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Has it never occurred to us, when surrounded by sorrows, that they may be sent to us only for our instruction, as we darken the cages of birds when we wish to teach them to sing?

— Jean Paul Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

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Sadness

More quotes by Jean Paul

The miracles of earth are the laws of heaven.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

The last, best fruit that comes to perfection, even in the kindliest soul, is tenderness toward the hard; forbearance toward the unforbearing; warmth of heart toward the cold; and philanthropy toward the misanthropic.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

The grandest of heroic deeds are those which are performed within four walls and in domestic privacy.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

The virtues, like the body, become strong more by labor than by nourishment.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

The past and future are veiled; but the past wears the widow's veil; the future, the virgin's.

Treasury of Thought (1872)

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Life could not be lived wet, whether it be in rain or tears.

Sanu Sharma

In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Solomon

In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares.

Abraham Lincoln

Every joy that some experience is paid for by the sorrow of others.

Kaneko Fumiko The Prison Memoirs of a Japanese Woman (1991)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Jean Paul (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.