# Quote — Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

> Why humans feel pain has been the subject of theological debate, philosophical schisms, psychoanalytical edicts, and mumbo jumbo for centuries. Pain was the punishment for wrongdoing in the Garden of Eden. Pain was the price one paid for not being morally perfect. Pain was a self-affliction brought about by sexual repression. Pain was dished out by vengeful gods, or was the result of falling out of harmony with nature…The purpose of pain is to warn the body about possible injury. Millions of free nerve endings alarm us; whenever they’re hit, we feel pain.

- Author: [Diane Ackerman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman.md)
- Book: [A Natural History of the Senses](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses.md)
- Page: 106
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Diane_Ackerman#A_Natural_History_of_the_Senses_(1990)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/why-humans-feel

## More from this book

> Not everything we feel is felt powerfully enough to send a message to the brain; the rest of the sensations just wash over us, telling us nothing. Much is lost in translation, or is censored, and in any case our nerves don’t all fire at once. Some of them remain silent while others respond. This makes our version of the world somewhat simplistic, given how complex the world is. The body’s quest isn’t for truth, it’s for survival.

p. 304 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/not-everything-we-feel.md)

> So much of our life passes in a comfortable blur. Living on the senses requires an easily triggered sense of marvel, a little extra energy, and most people are lazy about life. Life is something that happens to them while they wait for death.

p. 305 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/so-much-of-our.md)

> It began in mystery, and it will end in mystery, but what a savage and beautiful country lies in between.

p. 309 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-ackerman/a-natural-history-of-the-senses/it-began-in-mystery.md)