Quotes about Suffering
It is clear that bearing the cross patiently does not mean that we harden ourselves or do not feel any sorrow; according to the old notion of the Stoic philosophers that a greathearted man is someone who has laid off his humanity, and who is not touched by adversity and prosperity, and not even by joy and sorrow, but who acts like a cold rock.
— John Calvin
If only we were convinced deep in our hearts that persecutions are among God's blessings, what progress we should make in the knowledge of divine truth!
— John Calvin
So long as we are adopted by God in Christ, we are destined for slaughter. If
— John Calvin
we must realize that death was not a pleasure or a game for Christ, and that he suffered excruciation to the utmost for our sakes.
— John Calvin
So it will be that no matter what kind of cross is placed upon us, we will steadily maintain endurance even through the narrowest straits of the soul.
— John Calvin
So also Augustine, "The suffering at which you cry, is medicine, not punishment; chastisement, not condemnation. Do not drive away the rod, if you would not be driven away from the inheritance. Know, brethren, that the whole of that misery of the human race, under which the world groans, is a medicinal pain, not a penal sentence
— John Calvin
First, we must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us.
— John Calvin
The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.
— John Calvin
Affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it.
— John Donne
What gnashing is not a comfort, what gnawing of the worm is not a tickling, what torment is not a marriage bed to this damnation, to be secluded eternally, eternally, eternally from the sight of God?
— John Donne
O! I shall soon despair, when I shall see That Thou lovest mankind well, yet wilt not choose me, And Satan hates me, yet is loth to lose me.
— John Donne
The pathos of life is worse than the tragedy.
— Ellen Glasgow