--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human beings suffer, They torture one…" description: "\"“Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/seamus-heaney-1711_far-side_human-beings-suffer-they-torture-one-ano_887922.jpg" --- # Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get… ![“Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols Beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father Stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils Faints at the…” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/seamus-heaney-1711_far-side_human-beings-suffer-they-torture-one-ano_887922.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/seamus-heaney-1711_far-side_human-beings-suffer-they-torture-one-ano_887922.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7c7/seamus-heaney-1711_far-side_human-beings-suffer-they-torture-one-ano_887922.jpg) > ““Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols Beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father Stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils Faints at the funeral home. History says, don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that further shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracle And cures and healing wells. Call miracle self-healing: The utter, self-revealing Double-take of feeling. If there's fire on the mountain Or lightning and storm And a god speaks from the sky That means someone is hearing The outcry and the birth-cry Of new life at its term.”” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human suffering and injustice persist, but hope for transformative justice exists, driven by collective yearning and belief in miracles. **In simple terms:** Suffering is pervasive, yet hope for justice remains. Key Takeaway Cultivate hope and act for justice. Themes suffering justice hope miracle collective action Mood somber hopeful Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - activism - community healing - policy reform - personal resilience Key Concepts philosophy ethics poetry social critique Questions to Reflect On - What concrete steps can turn hope into justice? - How do personal miracles relate to societal change? A Different Perspective Hope alone may not address systemic issues without concrete action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/healing/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Miracles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miracles/) [New life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-life/) [Once in a lifetime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/once-in-a-lifetime/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Right A Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-a-wrong/) [Self healing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-healing/) ## Related quotes > [The process of self-healing is the privilege of every being. Self-healing is not a miracle, nor is self-healing a dramatization of the personality as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-process-of-self-healing-is-the-privilege-of-every-being-self/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [The miracle of self-healing occurs when the inner patient yields to the inner physician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-howard/the-miracle-of-self-healing-occurs-when-the-inner-patient-yields-to/) [Vernon Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-howard/) > [“Believe that further shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracle And cures and healing wells.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/believe-that-further-shore-is-reachable-from-here-believe-in-miracle/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“History says, Don't hope/On this side of the grave/But then, once in a lifetime/The longest-for tidal wave of justice can rise up/And hope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/history-says-don-t-hope-on-this-side-of-the-grave-but-then-once-in-a-2/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that further shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracles And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/so-hope-for-a-great-sea-change-on-the-far-side-of-revenge-believe/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Pity can purge us of hostility and arouse feelings of identification with the characters, but it can also be a consoling reassurance which leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wright/pity-can-purge-us-of-hostility-and-arouse-feelings-of-identification/) [Richard Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wright/) > [Every good story needs a complication. We learn this fiction-writing fundamental in courses and workshops, by reading a lot or, most painfully, through our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-wood/every-good-story-needs-a-complication-we-learn-this-fiction-writing/) [Monica Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-wood/) > [“Sometimes family isn’t about the people you’re born to, but those who care enough about you to support you . . . or pull a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-bybee/sometimes-family-isn-t-about-the-people-you-re-born-to-but-those-who/) [Catherine Bybee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-bybee/) > [Romance, To me, Shall never be, A date on a calender, Or a means, To right a wrong. It is not a gift, A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/romance-to-me-shall-never-be-a-date-on-a-calender-or-a-means-to-right/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [Perhaps one could say I've worked in South Africa too long, but I believe in forgiveness, especially when a person admits a mistake, asks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/perhaps-one-could-say-i-ve-worked-in-south-africa-too-long-but-i/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [“It’s not wrong to want justice, to desire to right a wrong or help put away the bad guys. But revenge, that’s not right.