Grief makes one hour ten
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
All things grow with time—except grief.
—Yiddish Proverb
For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Grief is itself a med’cine.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
If a man be gloomy let him keep to himself. Nor one has a right to go croaking about society, or, what is worse, looking as if he stifled grief.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
There is no greater grief than to remember days of joy when misery is at hand.
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) Italian Poet, Philosopher
Instead of weeping when a tragedy occurs in a songbird’s life, it sings away its grief. I believe we could well follow the pattern of our feathered friends.
—Indian Proverb
Some grief shows much of love; but much of grief shows still some want of wit.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
He who can conceal his joys is greater than he who can hide his griefs.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
She was no longer wrestling with the grief, but could sit down with it as a lasting companion and make it a sharer in her thoughts.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Ring out the grief that saps the mind, for those that were here we see no more.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
In deep sadness there is no place for sentimentality.
—William S. Burroughs (1914–97) American Novelist, Poet, Short Story Writer, Painter
Where grief is fresh, any attempt to divert it only irritates.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From evils which never arrived.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
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 (1835–1910) American Humorist
There is immunity in reading, immunity in formal society, in office routine, in the company of old friends and in the giving of officious help to strangers, but there is no sanctuary in one bed from the memory of another. The past with its anguish will break through every defense-line of custom and habit; we must sleep and therefore we must dream.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
When we suffer anguish we return to early childhood because that is the period in which we first learnt to suffer the experience of total loss. It was more than that. It was the period in which we suffered more total losses than in all the rest of our life put together.
—John Berger (1926–2017) English Art Critic, Novelist
Grief is the agony of an instant; the indulgence of grief the blunder of a life.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
The gallantry of his grief did put me into a towering passion.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Tell me, how can I live without my Husband any longer? This is my first awakening thought each morning, and as I watch the waves of the turbulent lake under our windows I sometimes feel I should like to go under them.
—Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–82) American First lady
Patch grief with proverbs.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Grief fills the room up of my absent child, lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Since grief only aggravates your loss, grieve not for what is past.
—Walker Percy (1916–90) American Novelist
Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead; excessive grief the enemy of the living.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Who fails to grieve when just occasion calls, or grieves too much, deserves not to be blest: inhuman, or effeminate, his heart.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
The only cure for grief is action.
—George Henry Lewes (1817–78) English Philosopher, Literary Critic, Art Critic
But there are other things than dissipation that thicken the features. Tears, for example.
—Rebecca West (1892–1983) English Author, Journalist, Literary Critic
To spare oneself from grief at all cost can be achieved only at the price of total detachment, which excludes the ability to experience happiness
—Erich Fromm (1900–80) German-American Psychoanalyst, Social Philosopher
Grief drives men into habits of serious reflection, sharpens the understanding, and softens the heart.
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer