 In the introduction to The Alchemist, Paolo Coelho claims that “intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree that there is a difference between how each type of suffering may be experienced by someone? Provide a concrete example of what he means.
Brennen Diaz
4/30/2013 10:20:37 am
I believe he means that something that unexpectedly happens and is for the worse in your life does not last forever. That the big things do not hurt as much as the small things. According to the phrase, enjoy the little things. That the small things in life that you do not fix can carry on and last long and will hurt you more than the big events in your life. Also, the cliche, the small things add up to the big things. They are the foundation for the house and if not secure and cause lasting suffering and defeat. I do believe what might effect one person tremendously might not effect another the person the same way. I believe it ties into the culture and society you grew up in. For example, violence in the inner city with crimes and gun violence compared to an act of crime in a rural or country area. Particularly, the media reacts with overbearing news if a teen dies in a mostly white, rural town; while with an inner city kid's death not half as much attention goes to that crime or circumstance. It is how people react. It is more likely to happen in the city than a small town in the country. That is how the same situation can effect people differently because of where they reside.
Amanda Donofrio
4/30/2013 11:20:10 am
I thought it was a good aspect to point out that situations can effect everyone differently, and they certainly do! Where you are raised, who you were raised by and who you chose to surround yourself with are strong variables that have to do with the way you respond to strong and intense situations, like you have pointed out.
Haley Krivensky
4/30/2013 03:21:31 pm
It is very true that the same situation can affect people differently. Whether it's how they were raised, who they are as a person, or like you said where they live. I like that you brought that up.
Lauren Barry
5/2/2013 08:25:29 am
Your point about culture influencing how we deal with pain is very true. It's strange to think that people in other parts of the world may have a perception of suffering that has never even crossed our minds.
Amanda Donofrio
4/30/2013 11:17:23 am
Suffering does not go just as quickly as it comes. In any given situation where you are surprised by intense suffering, you are less likely to be able to move on quickly. You may spend time dwelling on this situation because it was so unexpected. In other cases where you ease into an intense suffering situation, people are more likely to be able to handle it in a better manner. So, I do not agree with Paolo Coehlo when he says, "intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparenty bearable." I think all situations that involve suffering takes time to heal, whether it be time healing after an intense beginning, or time to accept the situation while easing into it. Then again, it may also revolve more around the type of person who is dealing with the suffrage. Those who make their situation apparent may be less likely to take a longer time suffering as opposed to those who hide their suffrage deep within them. An easy, relatable situation most teens can relate to is school work. We all have those moments in our high school career where an overload of work gets the best of us, but it is how students handle the stressful situation that will determine if they suffer or not. Students who use time management and prioritize will not exactly "suffer" compared to those who procrastinate until they are besieged with an intense situation.
Kaitlyn Carey
4/30/2013 08:25:41 pm
I agree with what you said about how it affects everyone differently. I also liked your example about school work which shows that how the person deals with their stress determines how much they suffer from the situation.
Christina Martinelli
5/2/2013 12:21:57 pm
Good points Amanda! I really liked that you brought up that people may spend time dwelling on the past if the situation that caused the suffering was so unexpected. I know I do this so I can relate to that feeling.
Victoria Marino
5/2/2013 03:32:24 pm
Great points Amanda. I really agree with you when you said " I think all situations that involve suffering take time to heal". I think that all situations, no matter what the intensity of suffrage is take time to heal from and move on from.
Brennen Diaz
4/30/2013 02:57:17 pm
I agree with you that how a person reacts to suffering depends on who that person is. Good example about the homework situation. If a person can not deal with it, they will cave in. Maybe it depends on whether or not that person has suffered prior in his or her life. The individual is so complex and different that people will respond to the same situation with hundreds of multiple actions, none being the same from two different people
Haley Krivensky
4/30/2013 03:13:21 pm
I believe what Paolo Coelho is saying can be taken in many different ways. It depends on the perspective, and I'm sure a lot of people do not agree with him on this. What I think he is really saying is that if something terrible happens to you randomly the suffering will be shorter, simply because you were not expecting it. If something horrible is happening to you for a long period of time, the suffering will last longer because it was something that you were expecting. Take death for example. If someone dies randomly in your family it is almost easier to cope with than if someone was sick for months and then finally passed away. You do not have the guilt of wondering what you could have done to make them live longer, a treatment you could have payed for, or another hospital visit you could have taken them to. This seems contrary to what people usually say about "having time to prepare yourself" or "you knew it was going to happen" for when someone dies from a prolonged cause. Needless to say, you can never really prepare yourself for death, or any form of suffering really. Coelho goes on to say that the latter goes on for years, eating away at our soul without us really noticing. And I think that is very true.
