Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

Pain is never permanent

A modern Teresa credit, not authenticated Unknown Exact origin unconfirmed
Attributed Rights unconfirmed

The Book of Positive Quotations, second edition, cited p. 333 (2007)

Last verified 9 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Unconfirmed quote & credit

“Pain is never permanent” — Creator unconfirmed; credited to Teresa of Ávila in a modern quotation collection, without an established original source.

Can you use it?

We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the themes of resilience and hope. Theme: "Pain is never permanent". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Pain is never permanent". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Source
The Book of Positive Quotations, second edition, cited p. 333
Evidence
Wikiquote cites a 2007 quotation collection, not a work by Teresa or an identified English translation of one.

Pain is never permanent. Short excerpt

How we verified this

  • Wikiquote credits the sentence to Teresa but supplies only The Book of Positive Quotations (2007), p. 333.
  • The publisher’s inspected page confirms the second edition’s editors, date and nature as an expanded quotation compilation. It does not show the entry or identify a Teresa original.
  • An anthology credit is evidence of attribution, not a verified sixteenth-century source. No Spanish original or translator was established.

Only a short excerpt is reproduced; identification and commentary do not grant permission to reuse the complete work.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

The attribution question

Wikiquote cites a 2007 quotation collection, not a work by Teresa or an identified English translation of one.

Teresa of Ávila Wording or transmission context

A 2007 anthology supplies this credit, but no original passage or translator is established.

— Creator unconfirmed; credited to Teresa of Ávila in a modern quotation collection, without an established original source.

Context

Why it mattered

The available source trail reaches a modern inspirational quotation collection rather than Teresa’s own text. Her writings do discuss suffering within religious life, but similarity of subject cannot authenticate an isolated maxim. The sentence is therefore presented as an unconfirmed credit, without treating it as a medical claim.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Resilience Hope

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Wikiquote: Teresa of Ávilaen.wikiquote.org

Provides the quotation’s cited modern source and distinguishes the disputed answered-prayers attribution.
Quotation collection publisherwww.simonandschuster.com

Confirms the 2007 second edition, compiler John Cook, editors Steve Deger and Leslie Ann Gibson, and the expanded quotation-collection format.
Vatican biographical addresswww.vatican.va

Benedict XVI discusses Teresa’s Carmelite reform and spiritual writings; this is context, not authentication of the circulating sentence.
Teresa biographical referenceen.wikipedia.org

Reference for Teresa’s life and writings; does not establish an original Spanish source for this English wording.

The author

About Unknown

Unknown

Exact origin unconfirmed

The creator of this exact English wording has not been established. Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582), the person named in the attribution, was a Spanish Carmelite reformer and spiritual writer whose major works include The Life, The Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle. A modern English quotation credit needs an identifiable textual link to those writings.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Source reference and evidence

The Book of Positive Quotations, second edition, cited p. 333. 2007.

This verification page

Quotle.info. Who really said 'Pain is never permanent'? Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/pain-is-never-permanent/

Something wrong on this page?

Tell us what’s off. A link helps but isn’t required — “this is the wrong person” is a useful report on its own. Nothing here changes the page directly; it goes to our review queue and a human checks it.

Only used to tell you if we act on your report. We never sell or share it.

Copied