“We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.”
— Madame de Stael
“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
O, beautiful upon the grave, the starlight and the moonbeams lie! With such sweet watchers o'er our sleep, why should we ever fear to die?
-Mary Ann H. Dodd Shutts, "The Broken-Hearted"
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
—Marcus Aurelius
“Death, the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuge are for all — the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved.”
— Mark Twain
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”
— Harriet Beecher-Stowe
“Grief never ends…but it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith…it is the price of love.”
— Author Unknown; often accredited to Elizabeth I
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.”
— Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost
“Tell your friend that in his death, a part of you dies and goes with him. Wherever he goes, you also go. He will not be alone.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation.”
— Rumi
“We are born from a quiet sleep, and we die to a calm awakening.”
— Zhuangzi
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
— Kenji Miyazawa
“Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, I am not. Why should I fear that which cannot exist when I do?”
— Epicurus
“When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. When you die, you rejoice and the world cries.”
— Buddhist Proverb