--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When there is pain, there are no words…" description: "\"When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.\" — Toni Morrison" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/toni-morrison-271_language_when-there-is-pain-there-are-no-words-al_523574.jpg" --- # When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the… ![“When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.” quote by Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/toni-morrison-271_language_when-there-is-pain-there-are-no-words-al_523574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/toni-morrison-271_language_when-there-is-pain-there-are-no-words-al_523574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/toni-morrison-271_language_when-there-is-pain-there-are-no-words-al_523574.jpg) > “When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.” [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. It expresses that deep suffering is beyond language, suggesting all pain shares a universal quality. **In simple terms:** Pain is indescribable and universal. Key Takeaway Acknowledge shared humanity. Themes suffering language universality Mood somber empathetic Type reflective inspirational When to use this quote - grief - trauma - healing - support groups Key Concepts philosophy human experience Questions to Reflect On - How do you express pain when words fail? - What can you do to support someone in pain? A Different Perspective May minimize individual differences in pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Pain Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain-words-1460256/) [Words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words/) [Words Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/words-pain-762234/) ## Related quotes > [“Lila is right, one writes not so much to write, one writes to inflict pain on those who wish to inflict pain. The pain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elena-ferrante/lila-is-right-one-writes-not-so-much-to-write-one-writes-to-inflict/) [Elena Ferrante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elena-ferrante/) > [When those we love hurt us by their words, we feel double the pain. 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There was no pain anymore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/in-other-words-there-was-no-pain-there-was-no-pain-anymore/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [Sometimes in life you want to tell people how you feel but there are no words to describe the pain and sorrow inside your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-in-life-you-want-to-tell-people-how-you-feel-but-there-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Poets use countless words to describe their pain, but I only need three: I miss you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-george/poets-use-countless-words-to-describe-their-pain-but-i-only-need/) [Caroline George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-george/) > [“I shrieked incoherent, made up swear words as the pain stopped messing bent me over, and made me its bitch”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-peeler/i-shrieked-incoherent-made-up-swear-words-as-the-pain-stopped-messing/) [Nicole Peeler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-peeler/) > [“You love me?” My brain was mush and I wasn’t sure if it was from his words or the pain pill. Yes, I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nichole-chase/you-love-me-my-brain-was-mush-and-i-wasn-t-sure-if-it-was-from-his/) [Nichole Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nichole-chase/) > [You are far away I know I can't touch I can't feel your face.. You say u don't know how to care for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kallio/you-are-far-away-i-know-i-can-t-touch-i-can-t-feel-your-face-you-say/) [Kallio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kallio/) > [Vengeance and revenge are just two words for pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/vengeance-and-revenge-are-just-two-words-for-pain/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [“I feel like I’m waiting here. Waiting for something that hasn’t happened yet. Something that isn’t yet. But that’s all I feel and nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katja-millay/i-feel-like-i-m-waiting-here-waiting-for-something-that-hasn-t-2/) [Katja Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katja-millay/) > [Keep your words. This pain is no life." "You only feel pain because you're alive, boy!" the keeper thundered. "This is the mystery of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dekker/keep-your-words-this-pain-is-no-life-you-only-feel-pain-because-you/) [Ted Dekker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dekker/) > [The writer's advantage, in some respects, over those whose expression lies in other fields, is in the privilege of a double - sometimes a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-winslow-johnson/the-writer-s-advantage-in-some-respects-over-those-whose-expression/) [Josephine Winslow Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-winslow-johnson/) > [“I know nothing but my open body giving birth to words. Until the pain is over. Until the end of living. Until the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-hyvrard/i-know-nothing-but-my-open-body-giving-birth-to-words-until-the-pain/) [Jeanne Hyvrard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-hyvrard/) > [“She listened for the pain in my words, not to the narrative itself. She was intuiting what it meant to me, what was most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/she-listened-for-the-pain-in-my-words-not-to-the-narrative-itself-she/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Explore all 774 Toni Morrison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ## More Language quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. 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Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) [TimBur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timbur/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [What is music? Music is language. A human being wants to express ideas in this language, but not ideas that can be translated into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-webern/what-is-music-music-is-language-a-human-being-wants-to-express-ideas/) [Anton Webern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-webern/) > [You're beautiful, cute, pretty, gorgeous, and fuck.. I ran out of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/you-re-beautiful-cute-pretty-gorgeous-and-fuck-i-ran-out-of-words/) [Raghib Clitso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raghib-clitso/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“The words for what I want to say right now don't exist. Everything sounds…so cliché.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-crane/the-words-for-what-i-want-to-say-right-now-don-t-exist-everything/) [Shelly Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-crane/) > [A man cannot speak but he judges himself. 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