Grief Quotes | Beyond Motive 3/5

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Grief Quotes

"My wails of sorrow are tormenting my soul."

"My wails of sorrow are tormenting my soul."

Rumi, Persian Poet

Grief, Sorrow, Emotion, Pain

1

"Grief leads you to believe that life will never be ordinary again, and it never really will be for it is made extraordinary as it is touched and transformed by our greatest loves and deepest losses."

"Grief leads you to believe that life will never be ordinary again, and it never really will be for it is made extraordinary as it is touched and transformed by our greatest loves and deepest losses."

Kate McGahan, American Author

Grief, Life, Ordinary, Love

1

"She cries quietly, her shoulders heaving up and down, not the kind of loud sobbing that the women Chika knows do, the kind that screams Hold me and comfort me because I cannot deal with this alone. The woman's crying is private, as though she is carrying out a necessary ritual that involves no one else."

"She cries quietly, her shoulders heaving up and down, not the kind of loud sobbing that the women Chika knows do, the kind that screams Hold me and comfort me because I cannot deal with this alone. The woman's crying is private, as though she is carrying out a necessary ritual that involves no one else."

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian Writer

Grief, Emotion, Loss, Solitude

1

"I didn't lose anyone, for everyone that I lost was never really a loss, unless it was death well then I had to have words with God."

"I didn't lose anyone, for everyone that I lost was never really a loss, unless it was death well then I had to have words with God."

Nikki Rowe, American Writer

Grief, Loss, Death, Faith, Reflection

1

"My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful."

"My mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful."

Rick Riordan, American Novelist

Grief, Regret, Loss, Truth, Happiness

1

"He is no longer mine to lose, but the grief is there, a gnawing sense of disbelief."

"He is no longer mine to lose, but the grief is there, a gnawing sense of disbelief."

Lauren Oliver, American Author

Grief, Loss, Memory, Love

1

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."

Rumi, Persian Poet

Grief, Loss, Change, Acceptance

1

"I -- I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.' But while we were still shaking hands, such a look of awful desolation came upon her face that I perceived she was one of those creatures that are not the playthings of Time. For her he had died only yesterday. And, by Jove! the impression was so powerful that for me, too, he seemed to have died only yesterday -- nay, this very minute. I saw her and him in the same instant of time -- his death and her sorrow -- I saw her sorrow in the very moment of his death. Do you understand? I saw them together -- I heard them together."

"I -- I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.' But while we were still shaking hands, such a look of awful desolation came upon her face that I perceived she was one of those creatures that are not the playthings of Time. For her he had died only yesterday. And, by Jove! the impression was so powerful that for me, too, he seemed to have died only yesterday -- nay, this very minute. I saw her and him in the same instant of time -- his death and her sorrow -- I saw her sorrow in the very moment of his death. Do you understand? I saw them together -- I heard them together."

Joseph Conrad, Polish Novelist

Grief, Loss, Memory, Love

1

"The world is full of grief and no peace but every body has a different way of ending it."

"The world is full of grief and no peace but every body has a different way of ending it."

Auliq Ice, Ugandan Economist

Grief, Peace, World, End

1

"I never know what to tell them. I mean, there's nothing you can say to make a person stop hurting. Half the time, I just feel like telling them the truth. I'd say that for 3 months, you're going to feel worse than you've ever felt and you cope as best you can. And that after 6 months, the pain isn't so bad, but it still hurts more than you think it will. And even after years, you still find yourself thinking about the person you lost and get sad about it. And you still miss them all the time."

"I never know what to tell them. I mean, there's nothing you can say to make a person stop hurting. Half the time, I just feel like telling them the truth. I'd say that for 3 months, you're going to feel worse than you've ever felt and you cope as best you can. And that after 6 months, the pain isn't so bad, but it still hurts more than you think it will. And even after years, you still find yourself thinking about the person you lost and get sad about it. And you still miss them all the time."

Nicholas Sparks, American Author

Grief, Pain, Healing, Truth

1

"The shadow of my sorrow. Let's see, 'tis very true. My griefs lie all within and these external manners of laments are mere shadows to the unseen grief which swells with silence in the tortured soul.There lies the substance."

