Everyone experiences grief and loss differently. But because so many people around the world know what it feels like to lose someone they love, there is a sense of shared understanding.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Short Quotes About Grief
- Inspirational or Positive Quotes About Grief
- Sad Quotes About Grief
- Religious Quotes About Grief
- Quotes About Overcoming or Dealing With Grief
- Quotes About Grief and Love
- Funny Quotes About Grief
- Quotes About Different Stages of Grief
- Quotes About Pet Grief
Whether you’re looking for words to comfort someone you know, or you’re trying to explain the emotions you feel, we hope these shareable quotes will help you out. Share them on your favorite social media platform, through texting, or in an email to let someone know you care.
Short Quotes About Grief
Sometimes short quotes are the best when you need a quick way to express how you feel or share what you’re going through. These are short enough to quickly post to social media, send via text, or message someone.
1. “We bereaved are not alone.” Helen Keller
This quote is a perfect reminder for when you need to remember that you’re not alone in your grief. Grieving can feel very isolating, but many people understand the pain you experience.
2. “All that live must die, passing through nature to eternity.” William Shakespeare
Whether you’re sure of what comes after death or not, Shakespeare encourages you to think about the reality of an eternity that awaits all who pass away from life on earth.
3. “When one person is missing the whole world seems empty.” Pat Schweibert
Whether you lose a friend, relative, spouse, or close family member, their absence might be keenly felt once they are no longer living. Sometimes, their loss makes you feel like the whole world has gone away.
4. “The reality is that you will grieve forever.” Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
While this short line might sound discouraging or disheartening, the fact that you will always bear the marks of suffering doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Dr. Kubler-Ross goes on to say, “You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered.”
5. “Death keeps no calendar.” An English Proverb
In life, you’ll likely experience the phenomenon where some people die at a good old age, full of life, and others pass away in their prime, far too early. Unfortunately, when death comes, it doesn’t look at the calendar or put its meeting on hold.
Inspirational or Positive Quotes About Grief
The quotes listed here offer a different perspective on going through grief. Whether you are looking for encouragement for yourself or you want to console someone, these inspirational quotes should help.
6. “Grieving doesn't make you imperfect. It makes you human.” Sarah Dessen
Grieving is the way people process loss and death. You should never feel like you can’t be real or authentic when you grieve. Cry if you need to, be alone for a while, or do something good for yourself. Grieving looks different for everyone, but everyone should feel free to process the loss of someone or something they loved.
7. “Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives.” Andrew Sachs
When you’re grieving the loss of someone you loved, remember how they lived. Their loss is felt so keenly because they had an impact on your life. Think about the many ways their life has influenced yours and honor their memory in this way.
8. “Death is the dropping of the flower that the fruit may swell.” Henry Ward Beecher
This quote could be a tremendous encouragement for those who believe that death brings something greater - such as eternal life. Beecher encourages us to remember that death is simply the closing of one chapter so the next chapter can begin.
9. “Our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.” George Eliot
Grief hurts, but as long as you hold onto a person’s memory, they are never completely gone. Sometimes, thinking of a person and their unique personality and life is the best way to keep them alive.
10. “Loss and possession, death and life are one. There falls no shadow where there shines no sun.” Hilaire Belloc
The shadows of death are difficult to deal with, but where there are shadows, the sun has brightly shined. Remember your loved one’s life and the rays of sunshine they brought into your life.
Sad Quotes About Grief
Grief can be difficult to explain to those around you. Share one of these sad quotes to help others understand what you’re experiencing.
11. “Grief is the price we pay for love.” Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of England and numerous commonwealth nations, ought to know what she is talking about with this quote. She and her beloved Prince Philip had been married for 73 years at the time of his death. They loved deeply, and now the Queen grieves the passing of her husband deeply.
12. “There are no happy endings.
