--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Later Buddy told me the woman was on a…" description: "\"“Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would make her forget she'd had any pain and that when she swore and groaned she really didn't know w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg" --- # Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would… ![“Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would make her forget she'd had any pain and that when she swore and groaned she really didn't know what she was doing because she was in a kind of twilight sleep. I thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman…” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg) > ““Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would make her forget she'd had any pain and that when she swore and groaned she really didn't know what she was doing because she was in a kind of twilight sleep. I thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman in terrible pain, obviously feeling every bit of it or she wouldn't groan like that, and she would go straight home and start another baby, because the drug would make her forget how bad the pain had been, when all the time, in some secret part of her, that long, blind, doorless and windowless corridor of pain was waiting to open up and shut her in again.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A drug that erases pain also erases awareness, leaving a dangerous cycle of forgetting and recurring suffering. **In simple terms:** Pain‑relief drugs can mask deeper suffering. Key Takeaway Beware of numbing pain without addressing its source. Themes addiction pain memory Mood cautious reflective Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - medical treatment - mental health care - addiction counseling - personal coping strategies Key Concepts psychology philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - Can pain be truly healed without feeling it? - What are the risks of escaping suffering with drugs? A Different Perspective Temporary relief may lead to greater long‑term harm. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-pain-1016692/) [Childbirth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childbirth/) [Giving birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-birth/) [Pain Obviously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-obviously-2510742/) [Pain Swore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-swore-2688021/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Told Woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/told-woman-303204/) [Woman Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woman-drug-5178193/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [I thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman in terrible pain, obviously feeling every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-thought-it-sounded-just-like-the-sort-of-drug-a-man-would-invent/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I'm African American, I'm a lot of other things, a musician and an artist. But that woman part holds the most pain for me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/india-arie-2/i-m-african-american-i-m-a-lot-of-other-things-a-musician-and-an/) [India.Arie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/india-arie-2/) > [I will bear this pain for you,” he swore. “If one of us has to bleed, it will be me. It’ll always be me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larissa-ione/i-will-bear-this-pain-for-you-he-swore-if-one-of-us-has-to-bleed-it/) [Larissa Ione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larissa-ione/) > [“Star cried out in pain. Swore. Spat in the bitch’s face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-simmons/star-cried-out-in-pain-swore-spat-in-the-bitch-s-face/) [Wayne Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-simmons/) > [“The creature’s hand swung again, nails raking across the tattooist’s cheek, tearing the skin. Star cried out in pain. Swore. Spat in the bitch’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-simmons/the-creature-s-hand-swung-again-nails-raking-across-the-tattooist-s/) [Wayne Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-simmons/) > [When I was 41, I had a very bad back pain, and it turned out to be Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-druckerman/when-i-was-41-i-had-a-very-bad-back-pain-and-it-turned-out-to-be-non/) [Pamela Druckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-druckerman/) > [Boy I need you bad as my heartbeat (bad like the food I eat). Bad as the air I breath (baby I want you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jazmine-sullivan/boy-i-need-you-bad-as-my-heartbeat-bad-like-the-food-i-eat-bad-as-the/) [Jazmine Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jazmine-sullivan/) > [Pain and suffering are in themselves bad and should be prevented or minimized, irrespective of the race, sex, or species of the being that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/pain-and-suffering-are-in-themselves-bad-and-should-be-prevented-or/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [“Jesus, I wondered, what do you do with pain so bad it has no redeeming value? It cannot even be alchemized into art, into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/jesus-i-wondered-what-do-you-do-with-pain-so-bad-it-has-no-redeeming/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [Good pain is pain in the service of a purpose. Bad pain is pain endured because we are resisting a needed growth step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cloud/good-pain-is-pain-in-the-service-of-a-purpose-bad-pain-is-pain/) [Henry Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cloud/) > [There comes a time in life when you will feel hurt. It is not about how bad the pain is... All that matters is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-hughes/there-comes-a-time-in-life-when-you-will-feel-hurt-it-is-not-about/) [Lauren Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-hughes/) > [“There were many things a man might think he should be told when a woman agreed to marry him. She had choose not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-downie/there-were-many-things-a-man-might-think-he-should-be-told-when-a/) [Ruth Downie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-downie/) > [I think being a woman alone enhanced the impulse in others to be generous. What we're told is that to be a woman alone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-strayed/i-think-being-a-woman-alone-enhanced-the-impulse-in-others-to-be/) [Cheryl Strayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-strayed/) > [“Sartaq chuckled. “I did. But I also told him that the woman I love now plans to head into war. And I intend to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/sartaq-chuckled-i-did-but-i-also-told-him-that-the-woman-i-love-now/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [My gran had always told me that a woman--any woman worth her salt--could do whatever she had to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/my-gran-had-always-told-me-that-a-woman-any-woman-worth-her-salt/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I couldn't stand the idea of a woman having to have a single pure life and a man being able to have a double…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-couldn-t-stand-the-idea-of-a-woman-having-to-have-a-single-pure/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. Ordinarily, I would have been nervous about my dress and my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-city-had-faded-my-tan-though-i-looked-yellow-as-a-chinaman/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Joy:show joy & enjoy: then others will be joyful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/joy-show-joy-enjoy-then-others-will-be-joyful/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [A million years of evolution, Eric said bitterly, and what are we? Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. Overhead the old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/flute-notes-from-a-reedy-pond-now-coldness-comes-sifting-down-layer/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The most saddening thing is to admit that I am not in love. I can only love (if that means self denial - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/the-most-saddening-thing-is-to-admit-that-i-am-not-in-love-i-can-only/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) [Explore all 1,098 Sylvia Plath quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## More Childbirth quotes > [Grandma, please. It’s okay. Dad’s doing a great job. I give him kudos for at least being calm and rational, and not losing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/grandma-please-it-s-okay-dad-s-doing-a-great-job-i-give-him-kudos-for/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The revolting details of childbirth had been hidden from me with such care that I was as surprised as I was horrified, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-curchod/the-revolting-details-of-childbirth-had-been-hidden-from-me-with-such/) [Suzanne Curchod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-curchod/) > [I have always wanted to act ever since I was a little girl. I would put a blanket under my shirt and pretend that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dakota-fanning/i-have-always-wanted-to-act-ever-since-i-was-a-little-girl-i-would/) [Dakota Fanning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dakota-fanning/) > [Real change doesn't come without crisis. Childbirth doesn't come without crisis. I think that's happening with humanity now. Our growth has generated multiple crises...and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-eisenstein/real-change-doesn-t-come-without-crisis-childbirth-doesn-t-come/) [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) > [For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-the-apostle/for-the-creation-was-subjected-to-frustration-not-by-its-own-choice/) [Paul the Apostle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-the-apostle/) > [Maternal health remains a staggering challenge, particularly in the developing world. Globally, a woman dies from complications in childbirth every minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-capshaw/maternal-health-remains-a-staggering-challenge-particularly-in-the/) [Jessica Capshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-capshaw/) > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“The birth of a child is divine miracle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-birth-of-a-child-is-divine-miracle/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [And I saw it didn't matter who had loved me or who I loved. I was alone. The black oily asphalt, the slick beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/and-i-saw-it-didn-t-matter-who-had-loved-me-or-who-i-loved-i-was/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [“Birth is experiential. You have to experience it to fully know it. An exercise such as Bellydance for birth embraced during pregnancy can act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maha-al-musa/birth-is-experiential-you-have-to-experience-it-to-fully-know-it-an/) [Maha Al Musa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maha-al-musa/) > [Discrimination and multiple deprivations of human rights are also frequently part of the problem, sentencing entire populations to poverty... It is surely a matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/navi-pillay/discrimination-and-multiple-deprivations-of-human-rights-are-also/) [Navi Pillay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/navi-pillay/) > [I became hysterical and frightened and begged for sedation. And that was just the first prenatal visit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-became-hysterical-and-frightened-and-begged-for-sedation-and-that/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [“Yeah, women could go on all they liked about how painful childbirth was. Eventually most of them thought about having another baby. No guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evie-hunter/yeah-women-could-go-on-all-they-liked-about-how-painful-childbirth/) [Evie Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evie-hunter/) > [It is a mistake to talk about the artist looking for his subject. In fact, the subject grows within him like a fruit and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/it-is-a-mistake-to-talk-about-the-artist-looking-for-his-subject-in/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) [Browse all 279 Childbirth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childbirth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would make her forget she'd had any pain and that when she swore and groaned she really didn't know what she was doing because she was in a kind of twilight sleep. I thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman in terrible pain, obviously feeling every bit of it or she wouldn't groan like that, and she would go straight home and start another baby, because the drug would make her forget how bad the pain had been, when all the time, in some secret part of her, that long, blind, doorless and windowless corridor of pain was waiting to open up and shut her in again.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sylvia Plath" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-drug-that-would-make-her/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Childbirth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-drug-that-would-make-her/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e2/sylvia-plath-149_analgesics_later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-d_646184.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Later Buddy told me the woman was on a drug that would make her forget she'd had any pain and that when she…” — Sylvia Plath", "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": "Sylvia Plath", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Later Buddy told me the woman...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-drug-that-would-make-her/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/later-buddy-told-me-the-woman-was-on-a-drug-that-would-make-her/#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 } } ] } ```