Shayne Fitol
5/1/2013 07:12:35 am
I agree with your interpretation of the meaning, and with the meaning itself. I like the example of the guilt and wondering what you could have done differently. I was actually going to use that example, but now I may have to think of a different one.
Bridget Borowy
5/1/2013 12:44:48 pm
Its true that death is something that no one can truly be ready for. I definitely think that Coelho's interpretation is true that sometimes unexpected suffering passes more quickly than something that is bearable.
Kaitlyn Carey
4/30/2013 08:18:48 pm
I disagree with Coelho. By intense, unexpected suffering, I think he means the kind of suffering that comes from something so sudden happening that you had no time to prepare for it. One example I can think of is a friend or family member dying. And by suffering that is apparently bearable, I think he means suffering you choose to live with because you expect to profit from it. For example, working at a job you hate out of necessity.
Ally Caple
5/2/2013 08:47:33 am
I love your job example- I didn't think of this at all. But I totally agree. In your own head you know that working this job is something you have to do. So you just accept it and move on.
Alyssa Ferreone
5/2/2013 08:57:53 am
This is an interesting point of view. I like how you said that you could use the suffering to work towards a goal.
Alex mardis
5/2/2013 12:39:01 pm
Kaitlyn, I really liked what you said about the job causing suffering but being a necessity. I didn't even think of this perspective. I also liked what you said about rationalizing the suffering of work with it being a necessity. My argument was about how the mind works against you but this was an example of the mind working for you
Steven Mahoney
5/2/2013 01:52:41 pm
The example you used was great! I completely agree!
Shayne Fitol
5/1/2013 07:41:37 am
What I get from this quote is that something that is a huge, unexpected, negative event will stay with you and cause you harm and pain for less time than one that you saw coming. Now obviously this can very per person, as everyone reacts differently to any given stimulus. Some people probably would be impacted more by the unexpected event. Personally, I am not a part of that group of people. You do not have any control over something that is unexpected. As a result, you can use this to rationalize your actions leading up to that event. Using the same example as Haley above, if someone dies unexpectedly in your family, you can rationalize having not spoken to them recently by acknowledging that this was a spontaneous, unpredictable event. There was nothing you could have done. You could not possibly have known this would happen. Thus, it will likely pass quicker (not necessarily quickly, just quicker) than a death that you knew was coming. You can prepare all you want, but when that time finally comes, will it have been enough? Probably not. There will still be those lingering thoughts and doubts crawling through your mind. Is there anything you could/should have done differently? Most likely, the answer is no. But that won't stop you from thinking about it.
Kaitlyn Twombly
5/1/2013 02:24:32 pm
Great blog post, Shanye! I agree with all of the points you raise throughout your response. Also, your examples especially the sports reference provided great explanations for your opinions and I could really relate to them.
Nick Casablanca
5/1/2013 02:35:58 pm
Those are some great points to made Shayne. It is so true as to how people react to both expected and unexpected suffering. Some will handle one type of suffering more than the other vice versa. It really does depend on how people handle those situations.
Meredith Folsom
5/2/2013 02:23:55 am
I never even thought about the sports example but that totally makes sense! Everyone is different too! Good job!
Dan Mott
5/2/2013 07:38:14 am
Good examples. The sports example is so true and very relatable. Good posting, once again lol
Danielle O
5/2/2013 10:37:45 am
Such an awesome response Shayne! I understand where you are coming from and agree with some of your points. Bringing up sports was a good touch and definitely helped make your blog stronger overall.
Chris F
5/2/2013 11:19:34 am
Great example used with baseball and sports in general. I personally can relate with similar situations I have been through and experienced.