Endings are the saddest part,
So just give me a happy middle
And a very happy start.” Shel Silverstein from A Light in the Attic
This is one of many grief poems that attempt to shed light on the process of loss and feelings of grief. According to Silverstein in this poem, endings such as death are never happy. However, each person can focus on having a “happy” or good life before they die.
13. “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” Harriet Beecher Stowe
Stowe encourages us to do and say the things that often get put off. Once someone is gone, you can no longer tell them how you feel, apologize, or do something you wanted to do for them. Make the most of today by telling those around you that you love them, that you’re sorry, or how much you appreciate their presence.
14. “The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be repaired.” Robert Southey
This death of a friend quote can help you explain to others how you’re feeling after you lose a close friend.
15. “Even the best of friends cannot attend each other’s funeral.” Kehlog Albran
Every friendship must come to a close on earth, and this quote is a stark reminder of this fact.
Religious Quotes About Grief
Religious quotes can bring comfort, provide perspective, and help you through difficult times when dealing with loss and grief.
16. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4
This is one of many Bible verses about grief. Share this to comfort someone you know or post it on your social media page as a reminder for yourself.
17. “Grief is a sign that we loved something more than ourselves...Grief makes us worthy to suffer with the rest of the world." Joan Chittister
Reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth II’s quote, grief is often a demonstration that we loved deeply. Sharing in grief also gives us the unique ability to comfort others going through a loss of their own.
18. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” II Corinthians 1:3-4
If you’re looking for a Bible verse to give yourself or another person comfort, share these two verses. Not only will God comfort you through your time of loss and grief, but you’ll be able to comfort others when they experience loss, as well.
19. “We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.” Marcel Proust
It might sound counterintuitive to say that healing only comes by experiencing the full extent of grief, but it does seem like grief only lessens with time as it is fully processed and embraced.
20. “Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.” Rabindranath Tagore
When you’re in the middle of experiencing grief, it might feel like you’ll never get through it. Hold onto faith that you’ll see light at the end of the tunnel.
Quotes About Overcoming or Dealing With Grief
Grief is a difficult emotion to process. Use these quotes to remind you that grief is a process, not a single event.
21. "I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process." C.S. Lewis
Grief isn’t something you “get over” as many people will say. Instead, it is something you get through, moment by moment, day by day.
22. “You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly – that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” Anne Lamott
Grief will lessen with time, but it may never fully go away, and that’s okay. Use the lingering grief you feel to remember the person you loved so deeply.
23. “I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone. The only difference is that I am getting used to the pain. It's like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it's there and keep falling in. After a while, it's still there, but you learn to walk round it.” Rachel Joyce
Grief may be present in your life for a long time to come, but you will learn how to live with it. Healing through grief will come little by little.
24. "Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life’s search for love and wisdom.” Rumi
Experiencing grief and loss often provides us with the ability to comfort others and demonstrate compassion. Use these attributes to honor the one you lost and help others navigate their own grief.
25. “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” Havelock Ellis
During life, we hold on to those we love, but when they die, we need to let them go. However, even when they are gone, we can still hold on to their memories.
Quotes About Grief and Love
Grief is often greatest for the one you loved the most. If you’ve recently lost someone you loved, these quotes might ring true for you.
26. "Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." Kahlil Gibran
Sometimes, you might feel like you find out how deeply you love someone when they are taken away. Keep their love close, even though they are gone.
27. "Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night.” Edna St. Vincent Millay
The loss of someone you love can leave a gaping hole in your life. The hole can’t be filled by anything else, and you’ll likely experience yourself living in that space for a while.
28. "When those you love die, the best you can do is honor their spirit for as long as you live. You make a commitment that you're going to take whatever lesson that person or animal was trying to teach you, and you make it true in your own life. It's a positive way to keep their spirit alive in the world by keeping it alive in yourself." Patrick Swayze
Honor the spirit, passions, commitment, and lessons left by the person you love. So long as you carry their legacy on, they aren’t really gone.
