20 Powerful Quotes About Grief, Loss, and Life

Grief is perhaps one of the most complex and difficult emotions for people to deal with. For example, the pain of realizing you might never see a loving partner again can be devastating and even more challenging is putting on a brave face in helping the children cope with their own loss and grief. There are some, however, that have spent a lifetime looking into such losses and have gifted us with their wisdom. These 20 powerful quotes all help to convey the deeper nature of grief, loss and life itself.

1.     “To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” – Thomas Campbell
2.   “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” – William Shakespeare (Macbeth)
3.   “Do you know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?” – Terry Pratchett (Going Postal)
4.     “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” – Mark Twain
5.     “What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us” – Helen Keller
6.     “I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.” – J.R.R Tolkien (Return of the King)
7.     “Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve” – Earl Grollman
8.     “All we need to do is learn not to be afraid of pain. Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don’t deny it, don’t be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever. One day, the pain will be gone and you will still be there.” – Harold Kushner
9.     “You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.” – Jan Glidwell
10.     “You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.” – Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
11.     “Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.” – Rumi
12.     “Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life.” – Anne Roiphe
13.     “The pain passes, but the beauty remains” – Pierre Auguste
14.     “It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
15.     “Each of us has his own rhythm of suffering.” – Roland Barthes
16.     “In the dim light of today are the shadows of yesterday’s affliction and the hope of tomorrow’s gifts.” – Ariana Carruth
17.     “No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep.” – Zora Neale  Hurston (Their Eyes Were Watching God)
18.     “So it’s true, when all is said and done, grief is the price we pay for love.” – E.A Bucchianeri (Brushstrokes of a Gadfly)
19.     “There is no grief like the grief that does not speak.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
20.     “Life can only be understood backwards but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard

Grief happens to everyone in time, but there is always hope. As these quotes suggest, life itself does go on, no matter how dark things may seem. Good and bad times are a part of life and it is normal to grieve. However, it is not normal to grieve forever  – cheer up, think of the beautiful memories and be merry. Remember, after the storm comes the sunshine!