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Grief Quotes

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Grief Quotes

“If you want to connect with people who are in distress and great grief and scared, you need to do it in a certain way. I move kind of slow. I talk kind of slow. I let them know that I respect them.”

People Ifs Knows Way Want Needs Kind Moving Certain Grief Scared Distress

Author:James Nachtwey

“Grief is a bad moon, a sleeper wave. It's like having an inner combatant, a saboteur who, at the slightest change in the sunlight, or at the first notes of a jingle for a dog food commercial, will flick the memory switch, bringing tears to your eyes.”

Firsts Eye Memories Grief Dog Tears Moon Notes Wave Sunlight Sleepers Jingles Dog Food Saboteurs

Author:Meghan O'Rourke

“To mourn is to wonder at the strangeness that grief is not written all over your face in bruised hieroglyphics. And it's also to feel, quite powerfully, that you're not allowed to descend into the deepest fathom of your grief - that to do so would be taboo somehow.”

Feels Would Be Faces Grief Wonder Written Over You Your Face Taboo Mourn Strangeness Fathom Bruised Hieroglyphics

Author:Meghan O'Rourke

“Grief is characterized much more by waves of feeling that lessen and reoccur, it's less like stages and more like different states of feeling.”

Different States Feelings Grief Stage Wave

Author:Meghan O'Rourke

“Television has never known what to do with grief, which resists narrative: the dramas of grief are largely internal - for the bereaved, it is a chaotic, intense, episodic period, but the chaos is by and large subterranean, and easily appears static to the friendly onlooker who has absorbed the fact of loss and moved on.”

Facts Loss Grief Known Television Periods Drama Moved Chaos Intense Narrative Internals Friendly Chaotic Static Moved On

Author:Meghan O'Rourke

“Eyes like streams of melting snow, cold with the things she does not know. Heaven above and Hell beneath, liquid flames to hide her grief. Death, death, death with no release. Death, death, death with no release.”

Knows Doe Eye Heaven Grief Hell Cold Snow Release Flames Streams Melting Liquid Death Grief Melting Snow

Author:Kiersten White

“God will have the body partake with the soul-as in matters of grief, so in matters of joy; the lanthorn shines in the light of the candle within.”

Soul Matter God Body Light Joy Grief Shining Gods Will Candle

Book:The Works of the Reverend Richard Sibbs, D.D. Late Master of Catharine-Hall in the University of Oxford, and Preacher of Gray's Inn, London: To which is Prefixed, a Short Memoir of the Author's Life

Source: The Works of the Reverend Richard Sibbs, D.D. Late Master of Catharine-Hall in the University of Oxford, and Preacher of Gray's Inn, London: To which is Prefixed, a Short Memoir of the Author's Life

“In our culture I think most people think of grief as sadness, and that's certainly part of it, a large part of it, but there's also this thorniness, these edges that come out.”

People Thinking Culture Grief Sadness Edges

Author:Anthony Rapp

“Going through the grief period of my dad and losing him - that was the worst thing because you know when you get that call. When you are seven, eight years old, you have that almost vision in your mind of what that's going to be like and what your going to feel like and it doesn't prepare you.”

Knows Feels Years Mind Grief Vision Worst Dad Periods Losing Seven My Dad Eight Worst Things Old You Losing Him

Author:Richie Sambora

“Learning about all those different things psychologically - about grief and my own addictions and problems and stuff like that, and really getting an education on it, I think it was part of the process of it, learning about it and trying to lick it.”

Thinking Trying Different Problem Stuff Process My Own Grief Addiction Different Things

Author:Richie Sambora

“Sorrow you can hold, however desolating, if nobody speaks to you. If they speak, you break down.”

Ifs Speak Grief Break Sorrow Grieving Breaking Down

Book:The House of Gold: Lenten Sermons

Source: The House of Gold: Lenten Sermons

“The caterpillar dies so the butterfly could be born. And, yet, the caterpillar lives in the butterfly and they are but one. So, when I die, it will be that I have been transformed from the caterpillar of earth to the butterfly of the universe.”

Has Beens Earth Dies Universe Born Grief Grieving Life And Death Transformed Butterfly Caterpillars Grieving A Death

Author:John Harricharan

“No benefit comes from a just man's prayer if he who asks for it finds more pleasure in sin than in virtue. For Samuel mourned over Saul when he sinned, but he was not able to obtain God's mercy, for his grief was not supported by the necessary change of life on the part of the sinner. Hence God put an end to the pointless grief of His servant, saying to him, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?' (I Sam. 16:1).”

Ifs Men Long Ends Able Christian Asks Prayer Sin Pleasure Grief Virtue Seeing Benefits Mercy Israel Servant Life Changing Sinner Orthodox Rejected Mourn Pointless Necessary Change

Author:Maximus the Confessor

“I like big doses of grief when I read: Richard Yates, Flannery O'Connor, Kenzabaro Oe, Thomas Bernhard.”

Bigs Grief Dose

Author:Ben Marcus

“Burnout is grist to the mill. I write every day, for most of the day, so it's just about turning into metaphor whatever's going on in my life, in the world, and in my head. Every nightmare, every moment of grief or joy or failure, is a moment I can convert into cash via words.”

World Writing I Can Moments Joy Grief Metaphor Nightmare Cash Mills Burnout Burn Out

Author:Grant Morrison

“I work grief and sadness out of my body when I dance, and I bring in joy and rhythm.”

Body Joy Grief Sadness Rhythm

Author:Inga Muscio

“So who is better off, those who share love long enough to see which parts inevitably fade or those who lose their love when it is still pristine? I think each is lonely in a different place, though if you lose your love while it is still perfect you at least have a clear explanation for your grief, while if it gradually crumbles in your hands you do not.”

Ifs Thinking Long Stills Different Enough Hands Loses Perfect Grief Clear Share Lonely Explanation Fades Better Off Different Place Pristine

Book:Losing Julia

Source: Losing Julia

“Grief is Newark. It's there. Can't avoid it. The idea is to hold your nose, hope the traffic's not too bad and get on to Manhattan as quickly as possible.”

Ideas Grief Noses Traffic Manhattan Newark

Author:Eli Attie

“When in these fresh mornings I go into my garden before anyone is awake, I go for the time being into perfect happiness. In this hour divinely fresh and still, the fair face of every flower salutes me with a silent joy. . . . All the cares, perplexities, and griefs of existence, all the burdens of life slip from my shoulders and leave me with the heart of a little child that asks nothing beyond the present moment of innocent bliss.”

“All whom the Lord has chosen and received into the society of his saints ought to prepare themselves for a life that is hard, difficult, laborious and full of countless griefs.”

Hard Difficult Grief Lord Ought Saint Chosen

Book:Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life

Source: Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life

“There was a brief moment after 9/11 when Colin Powell said we "should not rush to satisfy the desire for revenge." It was a great moment, an extraordinary moment, because what he was actually asking people to do was to stay with a sense of grief, mournfulness, and vulnerability.”

People Should Said Moments Desire Grief Asking Extraordinary Revenge Vulnerability Great Moments Well Said Brief Moments Extraordinary Moments

Author:Judith Butler

“I decided to write 'True Refuge' during a major dive in my own health. Diagnosed with a genetic disease that affected my mobility, I faced tremendous fear and grief about losing the fitness and physical freedom I loved.”

Writing My Own Grief Disease Majors Losing Decided Affected Refuge Mobility

Author:Tara Brach

“Rebirth is almost impossible without the darkness.....I tell myself I am experiencing the death of myself as mother, the death of myself as a younger woman -- precious old lives going by the wayside. Of course, I should let myself grieve. To deny the grief is to squander a transforming and radiant possibility.”

Should Mother Courses Grief Darkness Impossible Possibility Deny Grieving Rebirth Transforming Radiant Old Life

Author:Sue Monk Kidd

“To walk into Bill Olsen's poems is to enter a mind so weirdly curious, you can't be released to sadness, not yet: it's just too surprising. But this book-half microscope, half telescope-shadows grief, our shared and ordinary life where an old neighbor obsessively gathers twigs to wish back the tree, where the moon is regularly ‘sawn in half,’ where sprinklers give off ‘little wet speeches.’ What else? It's brilliantly instead and odd.”

Giving Mind Littles Book Wish Walks Grief Half Tree Sadness Moon Speech Ordinary Shadow Bills Neighbor Curious Odd Surprising Wet Ordinary Life Telescopes Microscopes Twigs

Author:Marianne Boruch

“It's a Cyprus of misery and soup kitchens and a state which cannot meet basic obligations. It can only cause me grief.”

States Causes Grief Misery Obligation Kitchen Soup Cyprus Soup Kitchens

Author:Nicos Anastasiades

“These days it seems the lyric impulse, so seemingly fragile, comes in for a lot of abuse-or simply a lot of mistrust. What's it for, anyway, in this hard-edged, worried world? Into this cultural uncertainty Gregory Orr's spirited meditation on the surprisingly tensile strength of poetry in the face of profound suffering and grief presents a welcome fresh view of the ancient human instinct to cry out and to praise.”

World Humans Hard Seems Faces Suffering Views Grief Meditation Cry Abuse Praise Instinct Profound Ancient Welcome Worried Impulse Uncertainty These Days Fragile Mistrust Spirited

Author:Patricia Hampl

“Sometimes I think the people to feel the saddest for are people who are unable to connect with the profound—people such as my boring brother-in-law, a hearty type so concerned with normality and fitting in that he eliminates any possibility of uniqueness for himself and his own personality. I wonder if some day, when he is older, he will wake up and the deeper part of him will realize that he has never allowed himself to truly exist, and he will cry with regret and shame and grief.”

Source: Life After God

“Grief. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal.”

Pain Deals Grief Hopkins Love Pain Love And Pain Hurt So Much Losing Everything Happiness Now Love Is Pain It Still Hurts

Author:C. S. Lewis

“The world has no sympathy with any but positive griefs. It will pity you for what you lose; never for what you lack”

World Loses Grief Pity Sympathy My Sympathy No Sympathy

Author:Sophie Swetchine

“Sorrows cannot all be explained away in a life truly lived, grief and loss accumulate like possessions.”

