--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thought, true labor of any kind, highest…" description: "\"Thought, true labor of any kind, highest virtue itself, is it not the daughter of Pain?\" — Thomas Carlyle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/thomas-carlyle-207_character_thought-true-labor-of-any-kind-highest-v_1156287.png" --- # Thought, true labor of any kind, highest virtue itself, is… ![“Thought, true labor of any kind, highest virtue itself, is it not the daughter of Pain?” quote by Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/thomas-carlyle-207_character_thought-true-labor-of-any-kind-highest-v_1156287.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/thomas-carlyle-207_character_thought-true-labor-of-any-kind-highest-v_1156287.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01e/thomas-carlyle-207_character_thought-true-labor-of-any-kind-highest-v_1156287.png) > “Thought, true labor of any kind, highest virtue itself, is it not the daughter of Pain?” [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True labor, the highest virtue, originates from pain, implying effort and hardship produce moral excellence. **In simple terms:** Hard work comes from pain. Key Takeaway Embrace pain as a path to virtue. Themes virtue effort pain morality Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - physical training Key Concepts philosophy ethics Questions to Reflect On - How does pain shape your sense of purpose? - Can you find virtue without hardship? A Different Perspective Pain can also cause burnout if not managed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Daughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daughter/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [Virtue is the daughter of Religion; Repentance, her adopted child,--a poor orphan who, without the asylum which she offers, would not know where to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/virtue-is-the-daughter-of-religion-repentance-her-adopted-child-a/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [The highest endeavor of the mind, and the highest virtue, it to understand things by intuition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/the-highest-endeavor-of-the-mind-and-the-highest-virtue-it-to/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [The highest virtue does nothing. Yet, nothing needs to be done. The lowest virtue does everything. Yet, much remains to be done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-highest-virtue-does-nothing-yet-nothing-needs-to-be-done-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“Kindness must be the highest virtue--don't let me forget that ever. Were I to strive for one thing only 'twould be to be kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-w-blos/kindness-must-be-the-highest-virtue-don-t-let-me-forget-that-ever/) [Joan W. Blos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-w-blos/) > [The highest virtue seems as low as a valley.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-highest-virtue-seems-as-low-as-a-valley/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The highest virtue is not virtuous. Therefore it has virtue. The lowest virtue holds on to virtue. Therefore it has no virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-highest-virtue-is-not-virtuous-therefore-it-has-virtue-the-lowest/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The highest virtue here may be least in another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/the-highest-virtue-here-may-be-least-in-another-world/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [“The Tao, when brightest seen, seems light to lack; Who progress in it makes, seems drawing back; Its even way is like a rugged…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lao-tzu/the-tao-when-brightest-seen-seems-light-to-lack-who-progress-in-it/) [Lao Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lao-tzu/) > [The highest virtue is always against the law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-highest-virtue-is-always-against-the-law/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and the highest virtue of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-murray/humility-the-place-of-entire-dependence-on-god-is-from-the-very/) [Andrew Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-murray/) > [“The highest virtue lies in self-learning or self-taught education. 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Yet one cannot give that which has not been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/men-have-been-taught-that-the-highest-virtue-is-not-to-achieve-but-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Thomas Carlyle > [O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/o-thou-that-pinest-in-the-imprisonment-of-the-actual-and-criest/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Whose school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/whose-school-hours-are-all-the-days-and-nights-of-our-existence/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sadder-proof-can-be-given-by-a-man-of-his-own-littleness-than/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The sincere alone can recognize sincerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-sincere-alone-can-recognize-sincerity/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [The glory of a workman, still more of a master workman, that he does his work well, ought to be his most precious possession;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/the-glory-of-a-workman-still-more-of-a-master-workman-that-he-does/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [All human things do require to have an ideal in them; to have some soul in them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/all-human-things-do-require-to-have-an-ideal-in-them-to-have-some/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Insurrection, never so necessary, is a most sad necessity; and governors who wait for that to instruct them are surely getting into the fatalest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/insurrection-never-so-necessary-is-a-most-sad-necessity-and-governors/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [What is philosophy but a continual battle against custom?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/what-is-philosophy-but-a-continual-battle-against-custom/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Let Time and Chance combine, combine! Let Time and Chance combine! 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But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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