Bridget Borowy
5/1/2013 12:57:17 pm
I believe that there definitely is a difference between each type of suffering. I think that Coehlo means that when something horrible happens unexpectedly the pain goes away quicker because eventually one realizes that they have to let go and move on from it in order to move forward in life. Dwelling on something intense and sad that happened unexpectedly can destroy a person. When something hurts so bad, one must find a way to deal with it or they will never move forward. And once one finds out how to deal with it and move on, the pain subsides quickly. But when a pain is bearable for someone, we tend to ignore it. It can dwell on within us for prolonged periods of time because its easier to set it aside rather than to face it and protect the problem. Bearable suffering does not go away because most people are strong enough to endure it for years and even a life time. I believe that it is this type of pain that effects us more than the intense and unexpected pain because of these reasons. I also believe that it definitely depends on the strength of the individual, however, because some people can't even deal with suffering that could be bearable and others can bear pain for a long time that most would consider extreme.
Kaitlyn Twombly
5/1/2013 02:41:13 pm
Before explaining whether or not I personally agree or disagree with Coelho, I think it is important to remember that everyone is different. Different people will deal with suffering in different ways, and some will have a longer lasting effect from unexpected, intense suffering while some will experience this through prolonged, bearable suffering. In my opinion, Coelho is stating that an event that is unexpected and intense will cause someone less suffering overall because it will be gone quicker. On the flip side, he is stating that prolonged suffering perhaps deteriorates a person and causes them more suffering overall. According to my own thoughts and experiences, I disagree with Coelho. I disagree with him simply because I believe that an unexpected event will perhaps shock someone or blindside them, causing disorientation and a sudden flow of negative emotions. On the contrary, I believe that with apparently bearable suffering, someone can learn to cope which will lessen suffering. For example, if someone were to suddenly pass away, I feel as though I would be blindsided and experience shock whereas if that person had been sick for years and was expected to pass, I would learn to cope with the idea and perhaps accept it a little more. There are of course less extreme examples of this situation, but the same idea still holds. These are most certainly two different types of suffering, and again, it all depends upon how a person reacts in certain situations, but I personally find coping easier than being suddenly hit with intense suffering.
Kyle Blake
5/2/2013 06:50:33 am
I agree when you say that everyone grieves in different ways. Certain people can rebound from a traumatic event very quickly, while others hold onto the grieving process and cannot handle traumatic events.
Nick Casablanca
5/1/2013 02:44:41 pm
Suffering is a part of life, and it is up to us how we handle these situations. However people, in my opinion will handle unexpected suffering better than expected suffering in most cases. Take sports as an example. Anything can happen and that suffering could hang around longer than you want it to. The pain from the unexpected suffering might hurt just as much as expected suffering, but in time people will come to accept and handle the adversity because people will know that there is ultimately nothing that they can do about it. As far as expected suffering goes, the pain hurts a little more because you will always have that, "what if"... or "what could I have done" question lingering in your head. It is like the feeling of guilt, it will just eat away at you and it will take a bit longer to get over and handle that suffering.
Tim Osborn
5/2/2013 02:32:43 am
Good points Nick. I didn't think about this post in this way, but it made me think more.
Meredith Folsom
5/2/2013 02:22:44 am
This is a tough question, both situations are obviously tough. I agree with Coelho. However, I feel like sudden deaths are harder to deal with than a death that you are prepared for. In the long run though a long period of suffering is more detrimental. Even though the person still dies in the end you know longer have someone to look after or care for like you did before. Whereas when someone suddenly dies, it is shocking but you can get over it more quickly. For example, I knew a family who lost a son six months ago and it is still really hard for them to get over it. They suffered for so long and thought that he would pull through. I feel like that long suffering is really hard to overcome once the person is no longer there. All those little bearable sufferings eventually add up.
Tim Osborn
5/2/2013 02:28:34 am
I completely agree that there are two different types of suffering. There is the intense suffering such as a brain aneurism. Where an artery explodes and kills you. Then there is the long bearable suffering such as cancer. Personally I would rather have the short intense suffering. It would be horrible to have cancer slowly killing you. You would have to go through your life with pain every day. Adjusting your day because you couldn't do things. If you had a short painful death it would be much easier. You would have the intense pain, but then it would be all over. Then, depending on what you believe in, you go to a better place.
Kyle Blake
5/2/2013 06:48:32 am
Cohelo is correct when he says this. When he says this he is talking about the way people cope with events that happen in their life. When someone knows a negative event is going to happen, the suffering is much more traumatic then if the event was all of a sudden or unexpected. There definitely is a difference in types of suffering. For example, if someone who is healthy and has no medical history has a heart attack it is unexpected. The family members will grieve, but the grieving process will not last as long. They will rationalize with the saying,"Well they were not in any pain." On the other side of the spectrum, someone who has liver failure. This death is a long dragged out one. The person first becomes toxic in the brain and cannot handle it. The body goes into septic shock and eventually cannot compensate anymore. THe family members of this patient will grieve much longer than the ones of the heart attack patient. The family members of the person with liver failure will try to feel the pain that the patient went through and will try to rationalize how that patient got liver failure. Then they try to blame it on themselves. So this grieving process has a much longer life span then the sudden death.