"The shadow of my sorrow. Let's see, 'tis very true. My griefs lie all within and these external manners of laments are mere shadows to the unseen grief which swells with silence in the tortured soul.There lies the substance."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Grief, Regret, Truth, Wisdom, Life

1

"Have you ever walked along a beach? You walk towards something in the distance. For the longest while it never seems to get any closer even though you are walking and walking. Then all of a sudden, you are there. You've arrived at last. That's what grief is like. Meanwhile we are running with you in the spray of the surf at the edge of the shore where the sand meets the sea. We are cheering you on."

"Have you ever walked along a beach? You walk towards something in the distance. For the longest while it never seems to get any closer even though you are walking and walking. Then all of a sudden, you are there. You've arrived at last. That's what grief is like. Meanwhile we are running with you in the spray of the surf at the edge of the shore where the sand meets the sea. We are cheering you on."

Kate McGahan, American Author

Grief, Beach, Distance, Running

1

"She is drowned already, sir, with salt water, though I seem to drown her remembrance again with more."

"She is drowned already, sir, with salt water, though I seem to drown her remembrance again with more."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Grief, Loss, Truth, Regret, Life

1

"Hell was not a pit of fire and brimstone. Hell was waking up alone, the sheets wet with your tears and your seed, knowing the woman you had dreamed of would never come back to you."

"Hell was not a pit of fire and brimstone. Hell was waking up alone, the sheets wet with your tears and your seed, knowing the woman you had dreamed of would never come back to you."

Lisa Kleypas, American Novelist

Grief, Heartbreak, Loneliness, Desire

1

"O my son Absalom,' Bean said softly, knowing for the first time the kind of anguish that could tear such words from a man's mouth. 'my son, my son Absalom. Would God I could die for thee, O Absalom, my son. My sons!"

"O my son Absalom,' Bean said softly, knowing for the first time the kind of anguish that could tear such words from a man's mouth. 'my son, my son Absalom. Would God I could die for thee, O Absalom, my son. My sons!"

Orson Scott Card, American Writer

Grief, Family, Death, Emotion

1

"And what this is, I realize, is life. I don't want it. I want my parents and I have for weeks. I've been trying to claw my way back to them, and now I am so close and he is telling me not to."

"And what this is, I realize, is life. I don't want it. I want my parents and I have for weeks. I've been trying to claw my way back to them, and now I am so close and he is telling me not to."

Veronica Roth, American Author

Grief, Loss, Despair, Family

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"Loss eventually arrives when something departs. Grief is working through both."

"Loss eventually arrives when something departs. Grief is working through both."

Craig D. Lounsbrough, American Author

Grief, Regret, Truth, Inspirational, Happiness

1

"Every one can master a grief but he that has it."

"Every one can master a grief but he that has it."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Grief, Mastery, Life, Emotion

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"The times that were most fun seemed always to be followed by sadness now, because it was when life started to feel like it did when she was with us that we realized how utterly gone she was."

"The times that were most fun seemed always to be followed by sadness now, because it was when life started to feel like it did when she was with us that we realized how utterly gone she was."

John Green, American Author

Grief, Fun, Sadness, Life, Loss

1

"Give sorrow words, the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break."

"Give sorrow words, the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break."

William Shakespeare, English Dramatist

Grief, Regret, Truth, Life, Power

1

"Weeping Widows"There is a river that cuts ThroughThe heart of EveAnd flows throughParadise's back window.It streams into A bottomless wellThat rolls down to hellWith the tears of theWeeping widows.The women stand along the well,And cryWhile singing gray lullabiesAs orphaned childrenLight up candles to put on palm leavesTo push into the streamWith petals of jasmine And pieces of tangerine,Then sit back and wait for their fatherTo show up over the horizon Where his heart still beatsIn their dreams."

"Weeping Widows"There is a river that cuts ThroughThe heart of EveAnd flows throughParadise's back window.It streams into A bottomless wellThat rolls down to hellWith the tears of theWeeping widows.The women stand along the well,And cryWhile singing gray lullabiesAs orphaned childrenLight up candles to put on palm leavesTo push into the streamWith petals of jasmine And pieces of tangerine,Then sit back and wait for their fatherTo show up over the horizon Where his heart still beatsIn their dreams."

