Vol. 06 · Misquoted ·Attribution ·222 of 348
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. — Buddha"
They never said that.
What people say
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. — Buddha"
What was actually said
"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional." Anonymous — Attributed — appears in Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (2007), citing "somebody"
Why it stuck
The Pali Canon does not contain this aphorism. The phrasing is modern American runner-folklore. Murakami, who attributes it to "somebody," is the earliest widely-read source.
The Buddhist concept of dukkha (suffering) is not neatly separable into "pain" and "suffering." The dichotomy is Western therapy language.
Know another line by heart?
Play the duel and see how many you can spot. Or browse the whole shelf.