109 Grief Quotes To Help You Deal With Sorrow And Loss

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

Here are 109 of the best grief quotes I could find.

I know firsthand losing someone brings pain, confusion, and sorrow.

In fact, I lost my girlfriend in a car accident in 2004.

And it took me years to recover.

But keep in mind:

healing is possible.

I hope these words will help you find peace and relief.

You’ll discover beautiful quotes by Buddha, Victor Hugo, Lao Tzu, and more.

Enjoy.

Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow. Carl Jung

Something still exists as long as there’s someone around to remember it. Jodi Picoult (Nineteen Minutes)

Life is full of grief, to exactly the degree we allow ourselves to love other people. Orson Scott Card

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. Lao Tzu

It’s an honor to be in grief. It’s an honor to feel that much, to have loved that much. Elizabeth Gilbert

grief quotes actually dead until ripples they cause world die away terry pratchett wisdom water sea

No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away. Terry Pratchett

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. Ludwig Jacobowski

People just disappear sometimes. You have to love and appreciate them while they’re near you. Haruki Murakami

There are times when explanations, no matter how reasonable, just don’t seem to help. Fred Rogers

This is not the life you pictured but here you are. You can still make something beautiful. Grieve. Breathe. Begin again. Thema Bryant-Davis

grief quotes feels anothers understands joy people imagine can reach another franz schubert wisdom path trees

No one feels another’s grief, no one understands another’s joy. People imagine that they can reach one another. In reality they only pass each other by. Franz Schubert

Death is a reminder to live fully. Ram Dass

Reality hurts when you fight it. It makes you strong when you accept it. Maxime Lagacé

Relax. One bad chapter does not mean it’s the end of the book. Paulo Coelho

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard. Winnie the Pooh

Related

The Best Grief Quotes

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The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us. Gloria Steinem

Thought is time, time is sorrow. Jiddu Krishnamurti

How much more damage anger and grief do than the things that cause them. Marcus Aurelius

It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent, when they are not. Thich Nhat Hanh

Her absence is like the sky, spread over everything. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed, Amazon book)

No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed)

Whenever sorrow comes, be kind to it. For God has placed a pearl in sorrow’s hand. Rumi

At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed)

Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go. Jamie Anderson

The darker the night, the brighter the stars, the deeper the grief, the closer is God. Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment)

The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again. Charles Dickens

If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone? Jodi Picoult (My Sister’s Keeper, Amazon book)

We run from grief because loss scares us, yet our hearts reach toward grief because the broken parts want to mend. Brené Brown

True that we don’t know what we’ve got till we lose it, but also true that we don’t know what we’ve been missing until it arrives. Paulo Coelho (Hippie)

Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. Rumi

Die each day; die each day to yourself, to your misery, to your sorrow; put aside that burden so that your mind is fresh, young and innocent. Jiddu Krishnamurti

People generally don’t change unless a traumatic event occurs in their life which triggers the brain into new action. Jordan Peterson

Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them. Paulo Coelho

Tears are words the heart can’t express. Unknown

Dark is the atmosphere. Hopeful you must be. Maxime Lagacé

Grief is tremendous, but love is bigger. You are grieving because you loved truly. Cheryl Strayed

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When someone we love dies, we get so busy mourning what died that we ignore what didn’t. Ram Dass

Joy is rejoicing what is, and sorrow is craving for what isn’t. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

It’s ok to grieve, it’s a form of love. Naval Ravikant

Part 2. Grief Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Grief Quotes

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Seeking a famous brief quote or author? Check out these by Lao Tzu, Gandhi, Buddha, etc.

It’s hard to explain so much pain. John Lennon

Grief is the price we pay for love. Queen Elizabeth II

The things which hurt, instruct. Benjamin Franklin

Those who are attached to things will suffer greatly. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching, Amazon book)

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4

I see people, as they approach me, trying to make up their minds whether they’ll ‘say something about it’ or not. I hate if they do, and if they don’t. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed)

Our sorrows provide us with the lesson we most need to learn. Lama Surya Das

People talk as if grief were just a feeling – as if it weren’t the continually renewed shock of setting out again and again on familiar roads and being brought up short by the grim frontier post that now blocks them. C. S. Lewis

The death of a beloved is an amputation. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed)

Time is the wisest counsellor of all. Pericles

From craving is born grief, from craving is born fear. For one freed from craving there’s no grief – so how fear? Buddha

He is a sane man who can have tragedy in his heart and comedy in his head. G.K. Chesterton (Tremendous Trifles)

We must learn to suffer whatever we cannot avoid. Our life is composed, like the harmony of the world, of discords as well as different tones, sweet and harsh, sharp and flat, soft and loud. Michel de Montaigne

To weep is to make less the depth of grief. William Shakespeare

The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater. J.R.R. Tolkien

People keep asking me how I’m doing, and I’m not always sure how to answer that. It depends on the day. It depends on the minute. Right this moment, I’m OK. Yesterday, not so good. Tomorrow, we’ll see. Elizabeth Gilbert

On Kobe Bryant’s death: Tragedies like this have a cruel way of reminding us of what’s important in life: spending time with our loved ones, and being there for them no matter what. Derek Jeter

On Kobe Bryant’s death: I haven’t felt a pain that sharp in a while… I just wish I could say something to him. Shaquille O’Neal

Your wounded heart is a very beautiful heart. Fred Rogers

When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet, Amazon book)

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. Kahlil Gibran

Pure and complete sorrow is as impossible as pure and complete joy. Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace)

You don’t know who is important to you until you actually lose them. Mahatma Gandhi

Those who do not weep, do not see. Victor Hugo

Short Grief Quotes

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One-liners, short grief quotes, sayings, thoughts, and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, and backgrounds.