Suzy Kassem, American Writer

Grief, Women, Tears, Hope

1

"I needed, I decided, to really know her, because I needed more to remember. Before I could begin the shameful process of forgetting the how and the why of her living and dying, I needed to learn it: How. Why. When. Where. What."

"I needed, I decided, to really know her, because I needed more to remember. Before I could begin the shameful process of forgetting the how and the why of her living and dying, I needed to learn it: How. Why. When. Where. What."

John Green, American Author

Grief, Memory, Death, Loss, Love

1

"You attend the funeral, you bid the dead farewell. You grieve. Then you continue with your life. And at times the fact of her absence will hit you like a blow to the chest, and you will weep. But this will happen less and less as time goes on. She is dead. You are alive. So live."

"You attend the funeral, you bid the dead farewell. You grieve. Then you continue with your life. And at times the fact of her absence will hit you like a blow to the chest, and you will weep. But this will happen less and less as time goes on. She is dead. You are alive. So live."

Neil Gaiman, British Author

Grief, Life, Loss, Time

1

"More than anything, I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of loving someonewho might have loved you back but can't due to deadness, and then I leaned forward, my forehead against the back of Takumi's headrest, and Icried, whimpering, and I didn't even feel sadness so much as pain."

"More than anything, I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of loving someonewho might have loved you back but can't due to deadness, and then I leaned forward, my forehead against the back of Takumi's headrest, and Icried, whimpering, and I didn't even feel sadness so much as pain."

John Green, American Author

Grief, Pain, Loss, Emotion

1

"Sometimes, somehow...I feel that ocean contains tears of mother earth,that mourns over terrible great sin done by men."

"Sometimes, somehow...I feel that ocean contains tears of mother earth,that mourns over terrible great sin done by men."

Toba Beta, Indonesian Author

Grief, Regret, Truth, Emotion, Today

1

"I just...I just miss him. And I hate being so alone."

"I just...I just miss him. And I hate being so alone."

Suzanne Collins, American Novelist

Grief, Alone, Hate, Feelings, Pain

"So you shun me? - you shut yourself up and grieve alone! I would rather you had come and upbraided me with vehemence. You are passionate: I expected a scene of some kind. I was prepared for the hot rain of tears; only I wanted them to be shed on my breast: now a senseless floor has received them, or your drenched handkerchief. But I err: you have not wept at all! I see a white cheek and faded eye, but no trace of tears. I suppose, then, that your heart has been weeping blood?"

"So you shun me? - you shut yourself up and grieve alone! I would rather you had come and upbraided me with vehemence. You are passionate: I expected a scene of some kind. I was prepared for the hot rain of tears; only I wanted them to be shed on my breast: now a senseless floor has received them, or your drenched handkerchief. But I err: you have not wept at all! I see a white cheek and faded eye, but no trace of tears. I suppose, then, that your heart has been weeping blood?"

Charlotte Bronte, British Novelist

Grief, Emotion, Passion, Love

"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not suicidal if that's what's freaking you out. I'm not fucked up in the head. I'm not deranged. I'm not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm just a brother who loved his sister more than life itself, so I get a little intense when I think about her."

"I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not suicidal if that's what's freaking you out. I'm not fucked up in the head. I'm not deranged. I'm not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm just a brother who loved his sister more than life itself, so I get a little intense when I think about her."

Colleen Hoover, American Celebrity

Grief, Love, Loss, Family

"That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it's reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you, and it just hits you all over again, that shocking."

"That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it's reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you, and it just hits you all over again, that shocking."

Sarah Dessen, American Author

Grief, Loss, Acceptance, Memory

"The inletour friend looks as he didwhen we first knew him,and until I wake I believeI will die of grief, for I knowthat this boy grew into a manwho was a faithful friendwho died."

"The inletour friend looks as he didwhen we first knew him,and until I wake I believeI will die of grief, for I knowthat this boy grew into a manwho was a faithful friendwho died."

Wendell Berry, American Poet

Grief, Memory, Loss, Friendship

"But I have to confess, I'm glad you two had at least a few months of happiness together."I'm not glad," says Peeta. "I wish we had waited until the whole thing was done officially."This takes even Caesar aback. "Surely even a brief time is better than no time?"Maybe I'd think that, too, Caesar," says Peeta bitterly, "If it weren't for the baby."