Maria Castelot
5/2/2013 10:58:28 am
These are great examples of the two different kinds of suffering. They really argue your point well and i agree with you!
Zach Antonio
5/2/2013 12:27:28 pm
I agree with you about how when you know a negative event is going to happen, the suffering is much more traumatic. The sooner you know about it, the worse and worse you make it in your head.
Dan Mott
5/2/2013 07:35:49 am
Unless, you're a cold hearted serial killer, everyone has feelings and emotions when tragedy strikes. I completely agree thats unexpected events will cause deeper scars and a myriad of emotions versus the emotion felt knowing that event was coming. For example, even though it's been kind of mentioned already, if a loved one is say diagnosed with cancer and today and dies in 4 years, the emotion felt at thier death is still signifigantly tough to get through, but not barely as bad if you go home and find them on the ground, dead. I also believe, that no suffering is better or worse if the trgic event happens right in front of you. Let's say you're apart of a gang. A member of that gang walks up to someone random on the street and stabs them to death. Now, whether you knew that was gonna happen or it was a surprise, it would be the same difficulty of emotion. Hands on, first world experiences are harder to geth through than fake, arrogant people trying to feel the pain through a TV screen
Lauren Barry
5/2/2013 08:21:20 am
I could not disagree with Coelho anymore than I currently do. What he is saying is that pain that someone has been experiencing and expecting for a long period of time is easier to get over than pain that is brought on so suddenly and without any warning. The one part of this that I do agree on is that there are two different types of suffering; but that is not an opinion it is a fact. To say that one type of pain is worse than the other makes it sound like a competition, but in reality, the two have to different products. To say that suffering that is thrown on a person is easier to get over than one that has been building up is insulting to people who have experienced this kind of sudden pain. Take for example the death of a family member. To say that the sudden death of a family member is “easier to get over” than one that was being expected is completely absurd. Yes, each type of emotional pain that comes with the situation is terrible and something people never want to experience, but the amount of time needed for closure is very different. If you were told of the death of a family member who had no prior health issues or reason to believe their life was significantly shortened, wouldn’t that hurt any human a little bit more than someone who was very aware of a sick family member’s medical condition? If the death of that family member was expected for quite some time, the person has already began the closure process because they were emotionally prepared for what was to come. The person who lost their family member so suddenly not only has to deal with the death of the family member, but they must also deal with the fact that they were never prepared to say that final goodbye. All in all, I have to say I wholeheartedly disagree with this quote in every aspect. For an author whose book is so inspiring and provides such a great message, I am surprised to find myself in such disagreement with this single quote.
Ally Caple
5/2/2013 08:44:29 am
I don't necessarily agree with Coelho. Take a person who has always been wealthy versus someone who has always lived in a low-income family: if the wealthy person suddenly goes bankrupt, they aren't going to know how to deal with it. They are going to have to adapt to a new lifestyle that no one taught them how to prepare for. The lower class person, on the other hand, has always been this way. They grow up learning how to deal with their situation and know how to save money wisely. Because they know how to deal with it and learn over the years, they eventually become accustomed to their way of life. The wealthy person would probably have a stroke seeing as they won't know what to do with themselves. It'll take much longer for this person to overcome the issue than the poorer person. In general, I still think this applies; I think unexpected suffering takes longer to overcome. Another example would be a death: a sudden death in the family is much worse than seeing someone be sick or grow old (not that one death is better than another, but for this example, you get what I mean). A sudden death catches you by surprise, whereas being aware of the situation allows you to accept it and learn to cope. Now reading some other comments halfway through writing mine, I see that some people obviously disagree. I just don't understand how unexpected sufferings can last less than "apparently unbearable" ones. Even if this is true, I think unexpected sufferings take more of a toll on a person because of the fact that they have no time to think. If something is slowly happening or they know it's about to happen, they have time to think it through and mentally prepare. Otherwise a situation's thrown at them and they have to think fast.
