The Idea of Suffering as Being Good for One

[Jassy Melson]

Many writers throughout literary history have proclaimed in their stories and novels that suffering per se is good for the soul, that it somehow “purifies” one and makes one a better person. To this I say bologna.

Suffering has never done anyone any good. It is a positive evil, and the idea that it somehow helps or “purifies” the soul is a bunch of bunk.

All suffering has ever done is make the one suffering miserable. It hasn't accomplished a damned thing. Suffering doesn't make the sufferer more tolerant or compassionate or “spiritual.” All it does is increase the amount of misery one must undergo in this cesspool of a world.

There are writers who have written that suffering is necessary for the writer, that by suffering the writer somehow becomes more in tune with life and truth. To those writers who have written such garbage, I say you are full of it. You've probably never really suffered in your life.

People who have really suffered know that it is evil; they know it serves no purpose; that it only increases the misery that one must experience in this hell on earth that's called civilization.

[Delta40]

You're pretty shallow in your observations. Instead of simply sneering at other's opinions and proffering your own generalised statements, why don't you actually explore the idea itself?

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your opinion. I think your reply is pretty shallow.

[Delta40]

Lol. My world won't crumble based on what you think. The point is this piece of writing would not pass muster on campus because it offers nothing meaningful except your opinion and what does that tell us? Zilch. You seldom post on Lit-Net to receive feedback which will enable you to improve so much as to aggravate so there is nothing more I can offer you constructively.

Best wishes for 2013 Jassy.

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your opinion. And that's all it is HAHAHA

[Buh4Bee]

Shallow or not, this made me laugh out loud a few times.

[islandclimber]

Thank you for your opinion. And that's all it is HAHAHA

This. The irony here is delicious.

Or maybe it's the overwhelming hypocrisy of your statement (a hypocrisy you obviously fail to recognize) that is so amusing.

[Steven Hunley]

This. The irony here is delicious.

Or maybe it's the overwhelming hypocrisy of your statement (a hypocrisy you obviously fail to recognize) that is so amusing.

OK, so I agree it doesn't purify you, (whatever that's supposed to mean) but it does let you experience the other end of the ecstasy stick, and that makes you more rounded, and therefore a better writer. You've been on both ends of the 'having ' experience. Now you've experienced both gain and loss. You've come full circle, you're more rounded. Circle-rounded, get me?

[islandclimber]

Steven are you responding to me? I'm confused. I'm just having a little laugh at the hypocrisy of the OPs statement to Delta.

The original post itself is nonsense. I don't feel the need to explain why. Such opinion-based drivel speaks for itself.

[Steven Hunley]

Steven are you responding to me? I'm confused. I'm just having a little laugh at the hypocrisy of the OPs statement to Delta.

The original post itself is nonsense. I don't feel the need to explain why. Such opinion-based drivel speaks for itself.

Sorry, yes, a response to the original post, but you're right, it's drivel, and all in all, I been reading your comment a few places now, and it looks to me like you're one well-versed in literature and cinema fellow. See my next post Guy and Me- about me and Maupassant.

[YesNo]

I hope things are OK, Jassy Melson. I don't know what to say about suffering at the moment. Other times I might get more verbose.

[cacian]

Suffering is never good for anyone. I do not understand how it could be. Suffering is unnecessary and unjustified.

[YesNo]

It doesn't make sense for suffering to be a goal. That would defeat its value. It should be avoided, but that doesn't mean that it is bad, or that a universe, such as ours, in which suffering occurs is evil. Suffering is a negative feedback mechanism. It tells us not to put our hands in the fire because that would damage our hands. There are also reward feedback mechanisms that point us to pleasure. Both are guides pointing us in the right direction. The existence of these feedback mechanisms are evidence that we have some freedom of choice.

Sometimes suffering cannot be avoided and so one wonders what could it be guiding us to do differently? I recall seeing a man in walker with difficulty trying to enter a restaurant while I was going downtown yesterday. Eventually he will need a wheelchair to get around. In a few years, I assume I will be in a similar situation. So, how does that suffering work as a feedback mechanism? What wrong path is it telling me to avoid when I can no longer walk? I don't know, but I suspect that not all paths require feet.

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you all for your opinions and comments (and some of you for your lame attempts at humor).

[hillwalker]

To this I say bologna. . . People who have really suffered know that it is evil; they know it serves no purpose; that it only increases the misery that one must experience in this hell on earth that's called civilization.

Who are these People? Would it not serve your purpose better if, as seems to be the case, you have experienced personal suffering you are able to offer some meaningful insight into coping with it, overcoming it, accepting it or whatever.

Otherwise all you are saying is that suffering is 'bad'. Hardly enlightening and barely worth a glance let alone a thread on a Literary forum.

I doubt that any writer chooses to achieve a state of suffering in order to become a 'better' writer.

H

[cafolini]

Hey, yeh. It's called masochism. LOL

It is also possible that the freak, if he's morally "good" will give you some gifts to suffer through and do you a lot of that "good."

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your opinions

[WolfLarsen]

Suffering sucks!

I get better writing done when I'm either manic or estatically happy!

When I'm depressed the writing has no life to it.

Sex is also better when you're in a good mood! And so is just about everything else – like drinking, eating, farting...

Farting makes me very happy!

[Delta40]

Farting makes me very happy!

But Jassy might suffer and it won't be good for him. :biggrin5:

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your opinions.

[cacian]

Suffering sucks!

I get better writing done when I'm either manic or estatically happy!

