Siddhartha Suffering Quotes

In part one, Siddhartha learns that existence is suffering, the First Noble Truth. Hesse tells the first example of this at the beginning of the novel. On pages two and three, he describes Siddhartha’s desire for knowledge, saying that Siddhartha is not happy because he still has more to learn. Siddhartha says that he knows everything that his teachers have to teach, but still wants to learn more. Siddhartha suffers because he is unable to learn this knowledge within his village. Curiosity is in human nature, and Siddhartha’s inability to sate his thirst for knowledge leads to his suffering. Siddhartha’s very existence therefore causes him to suffer because it is what makes him curious. The second example of Siddhartha learning this Truth comes

All were doomed to decay. Life was pain” (Hesse 11). This quote shows that Siddhartha thinks everything he sees is an illusion. He believes that the real truth is that everything will decay, and that life is pain. Siddhartha’s belief that life is pain in this chapter is a perfect representation of the first Noble Truth: existence is suffering. These two phrases are synonyms of each other, and the fact that Siddhartha realizes this idea on his own shows that he understands the Truth. He has experienced the First Truth firsthand, and it defines his life during his stay with the Samanas. Throughout the first two chapters of Siddhartha, Siddhartha’s desire for knowledge and his belief that the world is an illusion show him that to exist is to

Siddhartha is shown not to be happy at the beginning of the story because he thinks he already knows all that his teachers could teach him. He says, “They had already poured the sum total of their knowledge into his waiting vessel” (Hesse 3), and continues to say that, “The vessel was not full” (Hesse 3). Siddhartha’s search for knowledge continues, but he appears to have exhausted all of the resources within his village. Siddhartha suffers because he is unable to learn that which he wants to learn. Without this desire, Siddhartha would be content in his village, but he must learn more, and so he suffers. His desire to learn is therefore the cause of his suffering. He also suffers when he is with the Samanas in order to learn how to escape his Self. To meditate, “Siddhartha stood in the fierce sun’s rays, filled with pain and thirst, and stood until he no longer felt pain and thirst” (Hesse 11). He meditates in this manner in order to learn how to escape the Self. He joins the Samanas for this reason, and the Samanas teach Siddhartha that in order to meet his desire, he must practice self-denial; that he must suffer. His suffering arises from his thirst for knowledge that his teachers were unable to sate, specifically the knowledge of how to lose his Self. In short, Siddhartha learns that his desire for knowledge causes him suffering. Siddhartha suffers from this