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I don't think any of us can speak frankly about pain until we are no longer enduring it.

I don't look at myself as suffering.

I don't want to hurt anybody.

Suffering is a kind of ecstasy in a way. Having pain all the time makes me terribly, terribly grateful for every moment I've got.

I don't want to be a burden on anybody.

What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering.

I don't like pain.

Don't look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you'll know you're dead.

Pain can be vitalising; it gives intensity in the place of vagueness and emptiness. If we don't suffer, how do we know that we live?

For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire's still going.