"Grief is the price we pay for love."
Colin Murray Parkes
GriefLove
Sympathy Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · SYMPATHY
Sympathy Quotes
Find comfort in 200 sympathy quotes from Rabindranath Tagore, Helen Keller, C. S. Lewis, Kahlil Gibran, Dalai Lama and Emily Dickinson.
"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."Helen Keller
LoveMemory
"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality."
Emily Dickinson
LoveImmortality
"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."
Thomas Campbell
RemembranceLegacy
"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."
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler
GriefHealing
"Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim."
Vicki Harrison
GriefCoping
"Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break."William Shakespeare
SorrowExpression
"Death ends a life, not a relationship."
Morrie Schwartz
LoveConnection
"Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated."
Alphonse de Lamartine
LossMissing Someone
"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear."C. S. Lewis
GriefHonesty
"Grief is itself a medicine."
William Cowper
GriefHealing
"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
BeautyHealing
"Tears are the silent language of grief."Voltaire
TearsGrief
"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power."
Washington Irving
TearsStrength
"Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life."
Anne Roiphe
GriefRebuilding
"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief – but the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love."
Hilary Stanton Zunin
LoveLoss
"Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come."Rabindranath Tagore
"Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves."Rabindranath Tagore
LifeAcceptance
"For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?"
Kahlil Gibran
"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight."
Kahlil Gibran
SorrowJoy
"We bereaved are not alone. We belong to the largest company in all the world – the company of those who have known suffering."Helen Keller
BereavementTogetherness
"What is lovely never dies, but passes into other loveliness."
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
BeautyEternity
"Nothing can make up for the absence of someone whom we love."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
AbsenceLove
"Even hundredfold grief is divisible by love."
Terri St. Cloud
GriefLove
"There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief."
Aeschylus
MemoryGrief
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About Sympathy Quotes
# Sympathy Quotes
When someone we care about loses a loved one, finding the right words can feel impossible. Grief is deeply personal, and no sentence can take away the pain. But a few gentle, honest words can remind a grieving heart that it is not alone, and that the love shared with the one who is gone will always remain.
This collection brings together 200 comforting sympathy quotes from writers, poets and thinkers, including Rabindranath Tagore, Helen Keller, C. S. Lewis, Kahlil Gibran, Emily Dickinson, the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa. Use them in condolence messages, sympathy cards, memorial tributes, or simply as quiet comfort when you or someone you love is grieving.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Sympathy quotes.
What is a good sympathy quote to write in a card?
Short, gentle lines work best. Popular choices include "What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us" (Helen Keller), "Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality" (Emily Dickinson), and "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die" (Thomas Campbell).
What is the most famous quote about grief?
One of the best known is "Grief is the price we pay for love," written by psychiatrist Colin Murray Parkes and famously quoted by Queen Elizabeth II. Others include C. S. Lewis's "No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear" and Shakespeare's "Give sorrow words."
What did Rabindranath Tagore say about death and loss?
Tagore wrote "Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come," "Let life be beautiful like summer flowers and death like autumn leaves," and "Death belongs to life as birth does." His words are often shared at Indian memorial services and in condolence messages.
What are some short condolence quotes?
Simple options include "Death ends a life, not a relationship" (Morrie Schwartz), "Grief is just love with no place to go" (Jamie Anderson), "Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone" (Morrie Schwartz), and "Some things cannot be fixed. They can only be carried" (Megan Devine).
How do I comfort someone who is grieving?
Often the most comforting thing is simply being present. As Henri Nouwen observed, the people who mean the most to us are those who choose "to share our pain" rather than offer solutions. Listen, share a fond memory of the person who passed, offer practical help, and keep checking in during the weeks and months that follow.
How can I use sympathy quotes?
Sympathy quotes are suitable for condolence cards, WhatsApp messages, memorial services, shraddhanjali (tribute) posts, eulogies and remembrance pages. If grief feels overwhelming for you or someone you know, it's okay to reach out for support. India's free Tele-MANAS mental health helpline is available 24/7 at 14416.