must be God and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dito-montiel/take-free-food-or-tea-from-anyone-talking-about-god-and-find-heaven/) [Dito Montiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dito-montiel/) > [ “if \[God\] doesn't exist, man is the chief of the earth, of the universe. Magnificent! Only how is he going to be good without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/if-god-doesn-t-exist-man-is-the-chief-of-the-earth-of-the-universe/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) ## More by Robert Southey > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/it-has-been-more-wittily-than-charitably-said-that-hell-is-paved-with/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character, our home, our birthplace, our native land. Think for a while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/whatever-strengthens-our-local-attachments-is-favorable-both-to/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/i-have-told-you-of-the-spaniard-who-always-put-on-his-spectacles-when/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/my-days-among-the-dead-are-passed-around-me-i-behold-where-er-these/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Love is indestructible. It's holy flame forever burneth; from Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/love-is-indestructible-it-s-holy-flame-forever-burneth-from-heaven-it/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty-years-are-the-longest-half/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Take away love, and not physical nature only, but the heart of the moral world, would be palsied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/take-away-love-and-not-physical-nature-only-but-the-heart-of-the/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Where Washington hath left His awful memory A light for after times!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/where-washington-hath-left-his-awful-memory-a-light-for-after-times/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/the-loss-of-a-friend-is-like-that-of-a-limb-time-may-heal-the-anguish/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Three things a wise man will not trust, The wind, the sunshine of an April day, And woman's plighted faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/three-things-a-wise-man-will-not-trust-the-wind-the-sunshine-of-an/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [She comes majestic with her swelling sails, The gallant Ship: along her watery way, Homeward she drives before the favouring gales; Now flirting at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/she-comes-majestic-with-her-swelling-sails-the-gallant-ship-along-her/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [A wise judge, by the craft of the law, was never seduced from its purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/a-wise-judge-by-the-craft-of-the-law-was-never-seduced-from-its/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Let us depart! the universal sun Confines not to one land his blessed beams; Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/let-us-depart-the-universal-sun-confines-not-to-one-land-his-blessed/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) [Explore all 116 Robert Southey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## 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": "Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good God, who chastens whom he loves.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Southey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man-from-that-good-god-who/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affliction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man-from-that-good-god-who/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11f/robert-southey-4115_affliction_affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man_2606788.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Affliction is not sent in vain, young man, from that good God, who chastens whom he loves.” — Robert Southey", "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": "Robert Southey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Affliction is not sent in vain,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man-from-that-good-god-who/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/affliction-is-not-sent-in-vain-young-man-from-that-good-god-who/#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 } } ] } ```