29. "Though lovers be lost, love shall not; And death shall have no dominion." Dylan Thomas
This is an excellent “Gone, but not forgotten” quote. Though the person you love is gone, the love you shared with them will remain. Even death cannot remove someone’s love from your heart.
30. "Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them." Leo Tolstoy
Deeply loving someone means deeply feeling their loss. But because you deeply loved them, their love will help carry you through their loss.
Funny Quotes About Grief
Humor is not always appropriate, but it can have its place in helping process grief.
31. “Death will be a great relief, no more interviews." Katharine Hepburn
Did the person you love feel like life was running them ragged? They won’t be weighed down by the world any longer!
32. “Let us so live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry.” Mark Twain
Classic Twain, he wants to make the entire town cry - including the undertaker. Perhaps you can share this with someone who is grieving with you to have a laugh and a cry.
33. “Hardest season to have a dead dad: holiday. Second hardest: tax.” Alyssa Limperis
Comedian Limperis jokingly shared her journey through grief after losing her father. For her, it was a double-whammy: Her dad passed away and taxes were due, but she had no help to finish them.
34. “In this world, nothing can be certain, except death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin
Death is just as certain as taxes. Remember this when grieving, and remember that you’re not alone.
35. “When I die, I want my body to be donated for research, but more specifically, to a scientist who is working on bringing dead bodies back to life." Nikhil Saluja
Wouldn’t it be great if a donation to science meant the return of your loved one in several years?
Quotes About Different Stages of Grief
Grief is a process and each person experiences it differently. These quotes shed some light on the stages of grief.
36. "Grief is a most peculiar thing; we're so helpless in the face of it. It's like a window that will simply open of its own accord. The room grows cold, and we can do nothing but shiver. But it opens a little less each time, and a little less, and one day we wonder what has become of it." Arthur Golden
If you feel helpless to do anything about the grief you feel, know that your experience is normal.
37. “The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again, but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
It’s okay to acknowledge that grief and loss will change you.
38. “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal.” An Irish Proverb
This saying sums up the experience of grief. Your heartache may not fully heal, but memories of the one you love will never fully fade.
39. “Grief doesn’t have a plot. It isn’t smooth. There is no beginning and middle and end.” Ann Hood
Grief will come and go in waves. It might take you by surprise one day and leave you alone the next. The journey is experienced differently by everyone.
40. “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.” Washington Irving
Tears are a sign of deep love and grief that accompanies loss. Feel free to let these tears flow as you grieve your loss.
Quotes About Pet Grief
Losing a pet is often accompanied by grief, especially when that pet was like another member of the family.
41. “Dogs come into our lives to teach us about love, they depart to teach us about loss. A new dog never replaces an old dog, it merely expands the heart. If you have loved many dogs, your heart is very big.” Erica Jong
Pets take a very special place in our lives and our hearts. With each pet, we learn to love a little more.
42. “Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives.” John Galsworthy
Sometimes when a pet dies, it can feel like they take a piece of you with them.
43. “I guess you don’t really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease.” Joe Garagiola
This can apply to any pet. We never really own the creatures we call our own, but we can enjoy them for however long they are in our lives.
44. “The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.” Konrad Lorenz
No matter what type of pet you had, the bond between you may not even get broken by their death.
45. “I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives, and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?” Sir Walter Scott
We will always want more time with our beloved pets. Here, Scott wonders how much grief and suffering we would experience if our pets lived longer than normal.
Sharing Grief and Loss
Sometimes the best way to comfort someone or explain what you’re experiencing is by sharing a simple quote. Use the quotes in this article to explain your grief journey or help someone else through theirs.
Sources:
- “Grief, Loss, and Mourning Quotations.” Grief and Bereavement, Verywell Health, 16 February 2020. verywellhealth.com.
- Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. “Quotes.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation. 2021. ekrfoundation.org
- “Quotes About Grief and Pet Death.” Grief, Simply for Dogs, 9 September 2017. simplyfordogs.com.