Sufferance is the badge of all my tribe. The Merchant of Venice 2004 starring Al Pacino & Jeremy Irons & Joseph Fiennes & Lynn Collins & Zuleikha Robinson & Kris Marshall & Charlie Cox & Heather Goldenhersh & Mackenzie Crook & Jonh Sessions & Gregor Fisher & Ron Cook et al, director Michael Radford, Shylock to Lorenzo
To be, or not to be – that is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? – To die – to sleep –
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to; ’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die – to sleep –
To sleep! Perchance to dream. Aye, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office...’ William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III i 56-73
When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i’ th’ mind,
Leaving free things and happy shows behind. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear III iv 95, Edgar
I have suffered with those that I saw suffer. The Tempest 2010 starring Helen Mirren & Felicity Jones & Chris Cooper & Russell Brand & Reeve Carney & Tom Conti & Alan Cumming & Dimon Hounsou & Alfred Molina & Ben Whishaw et al, director Julie Taymor, Miranda
Shakespeare reveals our common humanity ... The equality of suffering. Simon Schama’s Shakespeare II: Hollow Crowns BBC 2012
And what fired Bewick’s radicalism wasn’t just anger, it was an emotion new to politics: sympathy. What moved him was an overwhelming feeling for the victims of injustice, poverty and suffering. A recognition that deep down we are all bonded by our shared human nation. It was a call to action echoed in pulpits up and down the country ... For the first time there was a politics of suffering. Simon Schama, A History of Britain s3e1: Forces of Nature, BBC 2002
What made the scale of suffering so obscene was that it happened during a time of grain surplus in other parts of India. But so fanatically devoted to the iron law of the market was the government that it refused to liberate those supplies for fear it would artificially bring down prices. So common sense not to mention common humanity were sacrificed to the fetish of the market and millions were abandoned to perish. Simon Schama, A History of Britain s3e3: The Empire of Good Intentions
Life isn’t finished for us yet! We’re going to live! ... Maybe, if we wait a little longer, we shall find out why we live, why we suffer. Anton Chekhov, The Three Sisters
Life is just filled really with suffering and despair. Francis Bacon, cited The Art of Francis Bacon
For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you. Neil deGrasse Tyson
I fear for the little ones, the innocents, who are already paying for our mistakes. There exists a great army of occupationally orphaned children. They are attending government-controlled daycare centers. And latch-key kids are running wild in the streets. And the lopsided, emotionally wounded children of single welfare mothers, born only for the sake of more money on the monthly check. Open your eyes and look at them, for they are the future. In them I see the sure and certain destruction of this once-proud nation. In their vacant eyes I see the death of Freedom. They carry with them a great emptiness – and someone will surely pay a great price for their suffering. Bill Cooper
Faith disappears. Doubt becomes obsessive. Death becomes your best friend, man’s only friend because it will deliver you from your suffering. August von Kageneck, cited Apocalypse – The Second World War: Shock
Dying is overrated. Human sentimentality has twisted it into the ultimate act of love. Biggest load of bullshit in the world. Dying for someone isn’t the hard thing. The man that dies escapes. Plain and simple. Game over. End of pain ... Try living for someone. Through it all – good, bad, thick, thin, joy, suffering. That’s the hard thing. Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever
Those who have courage to love should have courage to suffer. (Courage & Suffering) Anthony Trollope, The Bertrams, 1859
You’ve caused much suffering yourself, haven’t you? The Sopranos s4e10: The Strong, Silent Type starring James Gandolfini & Lorriane Bracco & Edie Falco & Michael Imperioli & Dominic Chianese & Steven van Zandt & Tony Sirico & Robert Iler et al, Dr Melfi, HBO 2002
Obviously I’m prone to depression. A certain bleak attitude about the world. But I know I can handle it. Your kids though when their young and their sick you’d give anything in the world to trade place with them so they don’t have to suffer. And then they think you’re the cause of it ... This miserable existence. The Sopranos s6e17: Walk Like a Man
Nobody suffers like the poor. Barfly 1987 starring Mickey Rourke & Faye Dunaway & Alice Krige & J C Quinn & Frank Stallone & Jack Nance & Sandy Martin & Roberta Bassin & Gloria LeRoy & Joe Unger & Harry Cohn & Pruitt Taylor et al, director Barbet Schroeder
A smorgasbord of drugs in his system … He chewed off his own tongue long ago. Detective, he’d die of shock right now if you could shine a flash-light on his eyes. He’s experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I’ve encountered, give or take. And he still has hell to look forward to. Se7en 1995 starring Brad Pitt & Morgan Freeman & Kevin Spacey & Gwyneth Paltrow & Richard Roundtree & Richard Schiff & R Lee Ermey & Mark Boone junior & John Cassini & Reg E Cathey et al, director David Fincher, doctor to rozzers
That is my promise – they will fucking suffer. 44 Inch Chest 2010 starring Ray Winstone & Ian McShane & John Hurt & Tom Wilkinson & Stephen Dillane & Joanne Whalley & Melvil Poupaud & Edna Dore et al, director Malcolm Venville, Peanut to Colin
It’s hard to be philosophical when faced with suffering. Star Trek: The Next Generation s1e22: Symbiosis, Dr Crusher to Picard
And the Federation is pledged not to interfere with the internal affairs of others. How convenient that must be for you. To turn a deaf ear to those who suffer behind a line on a map. Star Trek: The Next Generation s5e3: Ensign Ro, Keeve
I think back to what Camus wrote about the fact that perhaps this world is a world in which children suffer, but we can lessen the number of suffering children, and if you do not do this, then who will do this? I’d like to feel that I’d done something to lessen that suffering. Robert Kennedy
Deep, unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state. Ira Gershwin
Be grateful for, not blind to the many, many sufferings which thou art spared; thou art no better than those who have been searched out and racked by them. Orchoth Zadikkim
I was a queen, and you took away my crown; a wife, and you killed my husband; a mother, and you deprived me of my children. My blood alone remains: take it, but do not make me suffer long. Marie Antoinette
I think you do have to suffer for your art. Amy Winehouse
In brief, the given aggregates of attachment are suffering. Pali Tipitaka
29 years old, profoundly troubled, Siddhartha was determined to comprehend the nature of suffering. He resolved to leave the palace. David Grubin, The Buddha, PBS 2010
Why do human beings suffer? Was there any escape? ibid.
I think the lower orders are insensitive to suffering. Have you ever seen a wounded bull? It’s impassive. The Exterminating Angel 1962 starring Enrique Garcia Alvarez & Jacqueline Andere & Cesar del Campo & Nadia Haro Oliva & Ofelia Montesco & Patricia de Morelos & Augusto Benedico & Luis Beristain & Xavier Loya & Ofelia Guilmain et al, director Louis Bunel
Being a Jew, one learns to believe in the reality of cruelty and one learns to recognise indifference to human suffering as a fact. Andrea Dworkin
Friedrich Nietzsche believed that all varieties of suffering and failure were to be welcomed by anyone seeking happiness. We should regard them as tough challenges to be overcome. Alain de Botton, Philosophy: Nietzsche on Hardship, Channel 4 2000