Richard Katrenya
5/2/2013 06:17:40 pm
I went down almost exactly your route when responding to this blog. I agree with you 100%. Given enough time to prepare, you will eventually build yourself up to the inevitable and when it happens, you will be able to cope with it easier.
Alyssa Ferreone
5/2/2013 08:55:40 am
I do believe that there are two types of suffering, but I do not necessarily think that everyone feels the same sufferings. The quick, unexpected pain comes and passes sooner, in my opinion, because it is not anticipated. For example, if I was told my sister was going to die in 4 weeks, my first reaction would not be "Yay we have four weeks left together!" I would obviously be very upset and the next few weeks I would be crying and dreading the month to pass. But if my sister was to randomly die today, I would not have all that time to spend suffering and feeling bad for myself. I would just be living like normal until she randomly died. However, some people do not even need to grieve. Sometimes it might be easier for people to just forget something terrible that happened to them. Everyone suffers differently and it is impossible to know exactly what someone is feeling. I do think that Coelho was correct in saying that there are two types of suffering.
Jeremiah Burr
5/2/2013 09:30:52 am
I feel like a sudden unexpected pain will pass quickly and not cause as much suffering as a long and drawn out pain, especially if it is deceptively bearable. If you believe that you can with stand the pain but really you cannot you will be overwhelmed by it. It will consume you and you will struggle to keep yourself together and deal with the pain. On the other hand if you were to experience a sudden pain while it would hurt for a moment but then it would go away as quickly as it came. For example, if you were to be shot and killed you would be dead instantly, no pain, but arthritis is a slow agony that will stay with you and torment your life.
Danielle O
5/2/2013 10:36:20 am
I don’t agree with Coelho because I don’t know how he could have come to this conclusion. He made such a large generalization that it’s hard to comprehend his thought process behind this. Coelho cannot possibly have accounted for everyone and how they will react in any given situation. Although there are a lot of people who would react very rashly if they found out that they had a life threatening disease. There are also a lot of people who would handle this news accordingly and go about their life. Another example would be the Sandy Hook shooting. The Sandy Hook shooting had many people devastated after this tragedy. It left a lot of parents grieving for a long time and they are still grieving, but I don’t think that they are still suffering because it’s bearable. There is no way that any of those parents would say losing their child is bearable, I think it’s simply because they didn’t wake up that morning knowing that their children would lose their life in a school shooting, they were not prepared for something of that nature to happen, not that you could even remotely prep yourself for anything even moderately close to that happening. If anything the more bearable suffering goes away faster because you are able to recover from it more quickly. When you are hit with something tragic out of nowhere you are more likely to let that pain linger because you were not able to brace yourself for it, at least in my opinion.
Camille Glasow
5/2/2013 10:39:27 am
By this, Coelho means that an intense and seemingly unbearable suffering, will be brief, and will end sooner than one thinks. He's saying that a prolonged yet bearable suffering is worse. This is because the suffering may stay with us for years and eat away at us until we're merely shells of what we used to be. I agree with Coelho that there is a difference between how each type of suffering may be experienced by someone. This is because I think that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. If we're faced with an intense and unpredictable event, we will soon overcome it and move on. That event will build on our character and make us a stronger person. It will also give us more experience that we can learn and build off of. Whereas if one suffers for years on end it will degrade them and make them weak and depressed. Instead of having more experiences or overcoming hardships, they are doomed to a prolonged period of depression
Michaela
5/2/2013 12:11:55 pm
I like how you pointed out that suffering can degrade you, but it can also make you stronger in the end. Suffering from years of cancer and being cured certainly must make one stronger and more appreciative.
Meghan Giannettino
5/2/2013 12:13:19 pm
I agree with what your saying how seemingly unbearable suffering will be breif and end sooner. 5/2/2013 12:36:09 pm
Camille, I like how you described the long suffering about it eating away at us turning us into mere shells of who we once were. It totally does. Overall, your response is making rethink my stance...:)
Maria Castelot
5/2/2013 10:54:09 am
I do agree with Paolo Cohelo. However, everyone is different and we all reaction to situations differently. If something bad happens to you but you are expecting it and know that it will happens, then it becomes are heavy burden to live with. Take procrastination for example. The more time someone has to think about whatever they have to do, the more stressed out they become and it causes them anxiety. I think prolonged suffering is similar to that. The more someone suffers with something, the greater the pain and distress. On the other hand, when a sudden tragedy occurs, you are completely caught off guard and haven’t prepared a way to handle the situation. By not having the opportunity to plan for such a tragic event, it may be easier to forget it and move on because of being in such shock. People do not have time to process what just happened so the mind just shuts down and the unbearable experience gets thrown in a dark corner in that person’s mind.
