--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: God pity us indeed, for we are human, And…" description: "\"God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always see, The vision when it comes, the shining change, Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/stephen-vincent-benet-9780_alive_god-pity-us-indeed-for-we-are-human-and_497186.png" --- # God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always… ![“God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always see, The vision when it comes, the shining change, Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because it is too hard, too strange, too new, Too unbelievable, too difficult, Warring too much with common, easy ways, And now I know this, standing in…” quote by Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/stephen-vincent-benet-9780_alive_god-pity-us-indeed-for-we-are-human-and_497186.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/stephen-vincent-benet-9780_alive_god-pity-us-indeed-for-we-are-human-and_497186.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35b/stephen-vincent-benet-9780_alive_god-pity-us-indeed-for-we-are-human-and_497186.png) > “God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always see, The vision when it comes, the shining change, Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because it is too hard, too strange, too new, Too unbelievable, too difficult, Warring too much with common, easy ways, And now I know this, standing in this light, Who have been half alive these many years, Brooding on my own sorrow, my own pain, Saying "I am a barren bough. Expect, Nor fruit nor blossom from a barren bough."” [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature resists change because it feels unfamiliar and challenging, leading many to live half‑alive, missing growth. **In simple terms:** People avoid new ideas because they seem hard and strange. Key Takeaway Embrace change despite discomfort. Themes change human nature resistance growth self‑reflection Mood reflective melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - career shifts - creative pursuits - spiritual awakening Key Concepts psychology existentialism comfort zone Questions to Reflect On - What changes have you avoided? - How can you make new ideas feel familiar? A Different Perspective Change can be overwhelming and may cause fear of loss. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Brooding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brooding/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Easy way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-way/) [Fruit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruit/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Vision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vision/) ## Related quotes > [For Mercy has a human heart Pity, a human face: And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/for-mercy-has-a-human-heart-pity-a-human-face-and-love-the-human-form-2/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [It is a great pity that human beings cannot find all of their satisfaction in scientific contemplativeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/it-is-a-great-pity-that-human-beings-cannot-find-all-of-their/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [I seem to be the only person in the world who doesn't mind being pitied. If you love me, pity me. The human state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessamyn-west/i-seem-to-be-the-only-person-in-the-world-who-doesn-t-mind-being/) [Jessamyn West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessamyn-west/) > [Speech may be barren; but it is ridiculous to suppose that silence is always brooding on a nestful of eggs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/speech-may-be-barren-but-it-is-ridiculous-to-suppose-that-silence-is/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [This goes out to my home girls This goes out to my homies Baby girl, I know that you've been off track U feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-goes-out-to-my-home-girls-this-goes-out-to-my-homies-baby-girl-i-2/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Just saying yes because you can't bear the short-term pain of saying no is not going to help you do the work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/just-saying-yes-because-you-can-t-bear-the-short-term-pain-of-saying/) [Seth Godin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-godin/) > [“At the Lamaze class, they had me hold a block of ice for a full minute to stimulate labor pain, saying "Hee-haw, hee-haw," and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/finnamore-s/at-the-lamaze-class-they-had-me-hold-a-block-of-ice-for-a-full-minute/) Finnamore-S > [Sorry Sorry means you feel the pulse of other people's pain as well as your own, and saying it means you take a share…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cendie/sorry-sorry-means-you-feel-the-pulse-of-other-people-s-pain-as-well/) [Cendie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cendie/) > [Baby girl, I know that you've been off track U feel like taking 1 step forward's taking 2 back No matter how hard u…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/baby-girl-i-know-that-you-ve-been-off-track-u-feel-like-taking-1-step/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This goes out to my home girls This goes out to my homies Baby girl, I know that you've been off track U feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auburn/this-goes-out-to-my-home-girls-this-goes-out-to-my-homies-baby-girl-i/) [Auburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auburn/) > [“God has had pity on me and is calling me to Himself. I know I am dying, but I feel joy and peace for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/god-has-had-pity-on-me-and-is-calling-me-to-himself-i-know-i-am-dying/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [“Horza recalled that the Culture's attitude to somebody who believed in an omnipotent God was to pity them, and to take no more notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/horza-recalled-that-the-culture-s-attitude-to-somebody-who-believed/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Repeat to yourself every day and as often as you can: ‘O Lord, have mercy on all those who will appear before You today.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/repeat-to-yourself-every-day-and-as-often-as-you-can-o-lord-have/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Hateful day when I received life!' I exclaimed in agony. 'Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hateful-day-when-i-received-life-i-exclaimed-in-agony-accursed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you are penitent, you love. And if you love you are of God. All things are atoned for, all things are saved by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/if-you-are-penitent-you-love-and-if-you-love-you-are-of-god-all/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) ## More by Stephen Vincent Benet > [Sometimes a sign or a quote is simply interesting by itself and does not require anything beyond being framed on a page.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/sometimes-a-sign-or-a-quote-is-simply-interesting-by-itself-and-does/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-names-that-never/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [I have fallen in love with American names, the sharp, gaunt names that never get fat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-have-fallen-in-love-with-american-names-the-sharp-gaunt-names-that/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [It's to a younger people's advantage to work with evolving computer technologies that provide so many ways to explore the use and distribution of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/it-s-to-a-younger-people-s-advantage-to-work-with-evolving-computer/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [“It's time to walk to the cider mill Through air like apple wine, And watch the moon rise over the hill, stinging and hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/it-s-time-to-walk-to-the-cider-mill-through-air-like-apple-wine-and/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [“There is a wilderness we walk alone However well-companioned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/there-is-a-wilderness-we-walk-alone-however-well-companioned/) [Stephen Vincent Benét](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/life-is-not-lost-by-dying-life-is-lost-minute-by-minute-day-by/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [I died in my boots like a pioneer With the whole wide sky above me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-died-in-my-boots-like-a-pioneer-with-the-whole-wide-sky-above-me/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [I don't think I have ever really gotten Leopold Bloom's interior ramblings out of my head! I am sure that voice continues to inspire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/i-don-t-think-i-have-ever-really-gotten-leopold-bloom-s-interior/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [And Thames and all the rivers of the kings Ran into Mississippi and were drowned. They planted England with a stubborn trust But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/and-thames-and-all-the-rivers-of-the-kings-ran-into-mississippi-and/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Oh, Georgia booze is mighty fine booze, The best yuh ever poured yuh, But it eats the soles right offen yore shoes, For Hell's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/oh-georgia-booze-is-mighty-fine-booze-the-best-yuh-ever-poured-yuh/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Books are not men and yet they are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/books-are-not-men-and-yet-they-are-alive/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Whatever poetry that was in me was coming out in the form of constructing art books!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/whatever-poetry-that-was-in-me-was-coming-out-in-the-form-of/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you might die of the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/truth-is-a-hard-deer-to-hunt-if-you-eat-too-much-truth-at-once-you/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) > [Life is not lost -dying; life is lost minute -minute, day -dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-vincent-benet/life-is-not-lost-dying-life-is-lost-minute-minute-day-dragging-day-in/) [Stephen Vincent Benet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) [Explore all 70 Stephen Vincent Benet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-vincent-benet/) ## More Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "God pity us indeed, for we are human, And do not always see, The vision when it comes, the shining change, Or, if we see it, do not follow it, Because it is too hard, too strange, too new, Too unbelievable, too difficult, Warring too much with common, easy ways, And now I know this, standing in this light, Who have been half alive these many years, Brooding on my own sorrow, my own pain, Saying \"I am a barren bough. 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