Life is a blink. Hoda Kotb

Grief is itself a medicine. William Cowper

Tearless grief bleeds inwardly. Christian Nevell Bovee

Loss is not as bad as wanting more. Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)

Make peace with the present moment. Eckhart Tolle

It took me years to see the gift. And that was the greatest one. Maxime Lagacé

We need never be ashamed of our tears. Charles Dickens

Life is a movie; death is a photograph. Susan Sontag

Grief is just love with no place to go. Kaushani Banerjee

Life is unfair. Death is natural. Accept. Maxime Lagacé

The greater the love the greater the grief. C.S. Lewis (A Grief Observed)

Avoid lies so you can see reality. Fools seek distractions. The wise sit, wait and try to understand. Maxime Lagacé

Bear without murmuring what cannot be changed. Publilius Syrus

The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves. Sophocles

Life and death are a package deal. You cannot pull them apart. Frank Ostaseski

The more violent the storm, the quicker it passes. Paulo Coelho

The wound is the place where the light enters you. Rumi

A man may win many battles, but death will win the war. James Pierce

After you grieve what could have been, prepare for what can be. Thema Bryant-Davis

Helpful And Comforting Grief Quotes

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The antidote to misery is to stay present. Pema Chödrön

In life, obstacles are needed for us to grow. Problems occur not to us but for us. Haemin Sunim

Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief. Marcus Tullius Cicero

Grief is a normal and natural response to loss. It is originally an unlearned feeling process. Keeping grief inside increases your pain. Anne Grant

Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. Vicki Harrison

Only intense self-awareness can eradicate the cause of sorrow. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Being silly is important. It’s the opposite of grief. It’s throwing yourself into a moment without care. You can’t always maintain status as a dignified person – it gives you blinders. When you always expect the world to fulfill your expectations, it wears you down. It closes you off. Stephen Colbert

Grief is a step towards strength because it allows you to be porous and take everything in, and have it transform you. What will sit within you is despairing, but at least it’s feeling. You’re not numb. Grief is sort of the allowance of feeling. Carrie Brownstein

Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished. Paulo Coelho

Grief… happens upon you, it’s bigger than you. There is a humility that you have to step into, where you surrender to being moved through the landscape of grief by grief itself. And it has its own timeframe, it has its own itinerary with you, it has its own power over you, and it will come when it comes. And when it comes, it’s a bow-down. It’s a carve-out. And it comes when it wants to, and it carves you out — it comes in the middle of the night, comes in the middle of the day, comes in the middle of a meeting, comes in the middle of a meal. It arrives — it’s this tremendously forceful arrival and it cannot be resisted without you suffering more… The posture that you take is you hit your knees in absolute humility and you let it rock you until it is done with you. And it will be done with you, eventually. And when it is done, it will leave. But to stiffen, to resist, and to fight it is to hurt yourself. Elizabeth Gilbert

Ain’t no shame in holding on to grief, as long as you make room for other things too. Reginald ‘Bubbles’ Cousins

People who love you and care for you will be present and ready, when you are. Maxime Lagacé

Wisdom lies in cheerful acceptance of whatever life throws at you. Easier said than done, I know. But what is the alternative? If you cannot change something, it is best to accept it cheerfully rather than adding to one’s misfortune by grieving over it. Either change or accept! @TheAncientSage

Give yourself space and permission to feel, to grieve, to speak truth, to be speechless, to let go, to hold tightly, to mobilize, to be still, to be where you are. Your process doesn’t have to match anyone else’s in content or in time. Thema Bryant-Davis

Healing from trauma is not an intellectual exercise. You cannot simply think your way out of it. Your healing requires your full participation: spirit, heart, mind, and body. Thema Bryant-Davis

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. Eckhart Tolle

The good news: it is possible to use suffering as a call for wider awakening in the world. Eckhart Tolle

We should feel sorrow, but not sink under its oppression. Confucius

Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of wine. Thomas Aquinas

The road continues, there are still pages to read, sunrises to see and mountains to conquer. Don’t give up. Maxime Lagacé

No matter who you are, no matter where you are, gratitude can dissolve all negativity in your life, regardless of what form it has taken. Rhonda Byrne

To heal a wound, you must stop scratching it. Paulo Coelho

Be gentle with yourself: You are doing the best you can. Paulo Coelho

Related: Coping with Grief and Loss (helpguide.org)

Conclusion

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Part 1. Grief is a full-body experience. It takes over your entire body — it’s not a disease of the mind. It’s something that impacts you at the physical level. Elizabeth Gilbert

Part 2. I feel that it has a tremendous relationship to love: First of all, as they say, it’s the price you pay for love. But, secondly, in the moments of my life when I have fallen in love, I have just as little power over it as I do in grief. Elizabeth Gilbert

Part 3. There are certain things that happen to you as a human being that you cannot control or command, that will come to you at really inconvenient times, and where you have to bow in the human humility to the fact that there’s something running through you that’s bigger than you. Elizabeth Gilbert

Key Takeaways

Remember: it’s fine to grieve. It means you loved. It means you lived.
You have 2 choices:
- to reject what happened to you
- to accept what happened to you
By accepting, your soul will grow. By rejecting, your soul will suffer.
Life is about
- Chaos and order
- Suffering and loving
- Sadness and happiness
What is death? A reminder for you to live fully.

109 Grief Quotes To Help You Deal With Sorrow And Loss

The Best Grief Quotes

Part 2. Grief Quotes That Are…

The Most Famous Grief Quotes

Short Grief Quotes

Helpful And Comforting Grief Quotes

Conclusion

Key Takeaways

Further Readings

Table Of Contents

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