Original title: The Problem of Pain

No one can say: "he who has never been hurt tells jokes about wounds." For I have never, not even for a moment, been in a state of mind in which even the thought of severe pain was not at least intolerable. If any man is safe from the danger of underestimating this opponent, that man is me. I must also add that the only purpose of the book is to solve the mental problem arising from the various sufferings, namely pain. I have never been so foolish as to consider myself responsible for the far superior work of teaching about fortitude and patience. Nor that I have anything to offer my readers other than my belief that, when we have to bear some pain, a little courage helps more than a lot of knowledge. A little human sympathy, more than a lot of courage. And the slightest touch of God's love, most of all.