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynette-eason/it-s-not-wrong-to-want-justice-to-desire-to-right-a-wrong-or-help-put/) [Lynette Eason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynette-eason/) > [We commit two wrongs when we fail to right a wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/we-commit-two-wrongs-when-we-fail-to-right-a-wrong/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [The human soul finds its saddest imprisonment when it is helpless in the presence of cruelty, when it cannot right a wrong. It finds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenkin-lloyd-jones/the-human-soul-finds-its-saddest-imprisonment-when-it-is-helpless-in/) [Jenkin Lloyd Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenkin-lloyd-jones/) > [“Who wouldn’t want to go back in time and correct a mistake, right a wrong, change how things turned out? Who wouldn’t want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-e-richards/who-wouldn-t-want-to-go-back-in-time-and-correct-a-mistake-right-a/) [Douglas E. Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-e-richards/) > [“No matter how slow or long it takes, it is never too late to right a wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-w-boyer/no-matter-how-slow-or-long-it-takes-it-is-never-too-late-to-right-a/) [Mark W Boyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-w-boyer/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Far side quotes > [I've said multiple times that the world's first trillionaire is going to be the person who exploits the resources of asteroids, the natural resources…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-ve-said-multiple-times-that-the-world-s-first-trillionaire-is-going/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [“My advice is, the next time you see someone you think you need to rescue, walk quickly away on the far side of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-moon/my-advice-is-the-next-time-you-see-someone-you-think-you-need-to/) [Elizabeth Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-moon/) > [“When you’re climbing up a rock face, your hands are not more than a few inches from your eyes, but when you’re coming down,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-archer/when-you-re-climbing-up-a-rock-face-your-hands-are-not-more-than-a/) [Jeffrey Archer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-archer/) > [“Human wisdom has advanced to the point where man can construct satellites. And yet man in his wisdom cannot find a way to rescue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daisaku-ikeda/human-wisdom-has-advanced-to-the-point-where-man-can-construct/) [Daisaku Ikeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daisaku-ikeda/) > [“Besides, this was the gentle-going hour in which he hated Annawadi least. The pale sun lent the sewage lake a sparkling silver cast, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-boo/besides-this-was-the-gentle-going-hour-in-which-he-hated-annawadi/) [Katherine Boo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-boo/) > [“Hunter, I have no brothers. You are my brother. My wife is dead. My child is dead. My parents are dead. Must I lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/hunter-i-have-no-brothers-you-are-my-brother-my-wife-is-dead-my-child/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) > [“Short stories are tiny windows into other worlds and other minds and other dreams. They are journeys you can make to the far side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/short-stories-are-tiny-windows-into-other-worlds-and-other-minds-and/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [Principles are the simplicity on the far side of complexity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-covey/principles-are-the-simplicity-on-the-far-side-of-complexity/) [Stephen Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-covey/) > [“If you understand what holiness is, you come to see that real happiness is on the far side of holiness, not the near side.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/if-you-understand-what-holiness-is-you-come-to-see-that-real/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“Having reached the summit of his vengeance by the slow and tortuous route that he had followed, he had looked over the far side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandre-dumas/having-reached-the-summit-of-his-vengeance-by-the-slow-and-tortuous/) [Alexandre Dumas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandre-dumas/) > [“Blue water extends in rows of gentle ripples to a thin line of barely visible cottonwoods on the far side. The wind dies to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-iversen/blue-water-extends-in-rows-of-gentle-ripples-to-a-thin-line-of-barely/) [Kristen Iversen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-iversen/) > [“It is a mistake to think of the expatriate as someone who abdicates, who withdraws and humbles himself, resigned to his miseries, his outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/it-is-a-mistake-to-think-of-the-expatriate-as-someone-who-abdicates/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [“The last summer of his life he sat hours together on the old chintz-covered swing-bed in front of the willow tree, chain-smoking Woodbines and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-miller/the-last-summer-of-his-life-he-sat-hours-together-on-the-old-chintz/) [Andrew Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-miller/) > [All these years I've sat in airports and kind of drawn people and put like Far Side captions on them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/all-these-years-i-ve-sat-in-airports-and-kind-of-drawn-people-and-put/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [“You got no choice, girl. Don’t think ya do. He’s not treatin’ ya too bad right now, but as God is my witness, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-anderson/you-got-no-choice-girl-don-t-think-ya-do-he-s-not-treatin-ya-too-bad/) [Catherine Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-anderson/) Browse all 135 Far side quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Human beings suffer, They torture one another, They get hurt and get hard. No poem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted and endured. The innocent in gaols Beat on their bars together. A hunger-striker's father Stands in the graveyard dumb. The police widow in veils Faints at the funeral home. History says, don't hope On this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime The longed-for tidal wave Of justice can rise up, And hope and history rhyme. So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge. Believe that further shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracle And cures and healing wells. Call miracle self-healing: The utter, self-revealing Double-take of feeling. 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