--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What can't be helped must be endured." description: "\"What can't be helped must be endured.\" — Wendell Berry" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg" --- # What can't be helped must be endured. ![“What can't be helped must be endured.” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg) > “What can't be helped must be endured.” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unavoidable hardships must be endured with patience. **In simple terms:** Accept inevitable suffering. Key Takeaway Cultivate resilience in face of hardship. Themes suffering patience resilience Mood steady reflective Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - illness - loss - natural disasters Key Concepts stoicism acceptance Questions to Reflect On - What supports help you endure? - When is it wise to resist? A Different Perspective Endurance can lead to burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Endured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endured/) [Helped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helped/) [Helped Endured](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helped-endured-4461202/) ## Related quotes > [“What can't be helped must be endured," Mat Feltner said. And he was a man who knew.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-mat-feltner-said-and-he-was-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Liberal democracy has endured because its institutions are designed for handling morally hazardous forms of coercive power. It puts the question of how far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/liberal-democracy-has-endured-because-its-institutions-are-designed/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [Through our hardest times we have endured. Into our brightest times we are expanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/through-our-hardest-times-we-have-endured-into-our-brightest-times-we/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [“We are shaped by every endured situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-are-shaped-by-every-endured-situation/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [...What torments of pain have you endured that haven't as yet arrived? and may never!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-torments-of-pain-have-you-endured-that-haven-t-as-yet-arrived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Who had the bigger burden? The one who had to watch the other person endure or the one who endured?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/who-had-the-bigger-burden-the-one-who-had-to-watch-the-other-person/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they've lived through one international humiliation after another, one after another. We all remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/not-only-have-our-citizens-endured-domestic-disaster-but-they-ve/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [It is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. Therefore, we seek to honor God by operating the company in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-green/it-is-by-god-s-grace-and-provision-that-hobby-lobby-has-endured/) [David Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-green/) > [I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-cousy/i-had-endured-six-years-of-frustration-so-i-think-winning-it-all/) [Bob Cousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-cousy/) > [Pain is to be endured. It ends or it does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/pain-is-to-be-endured-it-ends-or-it-does-not/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [There is no affliction, trial, or labor difficult to endure, when we consider the torments and sufferings which Our Lord Jesus Christ endured for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/there-is-no-affliction-trial-or-labor-difficult-to-endure-when-we/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [She endured. And survived. Marginally, perhaps, but it is not required of us that we live well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-cameron/she-endured-and-survived-marginally-perhaps-but-it-is-not-required-of/) [Anne Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-cameron/) > [There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/there-is-not-a-right-too-long-denied-to-which-we-do-not-aspire-in/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [Men of reason have endured;men of passion have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/men-of-reason-have-endured-men-of-passion-have-lived/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) [James Buckham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buckham-kennedy/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Endured quotes > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) [James Buckham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buckham-kennedy/) > [Men of reason have endured;men of passion have lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-chamfort/men-of-reason-have-endured-men-of-passion-have-lived/) [Nicolas Chamfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-chamfort/) > [There is not a right too long denied to which we do not aspire in order to achieve; there is not a wrong too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-gompers/there-is-not-a-right-too-long-denied-to-which-we-do-not-aspire-in/) [Samuel Gompers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-gompers/) > [She endured. And survived. Marginally, perhaps, but it is not required of us that we live well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-cameron/she-endured-and-survived-marginally-perhaps-but-it-is-not-required-of/) [Anne Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-cameron/) > [There is no affliction, trial, or labor difficult to endure, when we consider the torments and sufferings which Our Lord Jesus Christ endured for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/there-is-no-affliction-trial-or-labor-difficult-to-endure-when-we/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [Pain is to be endured. It ends or it does not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/pain-is-to-be-endured-it-ends-or-it-does-not/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [I had endured six years of frustration so I think winning it all meant more to me than most of the others on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-cousy/i-had-endured-six-years-of-frustration-so-i-think-winning-it-all/) [Bob Cousy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-cousy/) > [It is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. Therefore, we seek to honor God by operating the company in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-green/it-is-by-god-s-grace-and-provision-that-hobby-lobby-has-endured/) [David Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-green/) > [Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they've lived through one international humiliation after another, one after another. We all remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/not-only-have-our-citizens-endured-domestic-disaster-but-they-ve/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Who had the bigger burden? The one who had to watch the other person endure or the one who endured?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/who-had-the-bigger-burden-the-one-who-had-to-watch-the-other-person/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [...What torments of pain have you endured that haven't as yet arrived? and may never!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-torments-of-pain-have-you-endured-that-haven-t-as-yet-arrived/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“We are shaped by every endured situation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-are-shaped-by-every-endured-situation/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Through our hardest times we have endured. Into our brightest times we are expanding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/through-our-hardest-times-we-have-endured-into-our-brightest-times-we/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [Liberal democracy has endured because its institutions are designed for handling morally hazardous forms of coercive power. It puts the question of how far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/liberal-democracy-has-endured-because-its-institutions-are-designed/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [“I have endured, and now I am ready to conquer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-g-miller/i-have-endured-and-now-i-am-ready-to-conquer/) [Michele G. Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-g-miller/) [Browse all 113 Endured quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endured/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What can't be helped must be endured.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Berry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Endured" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/779/wendell-berry-236_endured_what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured-295_2953242.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What can't be helped must be endured.” — Wendell Berry", "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": "Wendell Berry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "What can't be helped must be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/what-can-t-be-helped-must-be-endured/#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 } } ] } ```