Sorrow is the source of literature, joy is the source of virtue.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
She would have made a splendid wife, for crying only made her eyes more bright and tender.
—O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) (1862–1910) American Writer of Short Stories
The cure for sorrow is to learn something.
—Barbara Sher (1935–2020) American Career Coach
Sorrow is a fruit. God does not make it grow on limbs too weak to bear it.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Sorrow can be alleviated by good sleep, a bath and a glass of good wine
—Thomas Aquinas (1225–74) Italian Catholic Priest, Philosopher, Theologian
Social sorrow loses half its pain.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I shall not let a sorrow die until I find the heart of it, nor let a wordless joy go by until it talks to me a bit.
—Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) American Poet
To fight aloud is very brave, but gallanter, I know, who charge within the bosom, the Cavalry of Woe.
—Emily Dickinson (1830–86) American Poet
Sorrow is mere rust of the soul; activity will cleanse and brighten it.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Joy and sorrow are next door neighbors
—German Proverb
Sorrow is brief but joy is endless
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Sorrow is easy to express and so hard to tell.
—Joni Mitchell (b.1943) Canadian Singer, Songwriter
The sorrow which calls for help and comfort is not the greatest, nor does it come from the depths of the heart.
—Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) German Philosopher, Linguist, Statesman
In this sad world of ours, sorry comes to all, and it often comes with bitter agony. Perfect relief is not possible, except with time. You cannot now believe that you will ever feel better. But this is not true. You are sure to be happy again. Knowing this, truly believing it, will make you less miserable now.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The lives of happy people are dense with their own doings—crowded, active, thick. But the sorrowing are nomads, on a plain with few landmarks and no boundaries; sorrow’s horizons are vague and its demands are few.
—Larry McMurtry (1936–2021) American Novelist, Screenwriter
Abandon learning and there will be no sorrow
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Shared sorrow is half sorrow
—Danish Proverb
With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o’er-fraught heart, and bids it break.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Those who are held wise among men, and who search for the reason of things, are those who bring the most sorrow upon themselves.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Nature refuses to sympathize with our sorrow. She seems not to have provided for, but by a thousand contrivances against it. She has bevelled the margins of the eyelids that the tears may not overflow on the cheek.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
There is no worse sorrow than remembering happiness in the day of sorrow.
—Alfred de Musset (1810–57) French Dramatist, Poet, Novelist
It is foolish to tear one’s hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by baldness.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Sorrow makes us children again.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
A sorrow’s crown of sorrow is remembering happier times.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
The only thing grief as taught me is to know how shallow it is.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Bear and endure: This sorrow will one day prove to be for your good.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
A coal fire softens iron, and sorrow softens a man’s heart, but both revert to the original hardness.
—Austin O’Malley (1858–1932) American Aphorist, Ophthalmologist
Sorrow is tranquility remembered in emotion.
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American Humorist, Journalist
Sorrows are like thunderclouds – in the distance they look black, over our heads scarcely gray.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Philosopher
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