The person who grieves, suffers his passion to grow upon him; he indulges it, he loves it; but this never happens in the case of actual pain, which no man ever willingly endured for any considerable time.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- People who dwell on grief nurture it and come to love the passion. True physical pain is rarely endured willingly for long periods.
- In plain terms
- We often indulge emotional suffering more than physical pain.
- What can you take from it?
- Don't let grief grow by feeding it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we hold onto sorrow?
- Is emotional pain worse than physical?
Another view
Some people do endure hardship willingly for higher causes.
More from Edmund Burke
The first and the simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind is Curiosity.
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