Mrs. Elbakry
5/2/2013 11:01:11 am
I am so glad to hear voices if those disagreeing with this quotation. Not to side either way, I am simply happy to hear such an opinionated discussion. Some of my blog questions lend themselves to general agreement.
Chris F
5/2/2013 11:57:46 am
I believe that Paolo means that when something unexpected happens it is easier to deal with. Examples of this, which many people have already said, would be when a close friend or relative pass away due to an unexpected event. It is very difficult to deal with either way it happens, expected or not. Although due to the surprise and shock of the happening it is easier to cope with. On the other hand if you are expected a loved one to pass for whatever the reason may be, this type of suffering will last longer simply because you know it will happen. The simple idea of knowing that something is or isn't going to happen can be the difference.
Michaela
5/2/2013 12:08:35 pm
It's a little outlandish to say that suffering can be more or less intense in two general situations. Pain and suffering solely depend on the situation.
Jackie
5/2/2013 03:43:05 pm
Your first line says it all.
Meghan Gianbettino
5/2/2013 12:11:00 pm
At first when I read this I disagreed with it, then when I read it for the second time I agreed with what Coelho means. I believe it means the intense unexpected suffering is quicker because you didn't see it coming. If you saw it coming (bearable) it would be this long everlasting saddens. It's like the say the quicker you do it, the quicker it's over. But I really depends on the person you are and how you deal with suffering; some are better then others. An example from my personal experience watch my grandfather deal with my grandmother illness; she was slowly dying. You can tell he was miserable and suffering watch his bride going on in pain. But when the time came, when she passed away. He wasn't as sad as when she was there in pain. It hurt the same, but I can see he didn't suffer the same way as when she was sick. It all comes down with your inner self; how much will you have to deal with suffrage.
Zach Antonio
5/2/2013 12:25:46 pm
Coelho brought up a great and accurate point. Everyday people can suffer through life and get used to it. Suffer through a job they hate, a place they don't want to be at (school), rejection, failure, cowardice, the list goes on and on. And they get used to it. We get used to it. But an intense, surprise pain would be easier to take. We wouldn't have all the agonizing moments of thinking how terrible how horrible our lives are. Just a quick flash of horror. For the good of seniors everywhere, I'd cut my left arm off for Capstone to be eliminated forever. Well, maybe I wouldn't go that far, but I would much rather be unexpectedly hit with something and have to deal with the aftermath than living with something I hate everyday. The latter leads to a very depressing life. Of course, ideally, I would endure no suffering of either kind. But then if that was true, life would be too good, clearly. 5/2/2013 12:29:08 pm
When Coelho says unexpected, intense suffering passes quickly, he means that those with severity all at once tend to heal quicker than those who've had continuous yet bearable suffering. Thinking about this its like asking which is worse? A big moment of intensity all at once? Or added up little spurts of suffering over a long period of time? I feel that when something unexpected happens, it certainly throws everyone off guard, leading everyone to extreme sorrow and suffering. And that suffering could prolong for years. And when someone suffers little things and finally blows up, the extreme emotions only last for a little. However, while suffering is prolonging I agree that it certainly does more damage to the soul, body, and mind. The key element here is time. For the most part, I disagree with Coelho. The shorter and more intense moment causes longer suffering, while longer suffering over years can cause an intense, shorter moment of reaction. And of course, it all depends on the situation as well as the person.
Alex Mardis
5/2/2013 12:32:27 pm
When Coelho says that sudden pain and suffering passes faster than a more apparent and visible suffering I believe that he is speaking to the power and sometimes disadvantages of the human mind. A lot of times the mind puts more stress on an individual than the situation itself. It is much like ripping off a bandaid. You can do it fast without a problem and probably only suffer a 1 out of ten. Or you can have a bandaid placed on you and have your friends tell you they are going to rip it off at a random time. youd probably suffer a 4 out of ten for just worrying about somehing that in itself doesnt cause any suffering.The obvious and best example of this would how coping with a family members sudden death is sometimes easier than having to watch a prolonged death in which people have to witness the individual suffer and feel guilt, sorrow, etc. However when I read this quote my mind went to powerschool. Everyone checks their Powerschool every 5 minutes and when their grade drops one point they freak and run to the teacher including myself. Just as Coelho said that unexpected suffering passes faster than apparent suffering, I envy when there was no Powerschool and you didn't have to worry about your grades as much until the day report cards came out. Now sure the unexpected grade might cause you suffering for a couple of days but its a lot better than stairing at a C minus in Powerschool for the whole semester.
