15 Comforting Quotes That Have Helped People Cope With Grief
Grief is intensely personal, and yet it is a life experience that affects so many of us. Though the pain may never leave us, it can be possible to find a perspective that helps bring us comfort. And we are far from alone in our sadness or in the search for hope after loss.
We asked our Mighty community for their favorite quotes that have helped them through times of grief. Below are a few of our favorites. What’s yours?
1. “Sometimes it’s OK if the only thing you did today was breathe.” — Yumi Sakugawa
“We lost my brother unexpectedly last year. This was something that I read somewhere after our dad had passed away. There’s nothing you can say to someone grieving. So when my niece and nephew called me asking how I made it through when their grandpa passed away, that’s what I told them. They came to me over the holidays and said that was the best thing anyone could have told them. It’s OK to have days that you’re just not OK.” — Cynthia N.
2. “Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.” — Khalil Gibran
Submitted by Stephen K.
3. “To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” — J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”
“My mom and I used to read the ‘Harry Potter’ books together, and once she passed this quote always stuck with me.” — Hannah A.
4. “It’s OK to feel sad sometimes. Little by little, you’ll feel better again.” — A “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” song
“I know this sounds silly, but it is helping (my mother passed away on Sunday). From the ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ (the kids’ show) song.” — Emma M.
5. “And when people try to minimize your pain they are doing you a disservice. And when you try to minimize your own pain you’re doing yourself a disservice. Don’t do that. The truth is that it hurts because it’s real. It hurts because it mattered. And that’s an important thing to acknowledge to yourself. But that doesn’t mean that it won’t end, it won’t get better. Because it will.” — John Green
Submitted by Laurie B.
6. “Some things in life cannot be fixed. They can only be carried.” — Megan Devine
“This was brought to my attention in this excellent article by Tim Lawrence.” — Kate Y.
7. “Grief is just love with no place to go.” — Jamie Anderson
“I can’t get certain people back. But I can choose to put that love into a new direction and create beautiful things to allow myself to heal. Grief makes you feel so out of control, and losing a loved one is like having a piece of your soul ripped from you. But I have learned the only way I can even begin to heal is to look at how I can honor those loved and lost.” — Charlotte F.
8. “If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together… there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.” — A.A. Milne
“Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh.” — Joanna M.
9. “If you’re going through hell, keep on going.” — Rodney Atkins, “If You’re Going Through Hell”
Submitted by Ashton P.
10. “Grief is love’s souvenir. It’s our proof that we once loved. Grief is the receipt we wave in the air that says to the world: Look! Love was once mine. I love well. Here is my proof that I paid the price.” — Glennon Doyle Melton, “Love Warrior: A Memoir”
Submitted by Katie S.
11. “How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” — A.A. Milne, “The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh”
Submitted by Kelli Martin
12. “It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” — Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy
“Reminded me that it’s OK to not be OK right away.” — Samantha S.
13. “The world breaks everyone and afterwards many are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell to Arms”
Submitted by Samantha J.
14. “Nothing you love is lost. Not really. Things, people — they always go away, sooner or later. You can’t hold them, any more than you can hold moonlight. But if they’ve touched you, if they’re inside you, then they’re still yours. The only things you ever really have are the ones you hold inside your heart.” — Bruce Coville, “Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher”
Submitted by Zoe A.
15. “May love be what you remember most.” — Darcie Sims
Submitted by Laura H.
Image via Thinkstock.
