We may not ever understand why we suffer or be able to control the forces that cause our suffering, but we can have a lot to say about what suffering does to us, and what sort of people we become because of it. Pain makes some people bitter and envious. It makes others sensitive and compassionate. It is the result, not the cause, of pain that makes some experiences of pain meaningful and others empty and destructive.
grief loss suffering tragedy

About This Quote

About Harold S. Kushner

Harold S. Kushner was a 20th-century American rabbi. Harold Samuel Kushner was an American rabbi, author, and lecturer. He was a member of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism and served as the congregational rabbi of Temple Israel of Natick, in Natick, Massachusetts, for 24 years. Read more on Wikipedia →

More quotes by Harold S. Kushner

“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.”
— Harold S. Kushner
books life

“If a human artist or employer made children suffer so that something immensely impressive or valuable could come to pass, wewould put him in prison. Why then should we excuse God for causing such u...”
— Harold S. Kushner
god life pain

“Pain is the price we pay for being alive. Dead cellsour hair, our fingernailscant feel pain; they cannot feel anything. When weunderstand that, our question will change from, Why do we have to feel...”
— Harold S. Kushner
life pain

“If that were God's plan, it's a bad bargain; I don't want to have to deal with a God like that...My sense is God and I came to an accommodation with each other a couple of decades ago, where he's g...”
— Harold S. Kushner
god god-s-plans god-s-will omnipotence

“Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are”
— Harold S. Kushner
wisdom

“Sooner or later, we all learn that our immortality is rooted not in our professional involvements and achievements, but in our families. In time, all of our wins and losses in the workplace will be...”
— Harold S. Kushner
family
View all quotes by Harold S. Kushner →

Related Quotes

“Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.”
— Jos N. Harris
grief grieving hope loss

“Without you in my arms, I feel an emptiness in my soul. I find myself searching the crowds for your face - I know it's an impossibility, but I cannot help myself.”
— Nicholas Sparks
grief love

“So its true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.”
— E.A. Bucchianeri
grief grief-inspirational heartbreak life

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”
— Emily Bront, Wuthering Heights
loss love

“Youll get over it Its the clichs that cause the trouble. To lose someone you love is to alter your life for ever. You dont get over it because it is the person you loved. The pain stops, there are ...”
— Jeanette Winterson
loss love

“Its the same with people who say, Whatever doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Even people who say this must realize that the exact opposite is true. What doesnt kill you maims you, cripples you, l...”
— Rob Sheffield
loss love pain

“Nothing forces us to knowWhat we do not want to knowExcept pain”
— Aeschylus, The Oresteia
suffering truth

“Doesn't it seem that it is always by chance that these things happen, or is it because of the generosity of a shared knowledge of suffering that allows for it?”
— David Gianadda, Everything You Say Is Goodbye
suffering suffering-of-humanity war

“Wisdom is not making life any harder than it has to be.”
— Marty Rubin
suffering wisdom