"But I have to confess, I'm glad you two had at least a few months of happiness together."I'm not glad," says Peeta. "I wish we had waited until the whole thing was done officially."This takes even Caesar aback. "Surely even a brief time is better than no time?"Maybe I'd think that, too, Caesar," says Peeta bitterly, "If it weren't for the baby."

Suzanne Collins, American Novelist

Grief, Love, Regret, Loss, Time

"Men grieve [Mephistopheles] so with the days of their lamenting, [he] even hate[s] to plague them with [his] torments."

"Men grieve [Mephistopheles] so with the days of their lamenting, [he] even hate[s] to plague them with [his] torments."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German Poet

Grief, Pain, Emotion, Suffering

"Aunt LA©onie who, after the death of her husband, my Uncle Octave, no longer wished to leave, first Combray, then within Combray her house, then her bedroom, then her bed and no longer 'came down', always lying in an uncertain state of grief, physical debility, illness, obsession and piety."

"Aunt LA©onie who, after the death of her husband, my Uncle Octave, no longer wished to leave, first Combray, then within Combray her house, then her bedroom, then her bed and no longer 'came down', always lying in an uncertain state of grief, physical debility, illness, obsession and piety."

Marcel Proust, French Author

Grief, Loss, Obsession, Illness

"Suddenly the memory of his wife came back to him and, no doubt feeling it would be too complicated to try to understand how he could have yielded to an impulse of happiness at such a time, he confined himself, in a habitual gesture of his whenever a difficult question came to his mind, to passing his hand over his forehead, wiping his eyes and the lenses of his lorgnon. Yet he could not be consoled for the death of his wife, but, during the two years he survived her, would say to my grandfather: "It's odd, I think of my poor wife often, but I can't think of her for a long time."

"Suddenly the memory of his wife came back to him and, no doubt feeling it would be too complicated to try to understand how he could have yielded to an impulse of happiness at such a time, he confined himself, in a habitual gesture of his whenever a difficult question came to his mind, to passing his hand over his forehead, wiping his eyes and the lenses of his lorgnon. Yet he could not be consoled for the death of his wife, but, during the two years he survived her, would say to my grandfather: "It's odd, I think of my poor wife often, but I can't think of her for a long time."

Marcel Proust, French Author

Grief, Memory, Loss, Emotion

"I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of loving someone who might have loved you back but can't due to deadness."

"I felt the unfairness of it, the inarguable injustice of loving someone who might have loved you back but can't due to deadness."

John Green, American Author

Grief, Unfairness, Love, Death, Pain

"Ithink we all experience the same thing. We resent thethought that anything can please us when someone we loveis no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almostfeel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when wefind our interest in life returning to us."

"Ithink we all experience the same thing. We resent thethought that anything can please us when someone we loveis no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almostfeel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when wefind our interest in life returning to us."

L. M. Montgomery, Canadian Author

Grief, Love, Sorrow, Life

"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all."

"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on the good things still in my life. I don't allow myself any more self-pity than that. A little each every morning, a few tears, and that's all."

Mitch Albom, American Writer

Grief, Hope, Perspective, Emotion

"Some people, they can't just move on, you know, mourn and cry and be done with it. Or at least seem to be. But for me... I don't know. I didn't want to fix it, to forget. It wasn't something that was broken. It's just...something that happened. And like that hole, I'm just finding ways, every day, of working around it. Respecting and remembering and getting on at the same time."

"Some people, they can't just move on, you know, mourn and cry and be done with it. Or at least seem to be. But for me... I don't know. I didn't want to fix it, to forget. It wasn't something that was broken. It's just...something that happened. And like that hole, I'm just finding ways, every day, of working around it. Respecting and remembering and getting on at the same time."

Sarah Dessen, American Author

Grief, Healing, Loss, Memory

"Can you drown in grief? She turned away sharply, angry with her own frailty. She had no time for the luxury of self-pity."

"Can you drown in grief? She turned away sharply, angry with her own frailty. She had no time for the luxury of self-pity."

George R. R. Martin, American Author

Grief, Loss, Emotion, Anger

"It reminds me that no embrace will ever feel the same again, because no one will ever be like her again, because she's gone. She's gone, and crying feels so useless, so stupid, but it's all I can do."

"It reminds me that no embrace will ever feel the same again, because no one will ever be like her again, because she's gone. She's gone, and crying feels so useless, so stupid, but it's all I can do."