Loss Grief Sadness Sorrow Sad Possession Grief And Loss

Author:Stefan Kanfer

“Our misconception is in imagining that our suffering or how intensely or how long we grieve is a measure of how much we loved. In truth, none of us would want another's grief as a testimonial of their love for us. More likely we would want our loved ones to live healthy, fulfilled lives without us.”

Want Long Suffering Grief Healthy Grieving Loved Ones Fulfilled Misconception Fulfilled Life Testimonial

Author:Judy Tatelbaum

“Another misconception is that if we truly loved someone, we will never finish with our grief, as if continued sorrow is a testimonial to our love. But true love does not need grief to support its truth. Love can last in a healthy and meaningful way, once our grief is dispelled. We can honor our dead more by the quality of our continued living than by our constantly remembering the past.”

Ifs Way Needs Doe Lasts Past Remember Grief Quality Support Honor Sorrow Healthy Meaningful Grieving Our Love Misconception Truth Love Remembering The Past Testimonial

Author:Judy Tatelbaum

“Grief is not a disorder, a disease or 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.”

Book:Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love

Source: Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers: How to Cope with Losing Someone You Love

“For survivors, the word closure often connotes that the bereaved are underachievers who flunked a grief course.”

Courses Grief Grieving Survivor Closure

Author:Earl A Grollman

“If we are willing, the experience of grief can deepen and widen our ability to participate in life.”

Ifs Ability Grief Sadness Willing

Book:Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing Through Grief

Source: Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing Through Grief

“We can laugh from either joy or happiness, but we weep only from grief or joy...Without the pain of farewell, there is no joy in reunion...without the pain of captivity, we don't experience the joy of freedom.”

Pain Happiness Joy Grief Laughing Farewell Reunion Captivity

Author:George Vaillant

“Laugh and a moment will soon arrive when you cry.”

Moments Grief Laughing Cry Laughter

Author:Kedar Joshi

“In the midst of excitement, grief, joy, and solitude, I remind myself every moment that the sole mission of my life is to find 'the ultimate questioner' - that unimaginable who has put me in this madness to answer an unanswerable question.”

Moments Life Is Joy Answers Grief Solitude Ultimate Madness Missions Excitement Midst Sole Unimaginable

Author:Kedar Joshi

“But grief is a walk alone. Others can be there, and listen. But you will walk alone down your own path, at your own pace, with your sheared-off pain, your raw wounds, you denial, anger, and bitter loss. You'll come to your own peace, hopefully, but it will be on your own, in your own time.”

Pain Loss Walks Grief Path Wounds Bitter Hopefully Denial Pace

Book:The First Day of the Rest of My Life

Source: The First Day of the Rest of My Life

“Each person's grief journey is unique as a fingerprint or a snowflake.”

Persons Grief Journey Unique Sympathy Snowflake Fingerprints

Author:Earl A Grollman

“Grief is love not wanting to let go.”

Grief Letting Go

Book:Living with Loss, Healing with Hope: A Jewish Perspective

Source: Living with Loss, Healing with Hope: A Jewish Perspective

“Grief is a wound that needs attention in order to heal.”

Needs Order Grief Attention Wounds Heal

Book:The Courage to Grieve: The Classic Guide to Creative Living, Recovery, and Growth Through Grief

Source: The Courage to Grieve: The Classic Guide to Creative Living, Recovery, and Growth Through Grief

“Even the Savior of the world, the Only Begotten Son of God, was obliged to come to earth and to take upon himself an earthly tabernacle. He experienced joy and sorrow, happiness and grief, lasting satisfaction and frequent disappointments. As Paul has written, "Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."”

World Made Earth Happiness Joy Perfect Grief Written Son Sorrow Eternal Salvation Disappointment Satisfaction Obedience Lasting Savior Obliged Joys And Sorrows

Book:For They Shall Be Comforted

Source: For They Shall Be Comforted

“Poetry is about the grief. Politics is about the grievance.”

Political Poetry Politics Grief Sorrow Poetry Is Grievance

Author:Robert Frost

“What impropriety or limit can there be in our grief for a man so beloved?.”

Men Grief Limits Beloved

Author:Horace

“She grieves sincerely who grieves unseen.”

Grief Grieving Unseen Sincerely

Author:Martial

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”

Source: It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It

“If our inward griefs were seen written on our brow, how many would be pitied who are now envied! [It., Se a ciascun l'interno affanno Si leggesse in fronte scritto, Quanti mai, che invidia fanno, Ci farebbero pieta!].”

Ifs Would Be Grief Written Inward Brows Envied

Author:Pietro Metastasio

“Grief alone can teach us what is man.”

Men Grief Teach Sadness

Author:Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton

“And what art thou, thou idol Ceremony? What kind of god art thou, that suffer'st more Of mortal griefs than do thy worshippers?”

Kind Art Suffering Grief Mortals Idols Ceremony Worshippers

Book:King Henry V: Third Series

Source: King Henry V: Third Series