When I'm depressed the writing has no life to it.

Sex is also better when you're in a good mood! And so is just about everything else – like drinking, eating, farting...
Indeed. Happiness is cultivated and suffering is motivated. One is best keeping it light. Shedding tears and sobbing over a cup of sentences or words is emotionally grinding.

[Emil Miller]

Indeed. Happiness is cultivated and suffering is motivated. One is best keeping it light. Shedding tears and sodding over a cup of sentences or words is emotionally grinding.


Hmmmm

[cacian]

Hmmmm

LOl I meant sobbing.

[Hawg Horse]

On honest reflection, I feel a need to engage suffering. An admission made with trepidation and fear of scorn. Sometimes pain makes me feel more alive. Like diving into icy water and swimming for life toward the long away shore. But, I remember ... many think me insane. Not sure why, I'm drawn to the flame.

[cacian]

On honest reflection, I feel a need to engage suffering. An admission made with trepidation and fear of scorn. Sometimes pain makes me feel more alive. Like diving into icy water and swimming for life toward the long away shore. But, I remember ... many think me insane.

Really? Pain is nothing more then just a reminder that life could have been better if. Regrets is the price one pays over pain. I think I could do better then that. Only saying like :)

[Volya]

The sensation of pain is actually vital to life when you think about it. If we didn't know we're being hurt then we'd all go round accidentally breaking our bones.

[AuntShecky]

Would you be good enough to accept a couple of suggestions in order to improve your original thesis? Perhaps you could expand and strengthen your argument with some well-chosen examples and illustrations, from literature, history, current events. By showing specific cases, you'll be in a better position to post your opinion on suffering in an effective way.
(This is so-called "constructive" criticism. ^^^)

Cheer up. Please.

[WolfLarsen]

Cheer up. Please.

I think being ecstatically happy will help your writing. But being contented will not help your writing – it will hurt it! You need something driving you – like hormones or some kind of chaos inside. You could feel absolutely miserable – as long as that misery is manic – then it will help you to create. However, being ecstatically happy is just as good. Let's suppose – for example – your girlfriend is coming over any moment – the ecstatically happiness of that could help you to be more creative!

I gotta go!

[Delta40]

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Kahlil Gibran

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your comments

[cacian]

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Kahlil Gibran

Interesting. Could the same be said about those who have not suffered that is?

[hillwalker]

You can't write about the whole spectrum of the human condition if you spent your entire life wrapped in cotton wool being fed quails eggs from a golden spoon I guess.

H

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you for your opinions.

[stlukesguild]

I suspect, however, that there is no need to seek out pain and suffering in order to fuel your art. What human being has not known both suffering and joy?

[cacian]

You can't write about the whole spectrum of the human condition if you spent your entire life wrapped in cotton wool being fed quails eggs from a golden spoon I guess.

H

No one knows. Maybe one could. One can easily imagine sufferance or even work out what cruelty can do without having to go through the ordeal of it all.

[Delta40]

Lol. Can a life of suffering imagine all the intricacies of happiness having never experienced them?

[Gladys]

Suffering doesn't make the sufferer more tolerant or compassionate or “spiritual.”

Consider, Jassy, more trivial instances of emotional suffering.

As an infant, a toddler, a child, we have countless negative experiences that cause lasting pain. For instance, rejection by a playground buddy, hurtful shaming in front of playmates, unwarranted punishment by thick adults, overt failure at school, or an inability to perform in sport. Some of us are scarred for life, perhaps losing all self-confidence or losing empathy for people. Others, including many writers, develop more resilience and appreciation for the pain others experience through this, and worse, suffering.

Where suffering is extreme, including physical suffering, I suspect way less sufferers benefit from the experience. But, as for young children, some do indeed benefit. A minority of children more than survive war trauma or childhood abuse, and achieve great things. Some even become writers.

[Paulclem]

Suffering, as we all know, is painful, bad, humiliating and to be avoided as much as possible. Unfortunately we are endowed with bodies which make small and large sufferings inevitable. We all suffer - physically, emotionally, spiritually - if not now and in the past, then it will come.

On the plus side, it doesn't mean we can't use suffering and learn from it in order to reduce our own and others. Seeing the suffering of others often inspres compassion. How many fathers, mothers, spouses and children have organised and dedicated charities to particular things like cancer research because they saw how it affected their loved ones?

Suffering is bad and no-one - no being - wants it. It can be used for positive effect though.

[Jassy Melson]

Thank you all for your comments.

[Rainyhawaii]

I don't believe suffering is generally bad. That's not to say it's good, necessary or anything else. And as it has already been said, it will not only happen no matter what you try to do to stop it, but it's a learning experience. It appears to me that it's all about how you deal with it. If you don't learn from it and try to find some 'insight' (for lack of a better word) then you will likely end up believing that it's not good for anything. If you do learn from it then you won't regard suffering as 'evil' or 'bad'... or so I think. It's like that comment "The sensation of pain is actually vital to life when you think about it. If we didn't know we're being hurt then we'd all go round accidentally breaking our bones." Just as emotional suffering should, if one learns from it, give them some empathy. And I think that suffering, once overcome or at least held up for a bit, can inspire to write just as much as happiness.

I think it's necessary to learn from pain. Although depending on how you do that it can also create opposing views of it. So I suppose it would be better for me to say "I believe that it's necessary to learn from it in a way that makes you think it's not 'bad' but not 'good'." That's all I can think of for now.

[Jassy Melson]

I see my OP has aroused a great deal of thought. That's good.