--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think it was the first real pain I ever…" description: "\"“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I thought it would be at all. It didn't put an end..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg" --- # I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life… ![“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I thought it would be at all. It didn't put an end to me as a person. I think... it gave me a basis for comparison, finding out you could still exist inside the pain, in spite of the pain.” quote by Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg) > ““I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I thought it would be at all. It didn't put an end to me as a person. I think... it gave me a basis for comparison, finding out you could still exist inside the pain, in spite of the pain.”” [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pain can become a reference point, allowing one to exist within it rather than be destroyed by it. **In simple terms:** Pain can be a reference point for existence. Key Takeaway Use pain as a measure, not a defeat. Themes resilience pain self-awareness Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - grief - trauma recovery - personal growth - mental health - creative work Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can you transform pain into a tool for growth? - What boundaries protect you from being consumed by pain? A Different Perspective Pain may also overwhelm and hinder progress if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Inside Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inside-pain-755610/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-lessons/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-felt/) [Pain Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-spite-2666422/) [Real pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-pain/) [Spite Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite-pain-1811378/) ## Related quotes > [“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life...It wasn't what I thought it would be at all. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-it-wasn-t/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Oh oak tree, how they have pruned you. Now you stand odd and strangely shaped! You were hacked a hundred times until you had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/oh-oak-tree-how-they-have-pruned-you-now-you-stand-odd-and-strangely/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Declare today, In spite of the pain, in spite of the adversity, I'm still in the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/declare-today-in-spite-of-the-pain-in-spite-of-the-adversity-i-m/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hope is not a substitute for pain. Hope is in spite of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-foreman/hope-is-not-a-substitute-for-pain-hope-is-in-spite-of-pain/) [Jon Foreman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-foreman/) > [Eventually we learn to define happiness for ourselves, on our own terms, in spite of the pain other people have caused us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-january/eventually-we-learn-to-define-happiness-for-ourselves-on-our-own/) [Joseph January](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-january/) > [“Don't take my pain away, leave my pain right there, you could even put more pain inside my pain and it wouldn't bother me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guillaume-morissette/don-t-take-my-pain-away-leave-my-pain-right-there-you-could-even-put/) [Guillaume Morissette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guillaume-morissette/) > [“We all harbor little pieces of pain that accumulate inside us. Pain we wish we could cast out, but in truth defines us. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allie-brennan/we-all-harbor-little-pieces-of-pain-that-accumulate-inside-us-pain-we/) [Allie Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allie-brennan/) > [He knew how to handle pain. You had to lie down with pain, not draw back away from it. You let yourself sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-jones/he-knew-how-to-handle-pain-you-had-to-lie-down-with-pain-not-draw/) [James Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-jones/) > [“...and it made his heart shake to hear these things in the street or bus or dime store, the uninventable poetry, inside the pain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/and-it-made-his-heart-shake-to-hear-these-things-in-the-street-or-bus/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) > [Like we were connected, the echo of his pain twisted inside inside me. his pain, my pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephenie-meyer/like-we-were-connected-the-echo-of-his-pain-twisted-inside-inside-me/) [Stephenie Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephenie-meyer/) > [This is the last time That I'm ever gonna come here tonight And this is the last time I will fall Into a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/this-is-the-last-time-that-i-m-ever-gonna-come-here-tonight-and-this/) [Im Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-nothing/) > [No one ever found out what was happening inside me. How the pain was eating me away. No one ever came to my rescue,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-peters/no-one-ever-found-out-what-was-happening-inside-me-how-the-pain-was/) [Julie Anne Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-peters/) > [You ask why she has a hard time…you dont know her past, you ask why she cuts…you dont know her inside pain, you ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-fletter/you-ask-why-she-has-a-hard-time-you-dont-know-her-past-you-ask-why/) [Ali Fletter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-fletter/) > [You can't hide, on the inside, all the pain you've ever felt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-hide-on-the-inside-all-the-pain-you-ve-ever-felt/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is breath there is breath inside the pain there is breath”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grossman/there-is-breath-there-is-breath-inside-the-pain-there-is-breath/) [David Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grossman/) ## More by Stephen King > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The worst advice? 'Don't listen to the critics.' I think that you really ought to listen to the critics, because sometimes they're telling you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-worst-advice-don-t-listen-to-the-critics-i-think-that-you-really/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“October 3, 2017 The clown, Hagarty said, looked like a cross between Ronald McDonald and that old TV clown, Bozo—or so he thought at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/october-3-2017-the-clown-hagarty-said-looked-like-a-cross-between/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/it-hurt-of-course-but-more-often-than-not-the-best-things-do-i-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The idea that creative endeavor and mind-altering substances are entwined is one of the great pop-intellectual myths of our time... Creative people probably do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-idea-that-creative-endeavor-and-mind-altering-substances-are/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“The sun had burned through and the day had gone from dull to dazzling, yet in the west blask-satin thunderheads continued to stack up.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-sun-had-burned-through-and-the-day-had-gone-from-dull-to-dazzling/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“God, you had enough time to have been through it three times. You've been through my stuff. I bet you over and let one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/god-you-had-enough-time-to-have-been-through-it-three-times-you-ve/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Flakes of snow swirled and danced across the porch. The Overlook faced it as it had for nearly three-quarters of a century, its darkened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/flakes-of-snow-swirled-and-danced-across-the-porch-the-overlook-faced/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“In that instant it all seemed to come clear to him- it came in a grisly flash of light, and he realized that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/in-that-instant-it-all-seemed-to-come-clear-to-him-it-came-in-a/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Who gets to be best-liked in any community? Who is the most trusted? Why, the man who does the dirty job, of course, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/who-gets-to-be-best-liked-in-any-community-who-is-the-most-trusted/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“¿Lo ves, tonto? Volvió a regañarse. Tú lo inventaste todo, gato asustado. No fue más que tu imaginación, gato asustado, gato asustado... No te…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/lo-ves-tonto-volvi-a-rega-arse-t-lo-inventaste-todo-gato-asustado-no/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Death . . . but not for you. That was what Walter, clever as Satan even at the end, had said. A lawyer’s answer . . . so close to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/death-but-not-for-you-that-was-what-walter-clever-as-satan-even-at/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The ghost story movie that scared me the most was The Changeling with George C. Scott. I think that's sometimes overlooked, but it's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/the-ghost-story-movie-that-scared-me-the-most-was-the-changeling-with/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Climb aboard, Jonesy. I'm going to send you up where the air is rare and the view is much more than fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/climb-aboard-jonesy-i-m-going-to-send-you-up-where-the-air-is-rare/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) [Explore all 3,589 Stephen King quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) ## More Life quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/) [Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/) > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/) [Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/) > [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/) [Deanna L. Lawlis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deanna-l-lawlis/) > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) [Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I thought it would be at all. It didn't put an end to me as a person. I think... it gave me a basis for comparison, finding out you could still exist inside the pain, in spite of the pain.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephen King" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-he-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-he-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/84d/stephen-king-13_life_i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-eve_273189.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think it was the first real pain I ever felt in my life, he would tell the others. It wasn't what I…” — Stephen King", "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": "Stephen King", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I think it was the first...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-he-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-think-it-was-the-first-real-pain-i-ever-felt-in-my-life-he-would/#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 } } ] } ```