Christina M
5/2/2013 12:44:26 pm
It was very difficult for me to decide whether or not I agreed with Coelho's statement, “intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable.” The main reason I could not choose a side was because everyone is different. Most of you brought this up in your posts, but I'm going to bring it up again. Everyone reacts to situations in different ways whether it be handling time management like Amanda mentioned, sudden death like Meredith mentioned, or even just stress. With that being said I concluded that I do not agree with Coelho's statement. I do not think that there is a type of suffering that is easier to get over. Intense, unexpected suffering hits hard and usually takes a while for people to bounce back because people dwell on the past and think why. Sometimes you will recieve an answer which makes the suffering bearable however, other times people do not get answers as to why things happen which makes it very difficult for people to forget and move on. On the other hand, suffering that is apparently bearable can also take a long time to get over because usually it is hard to find closure when something is apparent and is also around or in the back of your mind. I believe that both types of suffering take an equal amount of time to overcome. Like Amanda mentioned, suffering does not go as easily as it comes...I believe that we are always suffering in some way, shape, or form.
Steven Mahoney
5/2/2013 01:51:20 pm
If I am taking this literally, I believe a fast, unexpected amount of pain is more tolerable than suffering. Now obviously there are exceptions to both sides but generally this is true. Essentially, this is comparable to a band-aid. Instead of just slowly pulling it off, use fast swoop to get it off. That small amount of pain is better than the pain you would experience if you slowly peeled it off. What I'm saying is that I agree. Swift pain is better than pain that drags on. I think there are absolutely times when quick pain is worse. Like if you lose a loved one immediately. That stinks. But overall, the swift pain is better.
Jackie
5/2/2013 03:42:05 pm
By any means, losing something or someone is hard no matter what the conditions. But I feel that losing something unexpectedly is worse than a pain that is seemingly bearable. For example, knowing a family has cancer and have a limited life, it is expected that they will be leaving you soon. You can almost prepare yourself, however you can, for that person leaving your life. I know how terrible that sounds but it's true. By the time you see them suffering you almost want them just to go peacefully so they don't have to suffer. Whereas, losing someone to a car accident is harder. Because it was so unexpected, there could be so much guilt behind it. Like if the night of the car accident, you got into a fight and said bad things. You'd feel guilty all your life and not have the chance to apologize. Like someone who knew the person was dying could have said sorry and made peace. Either or is really sucky and sad though.
Victoria Marino
5/2/2013 03:46:09 pm
I do not agree with Paolo Coelho's statement. I believe that everyone is different and everyone deals with pain and suffrage in a different way. There could be many cases where something terribly unexpected happens but the pain is too bearable to over come quickly and it takes a while for that person to heal. There could be other cases where something not so bad happens and the pain isn't as intense and the person can get over it much quicker. There are all different situations in the world. The way people deal with these situations depend on the person they are. There is no way to predict how much pain and suffrage a person is going through so you can't put a time limit on how long they have to recover from it. It could take some minutes to get over certain situations while it could take others months or even years to move on from it. I don't think you can argue that unexpected events pass more quickly but I also don't think you argue that they pass slower. I think it all depends on the person you are. The person who is dealing with the situation at hand.
Amber Murray
5/3/2013 03:00:00 am
Intense unexpected suffering does pass more quickly, I think that it's because it's unexpected. You don't expect it which makes it just a shock. It's almost as if you don't have time to react and because it is very short notice your "healing" process is short as well. if its intense suffering, as in like a death, you mourn for a little but eventually snap back to and see that being sad or upset isn't going to help anything. Life goes on when bad things happen. But if it's bearable suffering you tend to think of it more. It occasionally crosses your mind and because it is bearable, what you're suffering kind of just is always in the back of your head. Comments are closed.
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English 12 HonorsRespond to the question AND comment on another classmate's response in at least 10 sentences. You can certainly disagree, but BE RESPECTFUL of the opinions/feelings of your classmates. Archives
June 2013
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