--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The continuing struggle was once…" description: "\"The continuing struggle was once described in the following metaphor by a patient who had successfully completed a long course of psychotherapy: 'I cam..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a69/sheldon-b-kopp-10645_bread_the-continuing-struggle-was-once-describ_2029105.jpg" --- # The continuing struggle was once described in the… ![“The continuing struggle was once described in the following metaphor by a patient who had successfully completed a long course of psychotherapy: 'I came to therapy hoping to receive butter for the bread of life. Instead, at the end, I emerged with a pail of sour milk, a churn, and instructions on…” quote by Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a69/sheldon-b-kopp-10645_bread_the-continuing-struggle-was-once-describ_2029105.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a69/sheldon-b-kopp-10645_bread_the-continuing-struggle-was-once-describ_2029105.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a69/sheldon-b-kopp-10645_bread_the-continuing-struggle-was-once-describ_2029105.jpg) > “The continuing struggle was once described in the following metaphor by a patient who had successfully completed a long course of psychotherapy: 'I came to therapy hoping to receive butter for the bread of life. Instead, at the end, I emerged with a pail of sour milk, a churn, and instructions on how to use them.' (138)” [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Therapy may promise relief but often yields messy, unexpected outcomes. **In simple terms:** Therapy gives unexpected, imperfect results. Key Takeaway Embrace the messy process. Themes therapy expectations growth Mood reflective realistic Type philosophical pragmatic When to use this quote - counseling - personal development - recovering from trauma Key Concepts psychotherapy life lessons Questions to Reflect On - What expectations do you hold? - How can you reframe unexpected outcomes? A Different Perspective Results may not match hopes, causing disappointment. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Bread of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread-of-life/) [Continuing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing/) [Continuing Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/continuing-struggle-2964589/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Following](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/following/) [Instruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruction/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Metaphor Patient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor-patient-3716708/) [Milk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/milk/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Patient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patient/) [Psychotherapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychotherapy/) [Psychotherapy Came](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychotherapy-came-3716711/) [Sour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sour/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Struggle Described](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle-described-3716709/) [Therapist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapist/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) [Therapy Hoping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy-hoping-3716710/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) ## Related quotes > [“One way of looking at the history of the human group is that it has been a continuing struggle against the veneration of "crap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-postman/one-way-of-looking-at-the-history-of-the-human-group-is-that-it-has/) [Neil Postman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-postman/) > [ “The main thing that distinguishes mealtimes with Jesus, as Conrad Gempf has shown, from the meals of his contemporaries are four verbs.\[44\] Whether it’s… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-sweet/the-main-thing-that-distinguishes-mealtimes-with-jesus-as-conrad/) [Leonard Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-sweet/) > [The people are hungry for the bread of life. Do not offer them a stone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/the-people-are-hungry-for-the-bread-of-life-do-not-offer-them-a-stone/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [The Eucharist completes the restoration begun in the Crib. Make merry therefore on this beautiful day, on which the sun of the Eucharist is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-julian-eymard/the-eucharist-completes-the-restoration-begun-in-the-crib-make-merry/) [Peter Julian Eymard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-julian-eymard/) > [“I believe that whether we recognize him or not, or believe in him or not, or even know his name, again and again he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/i-believe-that-whether-we-recognize-him-or-not-or-believe-in-him-or/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > ["In each of our lives Jesus comes as the Bread of Life - to be eaten, to be consumed by us. This is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/in-each-of-our-lives-jesus-comes-as-the-bread-of-life-to-be-eaten-to/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Like so many pilgrims before us, we kneel in wonder and adoration before the ineffable mystery which. was accomplished here... In This Child -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/like-so-many-pilgrims-before-us-we-kneel-in-wonder-and-adoration/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [Love is the bread of life: you have to make it everyday if you want it fresh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur-baldwin/love-is-the-bread-of-life-you-have-to-make-it-everyday-if-you-want-it/) [James Arthur Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur-baldwin/) > [Mary, my dearest Mother, give me your heart so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, your heart so full of love and humility, that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/mary-my-dearest-mother-give-me-your-heart-so-beautiful-so-pure-so/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [Isolation is the stale bread of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/isolation-is-the-stale-bread-of-life/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [“My precious young friends, the Bread of Life and Love is inseparable from the Gospel of Life and Love. The more there is devotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-j-gail/my-precious-young-friends-the-bread-of-life-and-love-is-inseparable/) [Brian J Gail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-j-gail/) > [There may be frugality which is not economy. A community, that withholds the means of education from its children, withholds the bread of life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/there-may-be-frugality-which-is-not-economy-a-community-that/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [In an age of information overload ... the last thing any of us needs is more information about God. We need the practice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/in-an-age-of-information-overload-the-last-thing-any-of-us-needs-is/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [“Mother Teresa once said: When Jesus came into the world, He loved it so much that He gave His life for it. He wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-baker/mother-teresa-once-said-when-jesus-came-into-the-world-he-loved-it-so/) [Heidi Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-baker/) > [As a preacher, I should be prompted to tell men, not so much how to get their wheat bread cheaper, as of the bread…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-a-preacher-i-should-be-prompted-to-tell-men-not-so-much-how-to-get/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by Sheldon B. Kopp > [“Research in self-disclosure supports my own experience that the personal openness of the guru facilitates and invites the increased openness of the pilgrim. (24)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/research-in-self-disclosure-supports-my-own-experience-that-the/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [I remember a group therapy session when one of the patients