--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is quite enough sorrow and shame…" description: "\"There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.\" — Theodo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg" --- # There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and… ![“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.” quote by Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg) > “There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.” [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Life already contains sufficient sorrow and shame; adding unnecessary suffering through fiction is unwarranted. **In simple terms:** Avoid adding needless suffering. Key Takeaway Focus on real challenges. Themes suffering fiction ethics life experience Mood reflective critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - writing - education - mental health Key Concepts philosophy literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - When is fictional suffering justified? - How does art reflect real pain? A Different Perspective Fiction can also provide catharsis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Baseness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Meetings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meetings/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Quite Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quite-sorrow-4829190/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame/) [Shame Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shame-suffering-2271134/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Sorrow Shame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow-shame-797994/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Unnecessarily Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unnecessarily-fiction-4829189/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [People have a lot of shame and suffering around it and I felt that the best thing I could do was to share my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/people-have-a-lot-of-shame-and-suffering-around-it-and-i-felt-that/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [“I had no one to point at. Certainly not my parents, because I had nothing to accuse them of. The zeal for letting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernhard-schlink/i-had-no-one-to-point-at-certainly-not-my-parents-because-i-had/) [Bernhard Schlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernhard-schlink/) > [If I dropped a tear upon your hand, may it wither it up! If I spoke a gentle word in your hearing, may it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/if-i-dropped-a-tear-upon-your-hand-may-it-wither-it-up-if-i-spoke-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-saroyan/encourage-virtue-in-whatever-heart-it-may-have-been-driven-into/) [William Saroyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-saroyan/) > [“I do not know how I got through without breaking down, without my heart bursting from sorrow and shame.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/i-do-not-know-how-i-got-through-without-breaking-down-without-my/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) > [“If you could feel my sorrow and my shame. Know how I hate the things I have done--my sins, my failures, my weaknesses. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willow-aster/if-you-could-feel-my-sorrow-and-my-shame-know-how-i-hate-the-things-i/) [Willow Aster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willow-aster/) > [The true Christians are the true citizens, lofty of purpose, resolute in endeavor, ready for a hero's deeds, but never looking down on their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-true-christians-are-the-true-citizens-lofty-of-purpose-resolute/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Those who profess contempt for men, and put them on a level with beasts, yet wish to be admired and believed by men, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/those-who-profess-contempt-for-men-and-put-them-on-a-level-with/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-nation-can-survive-its-fools-and-even-the-ambitious-but-it-cannot/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-once-did-hold-it-as-our-statists-do-a-baseness-to-write-fair-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [No, no, there must be a limit to the baseness even of publishers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/no-no-there-must-be-a-limit-to-the-baseness-even-of-publishers/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nothing-is-more-repugnant-to-me-than-brotherly-feelings-grounded-in/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/there-are-only-two-great-currents-in-the-history-of-mankind-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold Are but a cheat contrived by men of old Who lusted after wealth and gained their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ma-arri/o-fools-awake-the-rites-ye-sacred-hold-are-but-a-cheat-contrived-by/) [Al-Maʿarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ma-arri/) ## More by Theodore Roosevelt > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/get-action-seize-the-moment-man-was-never-intended-to-become-an-oyster/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Argument weak; speak loudly!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/argument-weak-speak-loudly/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."... "We must treat each man on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/let-the-watchwords-of-all-our-people-be-the-old-familiar-watchwords/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The forces that tend for evil are great and terrible, but the forces of truth and love and courage and honesty and generosity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-forces-that-tend-for-evil-are-great-and-terrible-but-the-forces/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Every reform movement has a lunatic fringe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/every-reform-movement-has-a-lunatic-fringe/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Conservation and rural-life policies are really two sides of the same policy; and down at the bottom this policy rests upon the fundamental law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/conservation-and-rural-life-policies-are-really-two-sides-of-the-same/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [It is a great mistake to think that the extremist is a better man than the moderate. Usually the difference is not that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-think-that-the-extremist-is-a-better-man/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I am a strong individualist by personal habit, inheritance, and conviction; but it is a mere matter of common sense to recognize that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-am-a-strong-individualist-by-personal-habit-inheritance-and/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/alone-of-human-beings-the-good-and-wise-mother-stands-on-a-plane-of/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The greatest privilege and greatest duty for any man is to be happily married, and no other form of success or service, for either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-greatest-privilege-and-greatest-duty-for-any-man-is-to-be-happily/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/for-unflagging-interest-and-enjoyment-a-household-of-children-if/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-can-be-no-effective-control-of-corporations-while-their-2/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [If elected, I shall see to it that every man has a square deal, no less and no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/if-elected-i-shall-see-to-it-that-every-man-has-a-square-deal-no-less/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) [Explore all 876 Theodore Roosevelt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) ## More Baseness quotes > [O fools, awake! The rites ye sacred hold Are but a cheat contrived by men of old Who lusted after wealth and gained their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-ma-arri/o-fools-awake-the-rites-ye-sacred-hold-are-but-a-cheat-contrived-by/) [Al-Maʿarri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-ma-arri/) > [There are only two great currents in the history of mankind: the baseness which makes conservatives and the envy which makes revolutionaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmond-de-goncourt/there-are-only-two-great-currents-in-the-history-of-mankind-the/) [Edmond de Goncourt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmond-de-goncourt/) > [Nothing is more repugnant to me than brotherly feelings grounded in the common baseness people see in one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/nothing-is-more-repugnant-to-me-than-brotherly-feelings-grounded-in/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [No, no, there must be a limit to the baseness even of publishers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/no-no-there-must-be-a-limit-to-the-baseness-even-of-publishers/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I once did hold it, as our statists do, A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-once-did-hold-it-as-our-statists-do-a-baseness-to-write-fair-and/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/a-nation-can-survive-its-fools-and-even-the-ambitious-but-it-cannot/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Those who profess contempt for men, and put them on a level with beasts, yet wish to be admired and believed by men, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/those-who-profess-contempt-for-men-and-put-them-on-a-level-with/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [It (the heart) is supposed in popular language, to be the seat sometimes, of courage, sometimes of affection, sometimes of honesty, or baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/it-the-heart-is-supposed-in-popular-language-to-be-the-seat-sometimes/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/how-many-a-father-have-i-seen-a-sober-man-among-his-boys-whose-youth/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [The motions of men must be such as suggest their dignity or their baseness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-motions-of-men-must-be-such-as-suggest-their-dignity-or-their/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [ There is no more evil thing in this world than race prejudice, none at all. \[...\] It justifies and holds together more baseness, cruelty,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-g-wells/there-is-no-more-evil-thing-in-this-world-than-race-prejudice-none-at/) [H. G. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-g-wells/) > [When the scale of sensuality bears down that of reason, the baseness of our nature conducts us to most preposterous conclusions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-chamberlain/when-the-scale-of-sensuality-bears-down-that-of-reason-the-baseness/) [Roger Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-chamberlain/) > [Advertizing, television and film all wield mighty powers to visually seduce us, while much fine art leaves us indifferent, confused or, at worst, repulsed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walford/advertizing-television-and-film-all-wield-mighty-powers-to-visually/) [John Walford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walford/) > [To think is to take a cunning revenge in which we camouflage our baseness and conceal our lower instincts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/to-think-is-to-take-a-cunning-revenge-in-which-we-camouflage-our/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [The tyrant, who in order to hold his power, suppresses every superiority, does away with good men, forbids education and light, controls every movement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-tyrant-who-in-order-to-hold-his-power-suppresses-every/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) [Browse all 58 Baseness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baseness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Theodore Roosevelt" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Baseness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5f/theodore-roosevelt-218_baseness_there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-a_3011163.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for…” — Theodore Roosevelt", "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": "Theodore Roosevelt", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is quite enough sorrow and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/there-is-quite-enough-sorrow-and-shame-and-suffering-and-baseness-in-2/#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 } } ] } ```