Veronica Roth, American Author

Grief, Loss, Memory, Emotion

"Besides a burial service is rather lovely. Makes you feel uplifted, the grief is real. It makes you feel awful but it does something to you. I mean, it works it out like perspiration."

"Besides a burial service is rather lovely. Makes you feel uplifted, the grief is real. It makes you feel awful but it does something to you. I mean, it works it out like perspiration."

Agatha Christie, English Writer

Grief, Death, Emotion, Healing

"Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver."

"Grief teaches the steadiest minds to waver."

Sophocles, Greek Poet

Grief, Emotion, Truth, Learning

"Morrie, Koppel said, "that was seventy years ago your mother died. The pain still goes on?"You bet, Morrie whispered."

"Morrie, Koppel said, "that was seventy years ago your mother died. The pain still goes on?"You bet, Morrie whispered."

Mitch Albom, American Writer

Grief, Pain, Loss, Mother, Memory

"The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone."

"The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone."

Mitch Albom, American Writer

Grief, Memory, Presence, Loss

"Look, everyone mourns at their own pace. Maybe you're just a little bit ahead of her, but she'll get to you eventually. The important thing is that you keep trying to talk to each other, even if it's difficult at first. It gets easier. I promise."

"Look, everyone mourns at their own pace. Maybe you're just a little bit ahead of her, but she'll get to you eventually. The important thing is that you keep trying to talk to each other, even if it's difficult at first. It gets easier. I promise."

Sarah Dessen, American Author

Grief, Healing, Support, Love

"She did not want to talk of her sorrow, but with that sorrow in her heart she could not talk of outside matters."

"She did not want to talk of her sorrow, but with that sorrow in her heart she could not talk of outside matters."

Leo Tolstoy, Russian Novelist

Grief, Sorrow, Silence, Heart, Emotion

"Does it break my heart, of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of..."

"Does it break my heart, of course, every moment of every day, into more pieces than my heart was made of..."

Jonathan Safran Foer, American Novelist

Grief, Love, Pain, Emotion

"I hope you never hear those words. Your mom. She died. They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears. They belong to some strange, heavy, powerful language that pounds away at the side of your head, a wrecking ball coming at you again and again, until finally, the words crack a hole large enough to fit inside your brain. And in so doing, they split you apart."

"I hope you never hear those words. Your mom. She died. They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears. They belong to some strange, heavy, powerful language that pounds away at the side of your head, a wrecking ball coming at you again and again, until finally, the words crack a hole large enough to fit inside your brain. And in so doing, they split you apart."

Mitch Albom, American Writer

Grief, Loss, Mother, Pain

"The past cannot be redeamed. What has been and what might have been both bring us to what is. To know grief, we must be in the river of time, because grief thrives in the present and promises to be with us in the future until the end point. Only time conquers time and its burdens. There is no grief before or after time, which is all the consolation we should need."

"The past cannot be redeamed. What has been and what might have been both bring us to what is. To know grief, we must be in the river of time, because grief thrives in the present and promises to be with us in the future until the end point. Only time conquers time and its burdens. There is no grief before or after time, which is all the consolation we should need."

Dean Koontz, American Author

Grief, Time, Present, Past

"Every widow wakes one morning, perhaps after years of pure and unwavering grieving, to realize she slept a good night's sleep, and will be able to eat breakfast, and doesn't hear her husband's ghost all the time, but only some of the time. Her grief is replaced with a useful sadness. Every parent who loses a child finds a way to laugh again. The timbre begins to fade. The edge dulls. The hurt lessens. Every love is carved from loss. Mine was. Yours is. Your great-great-great-grandchildren's will be. But we learn to live in that love."

"Every widow wakes one morning, perhaps after years of pure and unwavering grieving, to realize she slept a good night's sleep, and will be able to eat breakfast, and doesn't hear her husband's ghost all the time, but only some of the time. Her grief is replaced with a useful sadness. Every parent who loses a child finds a way to laugh again. The timbre begins to fade. The edge dulls. The hurt lessens. Every love is carved from loss. Mine was. Yours is. Your great-great-great-grandchildren's will be. But we learn to live in that love."

Jonathan Safran Foer, American Novelist

Grief, Loss, Healing, Time

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