20 Quotes about grief and loss

Grief can feel isolating. But a well-written quote can help you feel like you are no longer alone.

By Beth · November 13, 2020

While these quotes about grief and loss won’t take the pain away, we hope will provide some comfort at the time when you need it most.

Quotes about grief and loss

  1. “Sometimes the healing hurts more than the wound.” Unknown
  2. “I guess by now I should know enough about loss to realize that you never really stop missing someone-you just learn to live around the huge gaping hole of their absence.” Alyson Noel, Evermore
  3. “I could only be grateful when I realized that I would rather have known you for a moment than never at all. I would rather endure this inexplicable pain of outliving you than to have never seen your face, spoken your name. I would rather be yours, you be mine, regardless. Regardless of the sorrow, the sleepless nights, and the years I will walk this earth, carrying you in my heart.” Lexi Berhndt, Scribbles and Crumbs
  4. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option.” Bob Marley

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

Vicki Harrison

Author

6. “Sometimes the healing hurts more than the wound.” Unknown

7. “Every time you were convinced you couldn’t go on, you did.”

8. “I could only be grateful when I realized that I would rather have known you for a moment than never at all. I would rather endure this inexplicable pain of outliving you than to have never seen your face, spoken your name. I would rather be yours, you be mine, regardless. Regardless of the sorrow, the sleepless nights, and the years I will walk this earth, carrying you in my heart.” Lexi Berhndt, Scribbles and Crumbs

9. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only option.” Bob Marley

10. “Moving on, as a concept, is for stupid people, because any sensible person knows grief is a long-term project. I refuse to rush. The pain that is thrust upon us let no man slow or speed or fix.” Max Porter, Grief is the Thing with Feathers

11. “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” C.S Lewis

12. “There will come a day, I promise you, when the thought of your son, or daughter, or your wife or your husband, brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. It will happen. My prayer for you is that day will come sooner than later.” Joe Biden

Grief does not change you. It reveals you.

John Green

The Fault in our Stars

14. “Tears shed for another person are not a sign of weakness. They are a sign of a pure heart.” José N. Harris, Mi Vida: A Story of Faith, Hope and Love

15. “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

16. “It’s so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

17. “The fear of loss . . . it can destroy you as much as the loss itself.” Sarah J. Maas, Empire of Storms

Without you in my arms, I feel an emptiness in my soul. I find myself searching the crowds for your face - I know it's an impossibility, but I cannot help myself.

Nicholas Sparks

Novelist, author of the Notebook

19. “Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today was breathe.” Yumi Sakugawa

20. “May love be what you remember most.” Darcie Sims

21. “As far as I can see, grief will never truly end. It may become softer over time, more gentle, but some days will feel sharp, but grief will last as long as love does— forever. It’s simply the way the absence of your loved one manifests in your heart. A deep longing, accompanied by the deepest love. Some days, the heavy fog may return, and the next day, it may recede, once again. It’s all an ebb and flow, a constant dance of sorrow and joy, pain and sweet love.” Lexi Berhndt, Scribbles and Crumbs

21.  “The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love.” Kristina McMorris

Grief is the price we pay for love.

Colin Murray Parkes

British Psychiatrist & Former Editor Cruse Bereavement Care Journal