--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter…" description: "\"Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it anguish, Teaching it hope and desire trod out too soon in the mire, Life the frail joy that regre..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png" --- # Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it… ![“Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it anguish, Teaching it hope and desire trod out too soon in the mire, Life the frail joy that regrets its briefness, life the long sorrow.” quote by Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png) > “Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it anguish, Teaching it hope and desire trod out too soon in the mire, Life the frail joy that regrets its briefness, life the long sorrow.” [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life is a blend of sorrow and joy, teaching anguish, hope, and desire, fleeting yet profound. **In simple terms:** Life mixes pain and joy, teaching us quickly. Key Takeaway Embrace both sorrow and joy as teachers. Themes sorrow joy transience desire learning Mood melancholic contemplative hopeful Type poetic spiritual reflective When to use this quote - grief processing - celebrating moments - mindful living - spiritual practice Key Concepts Existential spiritual philosophical poetic Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance sorrow and joy? - What brief give life meaning despite its brevity? A Different Perspective Focusing on sorrow may cause melancholy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Anguish Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish-teaching-5754228/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Frail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frail/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Sorrowful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-sorrowful-3358656/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Sad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sad/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrowful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrowful/) [Sorrowful Throb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrowful-throb-5754227/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [Teaching Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching-anguish-5754229/) ## Related quotes > [Life will always be sorrowful. We can't change it, but we can change our attitude toward it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/life-will-always-be-sorrowful-we-can-t-change-it-but-we-can-change/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“Pleasure is frail like a dewdrop, while it laughs it dies. But sorrow is strong and abiding. Let sorrowful love wake in your eyes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/pleasure-is-frail-like-a-dewdrop-while-it-laughs-it-dies-but-sorrow/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“The daggers of silence last longer than anything ever spoken.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/the-daggers-of-silence-last-longer-than-anything-ever-spoken/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [The unicorn was white, with hoofs of silver and graceful horn of pearl... The glorious thing about him was his eye. There was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-h-white-2/the-unicorn-was-white-with-hoofs-of-silver-and-graceful-horn-of-pearl/) [T. H. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-h-white-2/) > [I would hardly change the sorrowful words of the poets for their glad ones. Tears dampen the strings of the lyre, but they grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-russell-lowell/i-would-hardly-change-the-sorrowful-words-of-the-poets-for-their-glad/) [James Russell Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-russell-lowell/) > [This is the difference between depression and sorrow - sorrowful, you are in great trouble because something matters so much; depressed, you are miserable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-e-buckrose/this-is-the-difference-between-depression-and-sorrow-sorrowful-you/) [J. E. Buckrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-e-buckrose/) > [There is no insurmountable solitude. All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/there-is-no-insurmountable-solitude-all-paths-lead-to-the-same-goal/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [Nothing is better than music; when it takes us out of time, it has done more for us than we have the right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadia-boulanger/nothing-is-better-than-music-when-it-takes-us-out-of-time-it-has-done/) [Nadia Boulanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadia-boulanger/) > [Yet there be certain times in a young man’s life, when, through great sorrow or sin, all the boy in him is burnt and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/yet-there-be-certain-times-in-a-young-man-s-life-when-through-great/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Geniuses can be scintillating and geniuses can be somber, but it's that inescapable sorrowful depth that shines through-originality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/geniuses-can-be-scintillating-and-geniuses-can-be-somber-but-it-s/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [“And in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land, the immense wilderness, the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/and-in-the-hush-that-had-fallen-suddenly-upon-the-whole-sorrowful/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I was forced to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion, that while, beyond doubt, there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-allan-poe/i-was-forced-to-fall-back-upon-the-unsatisfactory-conclusion-that/) [Edgar Allan Poe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-allan-poe/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [Time is never more misspent than while we declaim against the want of it; all our actions are then tinctured with peevishness. The yoke…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/time-is-never-more-misspent-than-while-we-declaim-against-the-want-of/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [By the time they were pulling into the parking lot of the A&P, the mood was fading, the moment gone. Amy could feel it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-strout/by-the-time-they-were-pulling-into-the-parking-lot-of-the-a-p-the/) [Elizabeth Strout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-strout/) ## More by Sri Aurobindo > [“Across the threshold’s sleep she entered in And found herself amid great figures of gods Conscious in stone and living without breath, Watching with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/across-the-threshold-s-sleep-she-entered-in-and-found-herself-amid/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Perfect health, sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, courage, disinterestedness, unselfishness, patience, endurance, perseverance, peace, calm, self control are all things that are taught infinitely better by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/perfect-health-sincerity-honesty-straightforwardness-courage/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Hinduism... gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/hinduism-gave-itself-no-name-because-it-set-itself-no-sectarian/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Do not belong to the past dawns,but to the noons of future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/do-not-belong-to-the-past-dawns-but-to-the-noons-of-future/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [There is no greater pride and glory than to be a perfect instrument of the Master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/there-is-no-greater-pride-and-glory-than-to-be-a-perfect-instrument/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Delight is the secret. Learn of pure delight and thou shalt learn of God. What then was the commencement of the whole matter? Existence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/delight-is-the-secret-learn-of-pure-delight-and-thou-shalt-learn-of/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [You carry in yourself all the obstacles necessary to make your realization perfect. If you discover a very black hole, a thick shadow, be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/you-carry-in-yourself-all-the-obstacles-necessary-to-make-your/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/indian-religion-has-always-felt-that-since-the-minds-the-temperaments/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [“One who has shaped this world is ever its lord: Our errors are his steps upon the way; He works through the fierce vicissitudes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/one-who-has-shaped-this-world-is-ever-its-lord-our-errors-are-his/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Not in the state of unconsciousness, but in full awareness when the higher Power will descend into and direct us, then only the yogic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/not-in-the-state-of-unconsciousness-but-in-full-awareness-when-the/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [A woman has the greatest opportunity to provide the best outcome for a baby and its potentialities. Not only by having a conscious and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/a-woman-has-the-greatest-opportunity-to-provide-the-best-outcome-for/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [They proved to me by convincing reasons that God does not exist; Afterwards I saw God, for he came and embraced me. And now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/they-proved-to-me-by-convincing-reasons-that-god-does-not-exist/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [The yogin becomes aware in part of the action of the supramental power organizing the lower vehicle (ādhāra). A part of it remains behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/the-yogin-becomes-aware-in-part-of-the-action-of-the-supramental/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Spirituality is indeed the master key of the Indian mind; the sense of the infinitive is native to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/spirituality-is-indeed-the-master-key-of-the-indian-mind-the-sense-of/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [A hidden Bliss is at the root of things. A mute Delight regards Time's countless works: To house God's joy in things Space gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/a-hidden-bliss-is-at-the-root-of-things-a-mute-delight-regards-time-s/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) [Explore all 264 Sri Aurobindo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. 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The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it anguish, Teaching it hope and desire trod out too soon in the mire, Life the frail joy that regrets its briefness, life the long sorrow.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sri Aurobindo" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matter-teaching-it-anguish/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matter-teaching-it-anguish/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c2/sri-aurobindo-1257_anguish_life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matte_3167944.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Life was a sorrowful throb of this Matter teaching it anguish, Teaching it hope and desire trod out too soon…” — Sri Aurobindo", "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": "Sri Aurobindo", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Life was a sorrowful throb of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matter-teaching-it-anguish/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/life-was-a-sorrowful-throb-of-this-matter-teaching-it-anguish/#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 } } ] } ```