Can you know joy without having tasted sorrow?

Never.

No, it is not possible. It might even be argued that joy comes from fulfilling some need, and having a need implies some degree of pain. Our sorrows act to heighten the moments of joy.

There is a line I really like from the song Try to Remember in the play the Fantasticks:

Without a hurt a heart is hollow

Maybe, but not the really cool kind of joy that makes you an interesting person.

Yes, if you have the ability to imagine(in a true way)
what sorrow is.

No.

It used to be that I was inappropriately jealous of those with seemingly perfect lives while I struggled to hold my life together. Now I realize the demension added to my life because of my adversity. Those lessons learned sweetens the joy I feel.

No. I am living proof.

I see joy in children all the time. Children who have yet to experience despair. I think it’s a matter of degree in many cases. Some people who have experienced despair in their lives, cannot experience joy at all, even when their circumstances change for the better. I say yes. It IS possible to experience joy without having experienced sorrow or despair.

I think it might just be a different experience.

I, for one, believe that sorrow makes us appreciate the joys more.

A brief story…
In college my grandmother died. I was devastated. While reviewing my decling scores, a kindly college prof shared w/ me that his son had been killed by a drunk driver. He said he had been sad, devastated.

He further shared that he had come to believe that our souls start out as a solid sphere. Each sadness or tragedy that occurs takes a piece of our soul thus leaving a divet (like the depressions on golf balls) on the sphere.

When we experience joy….tears of joy rain on the sphere. If we did not have the divets, we would not have the capacity to capture or embrace the joy as much as the soul of one who has experienced adversity or despair.

I have always thought that was really fantastic.

I don’t know that what children feel is as much joy as it is simply euphoria. If they’re lucky enough, they have not a care in the world. That carefree state of mind is usually not available to adults. I have had immense sorrow in my life and tremendous joy also; but I value both experiences. That said, my gratitude for joy is certainly precipitated by remembering my sadness. @Snoopy, what a wonderful story; thanks for passing it along. Love that avatar!!

Snoopy, great story. Thanks for sharing it.

I think a person can know joy without having known sorrow, but not the same way as someone who has known sorrow.

I’m with a few other people here.

Remembering the joy I felt over certain things as a child, before anything extremely negative happened to me, I know it was real joy… But as other people have said, I think the joy people experience only intensifies as you age. The fact alone that you feel that kind of joy less as you age makes you appreciate it that much more.

And yes, Snoopy, that was an awesome story.

no!! to experiance sorrow is good because when something comes that makes you have or bring joy to your life you really appreciate it! even the small things!!! where there is pain there is joy!!!! just love yourself, love god, and everything will be okay!!!! god bless