"I like pain, because it lets me know I'm still alive"

Now, I’m pretty sure that this is a quote of some kind, from something, but I can’t place it. I know it kind of mirrors a theme from “Fight Club,” and several other works, but I have no idea what it’s from. Does it ring a bell with any dopers? I may have botched the wording somewhat.

I figured since this was a question regarding literature/movies/TV (though I’m not sure which) Cafe Society is the place to put it. Feel free to move it to general questions if that is a more appropriate place.

Thanks

Belana from Star Dreck Voyager said it once. I saw a bit of a re-run the other day when she “emoted” that to Chakotay. I am sure it is a fairly common theme.

Vin Diesel, as Riddick: “Pain and me are old friends. He reminds me that I’m still alive.”

In a great scene in Blade Runner, a dying android drives a spike through his palm os that the pain will keep him alive a little while longer. I dont’ remember the exact dialog that goes with it, though.

So what you’re saying is, he is more of a pocket pc man?

Incoherent screaming and sobbing, as I recall. Roy Batty had the best damned lines of the movie, but none of them were in that scene.

Earlier than Vin Diesel, and unlike Blade Runner it has the actual dialog, in GI Jane, during training, the instructors were saying it to the trainees.

I’m positive it’s much older than that, though.

A beautiful, 5’1" karate student and college coed (who I lost my virginity to in high school, not that that matters) used to say she loved pain, as we stretched out before class.

More ‘Shakespeareanly’ (is that a word?) , the breathtaking and brilliant Juliana Hatfield, in her song “Universal Heartbeat”, decreed that “A heart that hurts is a heart that works”.

And I was born in 1959, which I think places my first example prior to the others.

“Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails is all about the concept.

Is the line in an old movie, and the sampled line shows up in a White/Rob Zombie tune?

I just wanted to let you know I got a great chuckle out of this. Thanks.

People who say that they love pain generally have not experienced a great deal of it. Yes a little soreness is nice because it lets you feel like you had a good workout. That a long ways from enjoying the sensation of having your legs broken in five places. Or maybe it does feel nice…what the fuck do I know.

It’s also used by Dick Marcinko, former Navy Seal, in a series of (fictional?) books about his adventures with Seal Team Six.

Cheers,
Vega

Doesn’t Alley Sheedy say it in The Breakfast Club?

Did someone say it in Flight Of The Intruder and/or G.I. Jane?

Thanks for all the replies. The funny thing is, I’ve never seen blade runner, breakfast club, and the others mentioned so far. It must be rather widespread, ehich provides a reason I could not place the reference.

Where there is this thing called ‘cutting’. Usually a teenager will cut themselves with something like a razor. (swipes on the arm) They do this to feel control over pain. They have such emotional pain that inflicting pain on themselvs gives them a sense of control.
So you may have heard something like this in reference to that.

I do not claim to love pain.

The worst pain I’ve experienced was a severe lower-back muscle spasm while deadlifting (coupled with the aftermath, which confronted me with the possibility of being substantially weakened).

A close second was having my nose broken in a karate tournament.

I have sometimes enjoyed the pain brought on by very intense weight training, both during and the next day. This kind of pain is much less troubling than an injury – it’s volunteered for, and always gets better.

That’s what I was going to bring up. I’ve known a few cutters in the past and they all have made similar comments about the pain and the sight of their blood giving them a sense of being alive. One cutter I knew did it because she had been traumatized by sexual abuse and would cut and bleed in lieu of crying. And yes, I believe there’s some control issue there too.

So, in effect, the idea is not uncommon so I don’t think the quote can be attributed to just one person/movie/song, etc.