was reluctantly turning his corner. He would accept it, he said, but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/i-remember-a-group-therapy-session-when-one-of-the-patients-was/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [Sometimes life seems like a poorly designed cage within which man has been sentenced to be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-poorly-designed-cage-within-which-man-has/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [“Crises marked by anxiety, doubt, and despair have always been those periods of personal unrest that occur at the times when a man is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/crises-marked-by-anxiety-doubt-and-despair-have-always-been-those/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [Everything good is costly, and the development of the personality is one of the most costly of all things. It will cost you your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/everything-good-is-costly-and-the-development-of-the-personality-is/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [I have long trusted dreams as prophetic visions. I do not mean that they foretell the future, only that they illuminate the present, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/i-have-long-trusted-dreams-as-prophetic-visions-i-do-not-mean-that/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [Each person's only hope for improving his lot rests on recognizing the true nature of his or her basic personality, surrendering to it, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/each-person-s-only-hope-for-improving-his-lot-rests-on-recognizing/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [“Of course, one other hypothetical alternative would have been for the child to decide that since she was fine the way she was, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/of-course-one-other-hypothetical-alternative-would-have-been-for-the/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [“Unwilling to tolerate life’s ambiguity, its unresolvability, its inevitability, we search for certainty, demanding that someone else must provide it. Stubbornly, relentlessly, we seek…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/unwilling-to-tolerate-life-s-ambiguity-its-unresolvability-its/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [But after a while, she began to experience the new reality of each person as being as strong and as weak as anyone else.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/but-after-a-while-she-began-to-experience-the-new-reality-of-each/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [So it is that God tugs at a pilgrim's sleeve telling him to remember that he is only human. He must be his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/so-it-is-that-god-tugs-at-a-pilgrim-s-sleeve-telling-him-to-remember/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [“You can't get there from here, and besides there's no place else to go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/you-can-t-get-there-from-here-and-besides-there-s-no-place-else-to-go/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [He prefers the security of known misery to the misery of unfamiliar insecurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/he-prefers-the-security-of-known-misery-to-the-misery-of-unfamiliar/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [For a long time now I have trusted my dreaming self as wiser than that waking self whose head is cluttered with reason and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/for-a-long-time-now-i-have-trusted-my-dreaming-self-as-wiser-than/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) > [All significant battles are fought within self.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-b-kopp/all-significant-battles-are-fought-within-self/) [Sheldon B. Kopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) [Explore all 64 Sheldon B. Kopp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-b-kopp/) ## More Bread quotes > [French women don't eat Wonder Bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mireille-guiliano/french-women-don-t-eat-wonder-bread/) [Mireille Guiliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mireille-guiliano/) > [In the olden days in England, you could be hung for stealing a sheep or a loaf of bread. However, if a sheep stole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/in-the-olden-days-in-england-you-could-be-hung-for-stealing-a-sheep/) [Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/) > [I don't eat meat - chicken, fish, none of that. I eat a lot of vegetable sandwiches, like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, whatever I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gza/i-don-t-eat-meat-chicken-fish-none-of-that-i-eat-a-lot-of-vegetable/) [Gza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gza/) > [“We should remark the grace and fascination that there is even in the incidentals of Nature's processes.. When a loaf of bread,. for instance,.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/we-should-remark-the-grace-and-fascination-that-there-is-even-in-the/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [When I met you you were oh so sweet, now you give me the bread and you take all the meat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-jett/when-i-met-you-you-were-oh-so-sweet-now-you-give-me-the-bread-and-you/) [Joan Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-jett/) > [When you fight to give your family bread, that's not passion anymore: that's conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoel-romero/when-you-fight-to-give-your-family-bread-that-s-not-passion-anymore/) [Yoel Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoel-romero/) > [I think the best Thanksgiving we ever had was one where we didn't even have a turkey. Mom and Dad sat us kids down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/i-think-the-best-thanksgiving-we-ever-had-was-one-where-we-didn-t/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [Bread is a second cause; the LORD Himself is the first source of our sustenance. He can work without the second cause as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/bread-is-a-second-cause-the-lord-himself-is-the-first-source-of-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even if we have to go without bread, we Albanians do not violate principles. We do not betray Marxism - Leninism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enver-hoxha/even-if-we-have-to-go-without-bread-we-albanians-do-not-violate/) [Enver Hoxha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enver-hoxha/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [“Nine times out of ten, people pick the wrong food. No, it’s not the sugar (GI = 68), it’s not the candy bar (GI…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/nine-times-out-of-ten-people-pick-the-wrong-food-no-it-s-not-the/) [David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/) > [Waffles аrе јust awesome bread.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/waffles-r-ust-awesome-bread/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [At my age, I don't buy but a half a loaf of bread, you know?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-haggard/at-my-age-i-don-t-buy-but-a-half-a-loaf-of-bread-you-know/) [Merle Haggard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-haggard/) > [Jesus Christ would have been considered just another long-haired hippie freak if he hadn't been crucified. The folks weren't impressed with healing the sick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/jesus-christ-would-have-been-considered-just-another-long-haired/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [“To consume the Eucharist is an act of anticonsumption, for here to consume is to be consumed, to be taken up into participation in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-cavanaugh/to-consume-the-eucharist-is-an-act-of-anticonsumption-for-here-to/) [William T. Cavanaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-t-cavanaugh/) [Browse all 2,164 Bread quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The continuing struggle was once described in the following metaphor by a patient who had successfully completed a long course of psychotherapy: 'I came to therapy hoping to receive butter for the bread of life. 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