“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Last update Dec. 15, 2021. History

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Thich Nhat Hanh 169

Religious leader and peace activist 1926

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“Mr. President, there comes to a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate and liberty and privacy to suffer. That time is now. And I will not let the PATRIOT Act, the most un-patriotic of acts, go unchallenged.”

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“Man alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.”

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“It is not suffering as such that is most deeply feared but suffering that degrades.”

Susan Sontag book AIDS and Its Metaphors

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“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.”

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“My job is to suffer. I make the suffering in training hard so that the races are not full of suffering.”

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Context: I'm not happy if I'm not doing some physical suffering, like going out on a bike ride or running. First, it's good for you. No. 2, it sort of clears my mind on a daily basis. And it's a job. My job is to suffer. I make the suffering in training hard so that the races are not full of suffering.

“[D]on’t cling to your self-righteous suffering, let it go…. Nothing is too good to be true, let yourself be forgiven. To the degree you insist that you must suffer, you insist on the suffering of others as well. (90)”

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“I'd rather go to prison for the third time rather than let the current government [of Yulia Tymoshenko] assume power. It would cost the country less for one person to suffer than for the whole country to suffer.”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

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“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.”

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Source: The Alchemist (1988), p. 130 
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“people who have failed in their lives, they are suffering their failure. People who have succeeded in their life, they are suffering their success.”

Sadhguru (1957) Yogi, mystic, visionary and humanitarian

Source: Inner Management: In the Presence of the Master

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

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Thich Nhat Hanh 169

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