Quotations
"Who, then, can so softly bind
up the wound of another, as he, who has felt the same wound himself."
— Thomas Jefferson
"The secret of The Compassionate Friends' success is simple: There is no line between being a helper and being helped. In the early months of peoples' membership in TCF, it seems that most of the time is spent absorbing ideas, crying and letting the grief flow, and 'learning the ropes' of being a bereaved parent. The next step is reaching out to others and helping them. It is not a big step, for listening to another person sort out his life helps us to sort out our lives, too. But it is an important step, because it is the first point at which the movement is reversed. All the energy had been going inward. We had been feeling so empty inside that we kept withdrawing into ourselves. But at the point when we turn around is the point when we first listen to another, speak the words of comfort and hope, share our pain instead of just feeling our pain. At that time the real healing has started."
— Dennis Klass, Ph.D.
There are many roads to friendship, some are short and quickly wane,
But the friends you make on troubled roads are those that will remain;
Those you carry when they're weary, those who'll guide you when you're lost,
Are the friends that you will warm to like the fires that melt the frost.
You will sit by many firesides seeking comfort from the road
'Til the fire of friendship burns you and you carry one more load,
Then you'll share a fire that warms you, glows beside you through the day,
And you'll walk the road together, taking turns to lead the way.
— Brian Bedford (from "Roads" sung by Tania Opland)
"Bereavment is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved."
— Iris Murdoch
"The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you'll 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 Kübler-Ross
"Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile."
— Julie Burchill
"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
"He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels."
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."
— Author Unknown
"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."
— Pierre Auguste
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
— Robert Frost
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge—myth is more potent than history—dreams are more powerful than facts—hope always triumphs over experience—laughter is the cure for grief—love is stronger than death."
— Robert Fulghum
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
"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 messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."
— Washington Irving
"Flowers are the spirits of children whose footsteps have passed from the earth, but reappear each year to gladden the pathway of those now living."
— Cowlitz legend
"After the death of a child, it becomes crystal clear. We humans are capable of enduring much more than we can ever imagine. Knowing that doesn't make grief one bit easier. The painful truth is that we simply do what we must do. We do the unthinkable—day after day."
— Carol Clum
"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable."
— The Wizard of Oz
.
— Thomas Jefferson
"The secret of The Compassionate Friends' success is simple: There is no line between being a helper and being helped. In the early months of peoples' membership in TCF, it seems that most of the time is spent absorbing ideas, crying and letting the grief flow, and 'learning the ropes' of being a bereaved parent. The next step is reaching out to others and helping them. It is not a big step, for listening to another person sort out his life helps us to sort out our lives, too. But it is an important step, because it is the first point at which the movement is reversed. All the energy had been going inward. We had been feeling so empty inside that we kept withdrawing into ourselves. But at the point when we turn around is the point when we first listen to another, speak the words of comfort and hope, share our pain instead of just feeling our pain. At that time the real healing has started."
— Dennis Klass, Ph.D.
There are many roads to friendship, some are short and quickly wane,
But the friends you make on troubled roads are those that will remain;
Those you carry when they're weary, those who'll guide you when you're lost,
Are the friends that you will warm to like the fires that melt the frost.
You will sit by many firesides seeking comfort from the road
'Til the fire of friendship burns you and you carry one more load,
Then you'll share a fire that warms you, glows beside you through the day,
And you'll walk the road together, taking turns to lead the way.
— Brian Bedford (from "Roads" sung by Tania Opland)
"Bereavment is a darkness impenetrable to the imagination of the unbereaved."
— Iris Murdoch
"The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not 'get over' the loss of a loved one; you'll 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 Kübler-Ross
"Tears are sometimes an inappropriate response to death. When a life has been lived completely honestly, completely successfully, or just completely, the correct response to death's perfect punctuation mark is a smile."
— Julie Burchill
"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
"He spake well who said that graves are the footprints of angels."
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"Perhaps they are not the stars, but rather openings in Heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."
— Author Unknown
"The pain passes, but the beauty remains."
— Pierre Auguste
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."
— Robert Frost
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge—myth is more potent than history—dreams are more powerful than facts—hope always triumphs over experience—laughter is the cure for grief—love is stronger than death."
— Robert Fulghum
"Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
— Percy Bysshe Shelley
"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 messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love."
— Washington Irving
"Flowers are the spirits of children whose footsteps have passed from the earth, but reappear each year to gladden the pathway of those now living."
— Cowlitz legend
"After the death of a child, it becomes crystal clear. We humans are capable of enduring much more than we can ever imagine. Knowing that doesn't make grief one bit easier. The painful truth is that we simply do what we must do. We do the unthinkable—day after day."
— Carol Clum
"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable."
— The Wizard of Oz
.