Impermanence is not itself suffering. Human beings suffer because they fail to realize that all things change. Desiring constancy, they think their hopes are betrayed when they fail to find stability in a world that cannot offer it. For the person whose outlook and desires are mistaken, impermanence causes suffering. In the Buddhist’s long-term view, the inconstant condition of all mortals is suffering because all transient pleasures must pass into pain.
Basic Buddhist Concepts