We love, fear, struggle, and assume our story is ours alone.
We expect and then experience disappointment and rejection, spend time in solitude to heal, and wish others could understand our pain.
We forget that although each of us is unique, we all go through similar experiences, and that suffering is often part of them.
If we were to reflect and never assume anything about anyone, we would realize that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. And empathize.
You never know what someone is going through
People rarely hide happiness. If anything, happiness is what they’ll display openly, even when it’s not there — behind fake smiles, kind words, or posts on social media.
What people hide is pain and painful experiences; out of the fear of being vulnerable, being judged, being seen as incomplete, imperfect, broken.
The truth is that you never really know what someone is going through, and once you become more aware of that, that gives you the power to not only empathize, but also appreciate the blessings in your own life.
And normalize suffering in all its forms — anger, fear, disappointment, anxiety, uncertainty, and struggle. Because they are an inherent part of life, and sometimes it’s okay not to be okay.
“You never know what someone is going through” quotes
The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world, but those who fight and win battles that others know nothing about.
Jonathan Harnisch
Everyone goes through a hard time in their life, they just don’t have to do it in front of tons of people and with our media the way it is.
Kirsten Dunst
You may never know what someone is going through, but if you notice any signs of pain — hostility, negativity, or oversensitivity — then odds are, you know how they feel. Respond to the pain instead of judging the signs.
Lori Deschene
You never know who you’re going to meet, what types of people you’re going to cross paths with, and what they may be dealing with behind closed doors. But if there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that someone always has it worse.
Ashley Appleby
We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do and more in the light of what they suffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We all have our struggles. And we should all be there for each other in any way we can. Life is hard and sometimes we just need a helping hand.
Jo Watson
You never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors. You only know what you see or what you think you see.
Mackenzie Phillips
Life is hard, so what? It’s hard for everyone, isn’t it? Anyone who says it’s easy is a liar.
Cecilia Ahern
No matter how bad someone has it, there are others who have it worse. Remembering that makes life a lot easier and allows you to take pleasure in the blessings you have been given.
Lou Holtz
Most people have no imagination. If they could imagine the suffering of others, they would not make them suffer.
Anna Funder
Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Life is difficult for everyone, everyone has bad days. Everyone has trouble in their life, because it doesn’t matter how rich you are: sickness and trouble and worry and love, these things will mess with you at every level of life.
Domhnall Gleeson
Everyone suffers some injustice in life, and what better motivation than to help others not suffer in the same way.
Bella Thorne
“Hiding pain behind a smile” quotes
The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile the brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do.
Jellal Fernandes (character)
You just never know what someone is dealing with behind closed doors. No matter how happy someone looks, how loud their laugh is, how big their smile is, there can still be a level of hurt that is indescribable. So be kind.
Andrea Russett
You never know what people are going through, and sometimes the people with the biggest smiles are struggling the most, so be kind.
Unknown
All it takes is a beautiful fake smile to hide an injured soul and they will never notice how broken you really are.
Robin Williams
A smile can mean a thousand words, but it can also hide a thousand problems.
Unknown
Nobody can tell what I suffer! But it is always so. Those who do not complain are never pitied.
Jane Austen
“You never really know someone” quotes
I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt — and there is the story of mankind.
John Steinbeck
Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.
Neil Gaiman
Don’t judge people by their covers, most of their books are still being written.
Unknown
The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart.
John Eldredge
It’s so funny how the people who know the least about you are the ones who have the most to say.
Unknown
The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
George Bernard Shaw
Short “you never know what someone is going through” quotes
We all struggle alone through the ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows of our lives.
Elizabeth Kim
As bad as your situation may be, someone else always has it worse than you.
George Foreman
Too many Americans who struggle with mental illnesses are suffering in silence (…).
Barack Obama
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
Unknown
Never assume you understand. Ask the questions.
Brian Tracy
A lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.
Joel Osteen
Let us be kind to one another, for most of us are fighting a hard battle.
Ian MacLaren
We are all different. Don’t judge, understand instead.
Roy T. Bennett
Behind every fake smile is a broken heart.
Unknown
