Ours is an age which consciously pursues health, and yet only believes in the reality of sickness. The truths we respect are those born of affliction. We measure truth in terms of the cost to the writer in suffering - rather than by the standard of an objective truth to which a writer's words correspond. Each of our truths must have a martyr.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Modern culture values suffering as proof of truth, expecting writers to be martyrs rather than objectively accurate. We believe illness reveals deeper truths than health does.
- In plain terms
- We think truth comes from suffering rather than from clear facts.
- What can you take from it?
- Suffering is wrongly treated as a badge of authenticity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is suffering necessary for truth?
- How do we value health?
Another view
Personal experience can legitimately inform perspective without martyrdom.
More from Susan Sontag
The need for truth is not constant; no more than is the need for repose. An idea which is a distortion may have a greater intellectual thrust than the truth; i…
Permalink to quote #2 The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There wo…
Permalink to quote #3 The truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean Algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, and …
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
I cut a hole in my heart and wrote with the blood.
James Anthony FroudeJames Anthony Froude quote #2 I want to work in revelations, not just spin silly tales for money. I want to fish as deep down as possible into my own subconscious in the belief that once th…
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac quote #3 Is beautiful what proceeds from an inner necessity of the soul. Is beautiful what is inwardly beautiful.
Wassily KandinskyWassily Kandinsky quote #3